Aptasia
 

My tank has alot of aptasia in it. I think I will get some needles from my brother inlaw, as he works out alot and should have some ;)
I have heard that if you inject lemon juice into the aptasia it will kill it.
I have tried Joes Juice, and apart from turning them a pail color, it does nothing. Some of these aptasia are getting big. Can someone tell me how big they can get????

Huge almost big enough to wrestle the syringe.

Have a couple, that can't reach but really don't want to tear the tank apart, that are probably 1" across the disk maybe 2.5-3" if I include the tentacles. Given up on the vinegar will be trying kalk next.

They can easily get to 1" or more.

When you're using Joe's Juice, be sure to inject them. Use a needle instead of the syringe pokey thing they give you, that's just going to squirt the stuff on them. They'll come back.

Alternatively you can try kalk paste. Get a good thick sludge of kalk and inject the sludge at the bottom. Not the kalk water itself, that's just spicy water as far as they're concerned. Again, a needle works best but you'll need a thick one otherwise it will gum up. Try UFA, they have honking big needles there.

Shut the pumps off so the water is calm, and be quick. Also if they retract into the rock too quick for you, try feeding them beforehand. If they're engorged they can't squeeze into a hole as easily.

Kalk Paste is deffinitly the way to go, I tried everything when i had aptasia, joes juice made them multiply and nothing killed them but injecting them with kalk paste.

Might be a silly question, how do you make the paste? Do you try to disolve and use what's left, or just add to water and suck off once it settles to the bottom?

Just take some kalk and put it into a little cup and add some water, get good slurry of it doesnt have to be really think but use more kalk then can dissolve.

If you add really fine or liquid food to the Kalk paste, the Aptasia will stay extended during injection and will actually ingest the paste better. They want the food so bad, they eat Kalk at the same time. Then a while later, they rupture and die.

I have had a lot of success with just boiling hot water. Boil a kettle full, add some prime, and inject with a syringe. Even if you don't manage to actually inject the beasts the hot water still burns them to death. Then when you retract your syringe, pull back on the plunger part, and you'll suck the beasts into your syringe for easy removal. Just don't kill too many at once for obvious reasons.

I just bought some peppermints. I got back from Jamaica on Friday and checked and no Aptaisia.. 1st time in over a year and half..

I had bought a peppermint also, went MIA after a week, think the monster aptasia got him as they were close to the same size.

I have a nice fat Peppermint, never visible during the day. I have NO APTASIA in my display. One or two in the sump though. I don't think the Peppermints will do anything about larger Aptasia, but they sure prevent new ones from growing. So for an Aptasia problem, blast all visible/large ones with whatever you find works; kalk, vinegar, hot water, ect., then add 1 or 2 Pep. Shrimp per 50 Gallons. Using that formula should get rid of them for as long as the Peppermints live.

anyone tried smothering them with a blob of epoxy putty?

I've done the epoxy smother . . . if the rock is too pourous, the devils retract and come up next to the putty! Works good on flat surfaces.

Threadfin butterfly did it for me, devoured close to 200 of the little *beep*'s

I dont see my peppermints anymore either (during the day) I believe I saw one when I put the flashlight against the tank and tghen it was gone :)

I believe they hide when its light out.. I know when i 1st put them in and the lights were off I used a flashlight and they took off trying to hide.

I have no aptasia any more that I can see


1st time in 2.5 years I think... and 1st time I tried pepps works better than anything I tried.

Out of curiosity, were these the peppermints purchased from howdy?? I haven't noticed any of my aptasia being eaten from the one I ordered... just curious as to if yours are eating aptasia

There are two species that look very similiar, and are often mixed up in the trade. One is a great Aiptasia eater, the other eats them, but not much, both are sold as Peps. The markings on the body are slightly different, I just know that mine's the right kind, dunno what the wrong kind looks like.

yes these were purchased from Howdy.. I got I think 4 or 5 of them I have definately seen a reduction in my aptasia I think I see one in a sport where I had 10 or 15 or more


Jim

I'm going to attempt to use the little demons as nutrient export in my sump for the new set up.

I can't believe no one picked up on this. LOL.

Not all of us who work out a lot juice up, but hey, I dunno your bro-in-law :)

As for the aipstasia, I've personally had success with Joe's juice, I just had to stab the little plastic injector right thru their little mouths and pump the juice into the aipstasia. More then a few of them actually blew up like a balloon and popped. Was fun!

Another vote for hot water. Worked like a charm for me.

- Chad

i must have got lazy peppermint shrimp i got 3 in my 30 gal and they have not done anything

I have 2 shrimp in my 33 and I noticed that all the smaller ones are gone.
I have a couple of larger one still but I think they are too big for the shrimp to deal with.
Now as long as the balance is good I don't mind a few large ones.:lol:

I had about 8 of them and three boxer crabs and now the boxer crabs some of them and the rest are gone. Haven't seen any for two weeks.

my tank was over run with aptasia, bought one peppermint shrimp and havent seen any in a year