when the aiptasia get to big the ps will not go near them. ive also heard of people taking mounting putty and filling in the hole that the aiptsia lives in. i have used concentrated kalk before, bit of a mess but works ok, the boiling water seems to work for big ones i can see and the ps works on the little guys that are hard the reach.

I had a huge aiptasia infestation when I first set up my tank, came as a bonus with the live rock I started with :evil: :lol: .

I started with Joes Juice and found that it would erradicate them on application, but, IME within a couple of weeks they would return in the same place. Also, regardless of how careful you are, I find it messy.

Boiling water worked better for me but it had to be boiling hot to be most effective. Problem here was lots of them I couldn't reach in my rockwork and so they would quickly multiply again.

Finally enlisted help and purchased a peppermint shrimp. He had the problem wiped out within 2 weeks, and I probably had 50-60 large and small ones that I could see to count. I've never seen a shrimp grow so fast :eek: :cool:

Now he is one of my favourite critters, he is out all the time, very active, and there has not been one aiptasia in months :mrgreen:

ps
 

another vote for peppermint shrimp. i threw five in my tank, haven't seen one aiptasia since. don't expect to see your ps either, they hide....... very very well. U can see them lurking in the darkness in the rocks once in a while or you will notice your mysis suddenly disappered when it floated by a rock and when you look closer, theres one lurking in there. but u rarely see them.

Re: ps
 

[quote="chin_lee"] don't expect to see your ps either, they hide....... very very well. quote]

I agree. I'm still trying to figure if all 3 survived the acclimation. I see one everyday. But don't know if its the same one or always a different one....lol

When I first started this hobby I read about those little pests so when I bought my rock a week or two later I bought a couple PS and never did see any aptasia.

Maybe I was just lucky. But anytime I recommend buying LR from a store at some point they should also buy a PS just in case and get those anemones while they are small or before an outbreak occurs.

JMO

Peppermint shrimp all the way :exclaim: :exclaim: All gone even the big ones :exclaim: :evil: :biggrin:

Thank You All for your input on this problem .
I'm going today to see if I can get a couple Peppermint shrimp .

reply
 

It would also benifit anyone buying new live rock to check it over for aptasia before putting it in their tank. Its a lot easier to boil them before they are placed, murphy's law dictates that aptasia will grow in the most inconvienient places.

Used both peppermint shrimp and Joe's Juice
 

I used Joe's Juice on the big ap's and it mad them disappear magically - you do have to get right in close to feed the pesky things though. I also placed a small peppermint shrimp in my 33 gallon tank - it took care of all of the smaller ap's, but did leave a couple around the tank for about a month before those disappeared, too.

My money is on a joint Joe's Juice and jiving Peppermint Shrimp attack!