Aiptasia - glass anemone infestation... HELP!!!

[rageybug]

Here's my problem... major infestation of aiptasia in my tank. I have heard of many "gaurenteed" ways to get rid of them, and I've tried a few but want the AC's collective opinion on how to rid my tank.

I've heard of injecting vinegar, lemon juice (I've done this), using Joe's Juice, peppermint shrimp, copper banded butterfly fish, and Berghia Nudibranch. Everyone of these methods has people who say it is the best method but I am looking for some hard evidence!

Have any of you actually cleared a tank of glass anemone? How did you do it? What methods have you tried that failed? Are there any other methods not listed here that work?

Here are some photos of my tank to show you how out of hand this problem has become. I am almost ready to rip apart the tank and start from scratch...



http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/rageybug/P1010007-1.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/rageybug/P1010002_1.jpg

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

The best method I've found is to mix up a Kalk paste using 15 drops of water and 1/2 tsp of Kalk powder. Then using an eye dropper, squirt is directly into the mouth of the anemone. Others have suggested using a sharp needle to carefully inject Reef Iodine, or vinegar into the foot of the aiptasia. All 3 of these methods have been very successful. The idea behind the Kalk and the Vinegar is that it causes a drastic change in the internal pH of the Aiptasia or at least in the immediate area of the anemone and the anemone dies as a result. Obviously, any of those methods require caution because they can effect the entire tank if not done right. Hope this helps.

Of course, there is always the option of getting a Copper Banded Butterfly. LOL, just kidding.

[rageybug]

Never heard of kalk powder, where can I get it?

I've tried injecting lemon juice into their foot, which works, but is very difficult. As soon as you touch them, they shrink into their hole. If I inject their mouth, they shrivel up but come back the next day.

I would like to try the copperband but have heard that they can be very difficult to keep alive in the home aquarium.

My peppermint shrimp does nothing to help, it just eats everything BUT glass anemone.

[AABatteries]

Geez! That's bad! How did it get out of control?

[travie]

I've had success with Aiptasia X (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idProduct=RS7911&idCategory=FIADAFLC&category=Red_Sea_Aiptasia_X_2oz_Saltwater_Aquarium _Supplies_Additives_Aiptasia___Pest_Control_Liquid _Eliminators&utm_source=mdpromoAptasiaX20080409&utm_medium=mdemail&utm_term). Its killed off Aiptasia and Majano anemones in my tank. I still get the random Aiptasia pop up, but I figure that is just because it was too small for me to see when I killed off others. I haven't had any Majano problems since the initial treatment.

If you can, I would just take the rocks out with the Aiptasia on them and soak them in FW or dry them out several days.

[labnjab]

We've had great luck with joe's juice. Every one we kill with it never comes back. I maybe have to kill 1 a week

[rageybug]

Geez! That's bad! How did it get out of control?


We had a single glass anemone in the tank early on. My wife did not want to kill it as it was pretty much the only "cool" ting in the tank... you know the rest of the story!

[rageybug]

I've had success with Aiptasia X (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idProduct=RS7911&idCategory=FIADAFLC&category=Red_Sea_Aiptasia_X_2oz_Saltwater_Aquarium _Supplies_Additives_Aiptasia___Pest_Control_Liquid _Eliminators&utm_source=mdpromoAptasiaX20080409&utm_medium=mdemail&utm_term). Its killed off Aiptasia and Majano anemones in my tank. I still get the random Aiptasia pop up, but I figure that is just because it was too small for me to see when I killed off others. I haven't had any Majano problems since the initial treatment.

If you can, I would just take the rocks out with the Aiptasia on them and soak them in FW or dry them out several days.


They are on every single rock in the tank. I even have hermits with glass anemones on their shells.

[kaybee]

...My peppermint shrimp does nothing to help, it just eats everything BUT glass anemone...

There are several types of shrimp that resemble peppermint shrimp and are often sold under the same name, but actually aren't true peppermints. That may explain the lack of performance.

