Aptasia!
 

Lets talk about the dreaded Aptasia!!!! I bought a chuck of LR for the LFS and have chipped away a total of 11 Aptasia off the rock in the past three days...and now, the little buggers have spread to near by dead rock in my tank which is currently cycling...with no livestock minus two crabs that tagged along...arrrrr!

Thoughts? tricks? Anyone else have this problem? Should the stores have some some responsibility or is this a case of the buyer fully inspecting the product before introducing it into the tank?

buyer beware but themastr may have the solution

When you buy "live rock" you're pretty much asking for hitchhikers, and lots of them, good and bad. That's why the stores sell dead rock as well :-)

Could also try peppermint shrimp, lime juice or smother them with epoxy.

Aptasia x works good, so does an aptasia zapper.

in a smaller tank the peppermints will certainly rid you of your problem. i've since removed my two shrimp and months later it's safe to say that they not only controlled the pests... they 100% removed them.

peppermint shrimp have worked for me in the past a couple of times .

my peppermint shrimp seem to have a taste for everything BUT aptasia. So I figured I'd get a couple more.

Well.. I've still got aptastia.. and my peppermint shrimp just stare at me with their little beadie eyes knowing full well.

I'll try that Aptasia X the next time I'm shopping!

I'll have to try the Aptasia X.

I guess it's all with the territory when you're buying LR.

aptisa x is fun lol

I bought a very small piece of LR from J&L months ago to seed my 'fuge
I thought, meh, what the hell just toss it in
Well, months later, I've got aiptasia and mojano in my DT

I tried epoxy, lemon juice, hot water, etc ...

March 19th I bought 2 Peppermints from J&L
The next night the aiptasia I could see were gone and the shrimps are still alive and well :smile:

The thing with aiptasia control with the peppermints, or a filefish like I have, is that you have to remember the pest is still there, it's just being consumed enough that you don't see it.

I have a bazillion aiptasia in my overflow and zero in my tank.

I still remember the amazing fiji rock I bought in the beginning. Never had a pest like that ever.

I whenever I get LR go with the understanding that I may get some unwanted things as well as beneficial things. Last rock I got had aiptasia on it killed the visible stuff first with open flame then put in tank and it became my 2 peppermints best friend for about a week.

I also got 2 hitch hikers a pair of porcelain crab as an added bonus from that same rock who have since made themselves right at home in my tank

Maybe it's not normally the case but my peps totally wiped mine out.

Aiptasia x just ticked off my aiptasia in my 400. They spread faster !

I tried to inject them with aiptasia juice for the longest time and then finally got some peppermint shrimp. I had to wait until the fish were out of the tank since the peppermint shrimp would preferentially eat the fish food, not the aiptasia. Once I left them in a 40g full of LR and aiptasia for a month they cleaned it right up.