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Aiptasia Invasion Help


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I have a very unfortunate Aiptasia invasion in my 5,000 gallon exhibit. Unsure when or how they exactly entered the system . I've been going at it with Aiptasia-X killer, but they are just everywhere. We are closing our facility for renovations soon, so I was thinking of transferring my fish to smaller holding tanks, draining the 5,000 gallon system, filling it with freshwater, draining it again, and exposing it to the air before refilling it again. Would this work? I'm afraid I'll do all this work and they will come back. Is there any way to ensure I get rid of them? Are there any organizations I could look into contracting out for removal help? 

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IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut
2 hours ago, SLA said:

I have a very unfortunate Aiptasia invasion in my 5,000 gallon exhibit. Unsure when or how they exactly entered the system . I've been going at it with Aiptasia-X killer, but they are just everywhere. We are closing our facility for renovations soon, so I was thinking of transferring my fish to smaller holding tanks, draining the 5,000 gallon system, filling it with freshwater, draining it again, and exposing it to the air before refilling it again. Would this work? I'm afraid I'll do all this work and they will come back. Is there any way to ensure I get rid of them? Are there any organizations I could look into contracting out for removal help? 

5000 gallons?! Look into filefish 

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  • 3 weeks later...

That would also kill off your entire cycle, and all the microfauna in the exhibit. You'd refill it with saltwater and it would be full of rot. If you could guarantee that it got totally dried out, that would kill the aiptasia, but I'm not sure I'd bother with the freshwater- just the drying. 

 

I entirely agree about filefish. You don't need the aiptasia gone, after all, you just need less of them. 

 

What else is in the tank? 

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On 5/22/2020 at 11:46 AM, SLA said:

I have a very unfortunate Aiptasia invasion in my 5,000 gallon exhibit. Unsure when or how they exactly entered the system . I've been going at it with Aiptasia-X killer, but they are just everywhere. We are closing our facility for renovations soon, so I was thinking of transferring my fish to smaller holding tanks, draining the 5,000 gallon system, filling it with freshwater, draining it again, and exposing it to the air before refilling it again. Would this work? I'm afraid I'll do all this work and they will come back. Is there any way to ensure I get rid of them? Are there any organizations I could look into contracting out for removal help? 

I would not drain a 5000g system and start over. I doubt it would get them all unless you let it dry for a very very long time so every crevice was bone dry. Then you would have all that dead rock to deal with. The bacteria and aged tank is a precious thing imo!

 

Those with very large tanks Iike this usually employ natural methods like a Copperband butterfly, filefish and peppermint shrimp or all of them.

 

 

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BearTheSquare

Natural solutions as recommended above would definitely be much less of a headache, although it may take more time. Ultimately you’re most likely going to end up seeing them at one point or another from new additions (unless it will be fish only and no new rock or corals will be added) so a preventative measure would probably do well in the long run anyways.
 

Only downside in my opinion is unless you employ an army of natural solutions it may take a bit of time in a 5,000 gallon.

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My question would be, are they actively causing any problems? If not, slow solutions are perfectly fine. Aiptasia are problems because they sting and overgrow corals, and as long as you don't have them doing that, they aren't an urgent problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/7/2020 at 3:07 PM, Tired said:

That would also kill off your entire cycle, and all the microfauna in the exhibit. You'd refill it with saltwater and it would be full of rot. If you could guarantee that it got totally dried out, that would kill the aiptasia, but I'm not sure I'd bother with the freshwater- just the drying. 

 

I entirely agree about filefish. You don't need the aiptasia gone, after all, you just need less of them. 

 

What else is in the tank? 

Currently I have: 1 green moray eel, 2 common snook, 2 Atlantic spadefish, 2 Lookdowns, 1 giant lane snapper, 1 queen angel, 1 french angel, 1 striped burrfish, 1 long spine squirrelfish, 1 Atlantic Blue tang, 2 pin fish, and 1 sergeant major. Occasionally we will have a loggerhead sea turtle in there. The sergeant major and the angelfish will pick at the Aiptasia, but that's about it. 

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On 6/10/2020 at 9:22 PM, Tired said:

My question would be, are they actively causing any problems? If not, slow solutions are perfectly fine. Aiptasia are problems because they sting and overgrow corals, and as long as you don't have them doing that, they aren't an urgent problem.

I guess it more so bothers me because I can't clean as effectively because I'm trying to scrub, vacuum up dirt, and kill aiptasia all in one dive. Occasionally we will have a loggerhead sea turtle in there, which is my largest concern because of the stinging. Our last one didn't seem too phased by it and we only hold onto them for 2 years before they are released anyway. The eel will react when I scrub because of the stinging. It looks like everyone is against draining the tank, so I think I'll just look into more anemone eating fish. 

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On 6/10/2020 at 12:28 PM, Tamberav said:

I would not drain a 5000g system and start over. I doubt it would get them all unless you let it dry for a very very long time so every crevice was bone dry. Then you would have all that dead rock to deal with. The bacteria and aged tank is a precious thing imo!

 

Those with very large tanks Iike this usually employ natural methods like a Copperband butterfly, filefish and peppermint shrimp or all of them.

 

 

Since we are doing renovations I have some time to swap fish around and look into getting more native anemone eating fish. Thanks for the feedback. I would hate to go through all of that work for them to just come back anyway. 

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On 6/10/2020 at 2:44 PM, BearTheSquare said:

Natural solutions as recommended above would definitely be much less of a headache, although it may take more time. Ultimately you’re most likely going to end up seeing them at one point or another from new additions (unless it will be fish only and no new rock or corals will be added) so a preventative measure would probably do well in the long run anyways.
 

Only downside in my opinion is unless you employ an army of natural solutions it may take a bit of time in a 5,000 gallon.

Yes it is definitely a headache. As the only full-time animal care staff it's a lot to keep up with. I agree natural solutions would make me feel better. I just need to update my inventory to have more anemone eating fish.

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Aiptasia don't actually sting that strongly, I think. And turtles have pretty thick skin- are you sure they're actually a problem for the turtles? I mean, don't loggerheads eat jellyfish? They must have some sting resistance. 

 

I would see if you can get, just, a ton of peppermint shrimp. 

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