In regards to the Berghia Nudibranch, how many did you use and were they adults? These only eat aiptasia and should have put a dent in your aiptasia population. You'll probably need one of these per 10-15gal of tank volume. Any less than that ratio and the reproduction rate of the aiptasia will be greater than the consumption rate of the nudibranchs.

With this level of infestation, biological control/elimination may be the only way to get rid of them.

[HendersE]

I would try Joe's juice or Aiptasia X. All they did to my majano anemones was make them go away for a week or so, but I've heard that Joe's juice and Aiptasia X work very well in getting rid of aiptasia anemones.

[rageybug]

There are several types of shrimp that resemble peppermint shrimp and are often sold under the same name, but actually aren't true peppermints. That may explain the lack of performance.

In regards to the Berghia Nudibranch, how many did you use and were they adults? These only eat aiptasia and should have put a dent in your aiptasia population. You'll probably need one of these per 10-15gal of tank volume. Any less than that ratio and the reproduction rate of the aiptasia will be greater than the consumption rate of the nudibranchs.

With this level of infestation, biological control/elimination may be the only way to get rid of them.


I have not actually used these, just that I've heard they can work. They are an expensive option so I wanted to hear about them here before I bought them.

[rageybug]

I would try Joe's juice or Aiptasia X. All they did to my majano anemones was make them go away for a week or so, but I've heard that Joe's juice and Aiptasia X work very well in getting rid of aiptasia anemones.


I've heard of these but never actually seen them. I assume they are liquids that need to be injected into the foot of the anemone?

[HendersE]

No you don't inject the foot. Included with the Joe's Juice or Aiptasia X is a needle and a syringe. You put the two together and then fill the needle up with the solution you get. You don't use it to inject the anemone you take the needle place it directly over anemone and press. The solution will come out and go onto the anemone. It should kill it.

[HendersE]

Here is a picture of the two...
13376

Here is the needle and syringe. You can see that the tip isn't pointed. It has an opening where the solution comes out.
13377

[rageybug]

That looks like something I'm going to try. I've been injecting their foor with pure lemon juice and it works great but I have to do each and every anemone seperatly and if I don't get the foot, it does not work. Thanks for the tip.

Should I worry about Joe's Juice or Aiptasia X harming anything else in my tank? I have a Warty Rock anemone that is surounded by glass anemone. Will juicing them kill the Wary Rock too? What about my fish/inverts. Is it going to be safe around mushroom corals and green star polyps?

[HendersE]

That looks like something I'm going to try. I've been injecting their foor with pure lemon juice and it works great but I have to do each and every anemone seperatly and if I don't get the foot, it does not work. Thanks for the tip.

Should I worry about Joe's Juice or Aiptasia X harming anything else in my tank? I have a Warty Rock anemone that is surounded by glass anemone. Will juicing them kill the Wary Rock too? What about my fish/inverts. Is it going to be safe around mushroom corals and green star polyps?

Neither have hurt anything in my tank, even when I use a lot of it. I even accidentally got Aiptasia-X on my zoanthids one time and it didn't hurt them. I have used both around mushroom corals, my GSP (Weird that we have some of the same corals!), my fish, and my inverts and it seems to have no effect on them at all. I'm not sure about your Warty Rock anemone. I don't have any anemones in my tank except for majano (trying to get rid of them!). I am reading the instructions that came with Aiptasia-X and this is what is says "...will not effect the sessile polyps of corals... Excess Aiptasia-X will decompose over time without casuing harm to the reef." I think that it will not hurt anything in your tank.

Here is a video of Aiptasia-X that should make things clearer...

oo3DZYdAD2Y

[HendersE]

Here is another video. This guy has a mushroom coral too.

hxQFZpqmcII&feature=related

[fraggle]

Oh wow, that is a lot of Aiptasias isn't it!!!

Will take you a while to squirt them all, good luck Rageybug:11:

[rageybug]

Here is another video. This guy has a mushroom coral too.

hxQFZpqmcII&feature=related


OMG... that stuff is amazing!!!

I am going to tke a look around town next week to see if I can find some. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks a ton!

[coachfraley]

If you can get rid of all that aiptasia, you are a stud.

I think I am too impatient for all that. I would probably get rid of the rock and start over, lol.

I would be a little careful about how many of the critters you inject at one time. I remember reading a post about someone overdoing it with Joe's juice and nearly killing all of their corals.

I am going to have to agree with kaybee on this one. If you have that many anems, it is going to be really hard to get them all manually. Some form of biological control would probably be best.

[rageybug]

If you can get rid of all that aiptasia, you are a stud.

I think I am to impatient for all that. I would probably get rid of the rock and start over, lol.


I would need to strip the entire tank, right empty. They are growing in my sand, on my power head, on my skimmer... brutal. I'm sure I will never get rid of them all as they grow in places I can't even see. My goal is to get them under control.

[coachfraley]

You are going to have to find something that will eat those things!!!!

Cocoa and I once talked about miniaturizing aquatic ninjas, or making submersible robots, but we never got past the planning stages.

[rageybug]

Getting the mini ninjas is no problem, it is finding mini scuba gear that is the problem

[coachfraley]

Getting the mini ninjas is no problem, it is finding mini scuba gear that is the problem

Nice, I got a good laugh out of that one!

[sid101]

i know i do not know anything about marine and this will probably just be a multiplicity of stupid ideas but:

>get a dremel and with the tungsten tip and the extender (it has a litle lubrication on the inside so it may polute a litle or a lot i really dont know altho you could get that lubricant off before doing this and after just lubricating it again) so turn on the dremel and with your hand working with the extender tip all together or any other abrasive tip and blast them out!

>yes its a stupid idea but i think it would work at least on the rocks.

>what about making a highly concentrated solution with any of the juices in a pot or some container and putting each rock one by one in that container for 5 minutes? then rinse it and put it back again?

>maybe finding out something that kills anemonae and anemonae only, taking your "nice behaved" anemonae out and have it out for a coupke of days (nursery aquarium?) and getting that "something" in the water... kill all the unwanted anemonae and after the chemical has dicomposed or whatever put your good anemonae back in.

**the microninjas should be able to hold their breath for a long time shouldnt they?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well sid, the first 2 wouldn't really work. THe first one would simply lead to more Aiptasia. When you break a piece of an aiptasia, that piece grows into a whole new specimen. Blast it into a thousand pieces in a power head and you get a thousand anemones.
Number 2 wouldn't be a great idea because you would kill all the beneficial stuff on the rocks as well and likely create a deficiency in the biofilter.
The last one, wouldn't be great because anything that will kill the Aiptasia will very very likely effect all the other sessile inverts in the tank.

[sid101]

see? it wouldnt work!

i guess the anemonae eating shrimp would be the best choice generally speaking wouldnt just solve this problem but later it would help prevent it.

[kaybee]

Combatting them chemically seems to arduous at this stage.

Berghia Nudibranch's are likely your best bet. These are as close to micro-ninja's as you'll get.

As previously mentioned, they eat (and only eat) aiptasia, (as opposed to other biological controls which will eat and possibly prefer other things). The berghia's will seek out and destroy these anemone's, including the ones you can't find.

The only downside is that since they only eat aiptasia, they'll starve when they're all gone, but you could sell/trade them to hobbyists in your area who are also experiencing aiptasia trouble.

[fraggle]

Combatting them chemically seems to arduous at this stage.

Berghia Nudibranch's are likely your best bet. These are as close to micro-ninja's as you'll get.

As previously mentioned, they eat (and only eat) aiptasia, (as opposed to other biological controls which will eat and possibly prefer other things). The berghia's will seek out and destroy these anemone's, including the ones you can't find.

The only downside is that since they only eat aiptasia, they'll starve when they're all gone, but you could sell/trade them to hobbyists in your area who are also experiencing aiptasia trouble.

Hehehehe from the looks of all the Aiptasias they would be wery well fed and fat Nudibranches!!! (mind you I have no idea what a nudibranch is, about to do some research! LOL)

(Sorry I'm not really contributing, just commenting, I'll go some place I can help:hmm3grin2orange: )

[rageybug]

To those who don't know, this is a Berghia Nudibranch...


http://www.reefscavengers.com/invert%20images/berghianude.jpg

[rageybug]

.

The only downside is that since they only eat aiptasia, they'll starve when they're all gone, but you could sell/trade them to hobbyists in your area who are also experiencing aiptasia trouble.


I'd bet my house that you could not get them out of my tank once they are in there!! A good idea to share them but not realistic. Kind of like lending out some copepods!

[Cameron]

wow and i used to be worried about a little bit of algae.. :help:

Good luck getting rid of them:11:

Do you have any FTS's of your tank, before the outbreak?

[HendersE]

I'd bet my house that you could not get them out of my tank once they are in there!! A good idea to share them but not realistic. Kind of like lending out some copepods!


Yeah I agree. You might even have a harder time removing the Berghia Nudibranches then you would removing the aiptasia! You could just let them all starve, but that would be cruel.

[fraggle]

Those are cute looking little furry slug type things hey? They look like the kids balls you get with the tentacle things all over them, LOL.

Umm, could you get some of them (I dont' know how many you'd need) and then just allow a couple of the Aiptasias to grow to keep them alive? Although that's kind of defeating the purpose isn't it, we're trying to get rid of them, not grow them!
Ignore me.:hmm3grin2orange:

[rageybug]

Well, after lots of time, lots of frustration and a little bit of red wine, we have decided to tear the tank apart and start over. We are going to pull all of the rock and scrub it. We will let it sit for a week or two to let all the aiptasia die off and rebuild. All the substrate is going to go too. I know that this is going to kill off all of the good stuff on the rock too but the infestation os just too out of control. I can't even out any new corals in this tank for fear of the aiptasia infterfering. The fish and inverts will be moved
to a 30g tank in the meantime.

It was not an easy choice, but my options are limited here. Thanksto all those who contributed to this thread. The good news is I will be able to start a new "tank build" thread in a little while...

I am taking pictures during the tear down so I will put some up soon... so crappy...

[rageybug]

So the tank is almost empty. The fish and substrate is still in place. We have also left a few rocks in that are covered in corals and the two warty rock anemone.

Here's where we are so far...
http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/rageybug/P1010022.jpg

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/rageybug/P1010028-1.jpg

[sid101]

So sorry my friend, i hope your next setup will be more of your liking and bad anemone free!

[HendersE]

Wow... You have a lot of work ahead of you. Good luck with your tank!

[rageybug]

So everything is out of the 70g and have been moved to the 30g. All that is left in the big tank is the substrate. I am still trying to figure out a way to save it but the problem is... it is full of aiptasia too. I think I'm going to have to dump it too and start over.

The 30g is a little crowded but it is only short term. The mushroom corals and warty rock anemone were very difficult to get off of the LR so I ended up using a hammer and chisal to break off pieces of the LR. Looks like all of the aiptasia are either still in the 70g or drying out on the LR in the bucket.

[sid101]

Oh my god i remember what it was like to disarm and the put together a full aquarium wich was perfect untill something horrible happened (bought a discus who turned out to be poisoned with mercury and the whole tank got poisoned too).

I feel your pain my friend. better days will come soon, with brite fish!!!!


Just remember:

Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea

[rageybug]

We lost our coral banded shrimp last night. Not sure if it was the stress of the move or is one of the fish got him...

[rageybug]

time to put this thread to bed... I have started a new thread to document the re-build.