+etannert Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Okay, I have a theory about your use of the Aiptasia-X, based a bit on my own experience. Do you ever use a turkey baster to suck out the dead remains before turning your pumps back on? I have good luck with this tactic. That way you can see how much of the beast is dead. I usually wait about 15 mins before doing this. If there is any left, the Aiptasia-X bottle states that you can use it again 24 hrs later. I had it happen once that I didn't get all of the aiptasia, and a week later there were 3 in its place that grew out of the leftovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 I didn't even think of doing, that to be honest. I'm kinda excited to go home and try it now! Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 be careful - not sure if it's true, but the fact that there were more in its place suggest the following might be accurate: I've read that when you try to kill aiptasia it senses impending doom (ok - it just starts to feel its outside burning) so it releases a bunch of baby aiptasia spores into your water column. This is why we usually end up with more aiptasia in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 be careful - not sure if it's true, but the fact that there were more in its place suggest the following might be accurate: I've read that when you try to kill aiptasia it senses impending doom (ok - it just starts to feel its outside burning) so it releases a bunch of baby aiptasia spores into your water column. This is why we usually end up with more aiptasia in the long run. Yeah, I've read that before. And this all started with a single one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 That is true, but it releases them from the mouth area, so the key is to not nudge them before you smother them, and to pretty thoroughly cover the cap/mouth of the thing. Anyway, I've had pretty decent luck with Aiptasia-X, YMMV. I believe there is an electric wand of sorts you can order and use to electrocute pest nems. There was some discussion of this over on DFWMAS awhile back... I may try to dig it up. I think the thing is not widely available yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 +1 on pickling lime. No need to double dose. I used it once and they were dead the same day. never showed up again. Its been months. I have some if you want it.(Free) LMK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildman926 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I recently set up an 80 gallon and a 110. The 80 gallon housed all of the liverock for both tanks, and the liverock was full of aptaisia. I picked up a bunch of peppermint shrimp to put in the 80n gallon to clean up the liverock, and they cleaned out the aptaisia within 2 weeks, all of it gone, and have never seen them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsey Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I've had a huge aiptasia problem up until recently. I tried aiptasia-x, similar products and using lemon juice and a syringe worked best for me. I didn't try using kalk though. I also tried berghia nudi's two different times and didn't have any luck with them. I think since I had a few peppermint shrimp in there, the peps ate the nudi's. I'd be very careful trying them if you have a peppermint shrimp in there since the nudi's are pretty expensive. What's worked best for me is wild caught peppermint shrimp from Port Aransas. I went out there a couple months ago and caught about 40-50 and threw them in my tank. I went from having HUNDREDS of aiptasia to having about 5 larger ones that I can see. I also cut down on feeding some when I added them to make sure they were hungry. Of course, I've tried peps before and didn't have any luck so I'm not sure why they're working so well (cutting down on feeding maybe?). Anyway, good luck! I know how annoying a frustrating they can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 tis true - peppermint shrimps will eat nudis so don't try them both at the same time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildman926 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I've had a huge aiptasia problem up until recently. I tried aiptasia-x, similar products and using lemon juice and a syringe worked best for me. I didn't try using kalk though. I also tried berghia nudi's two different times and didn't have any luck with them. I think since I had a few peppermint shrimp in there, the peps ate the nudi's. I'd be very careful trying them if you have a peppermint shrimp in there since the nudi's are pretty expensive. What's worked best for me is wild caught peppermint shrimp from Port Aransas. I went out there a couple months ago and caught about 40-50 and threw them in my tank. I went from having HUNDREDS of aiptasia to having about 5 larger ones that I can see. I also cut down on feeding some when I added them to make sure they were hungry. Of course, I've tried peps before and didn't have any luck so I'm not sure why they're working so well (cutting down on feeding maybe?). Anyway, good luck! I know how annoying a frustrating they can be. Mine were wild caught as well. Many of them are carrying eggs, so going to see how it works out in the tank once they hatch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prof Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I believe aptasia-x and joes juice are basically kalk paste/solution. They may add some other ingredients to make it more palatable for the aptasia. Peppermint shrimp usually won't attack the larger anemones. I have always had good luck killing off every aptasia I could find with kalk paste and then the shrimp would keep the little baby nems from growing back. It usually takes a couple of weeks of killing aptasia every day to get ahead of them. Kalk is just calcium. It will not hurt your tank even in large amounts unless you let it settle and cake existing corals. Ultimately it will just raise the calcium level in your tank, which is a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Well, after admiring my tank in the early evening yesterday, I saw a worm-like creature crawling through a small crevice on the one rock that has had bad problems with aiptasia. It was a light-orange color, had little spiky things coming out from its sides, and was probably a good 4-6 inches in length. I tried to suction it out with no luck, then vainly attempted to pluck him with tweezers. This was the last straw for me. I took the rock out of the tank and set it in a styrofoam tub. I plucked off the tons snails and hermits that were inhabiting the rock, and dropped them back in the tank. I took the styrofoam tub with the rock outside and set it on the patio table in the middle of the backyard. The worm came out a little bit, then had disappeared about an hour later when I went to check on it. I was trying to avoid drying out the rock, as it was covered in coraline and was being hosted by my clowns. But enough was enough; there have been nothing but problems with this rock and it was time to start over with it. With it being out of the water and now in the sun, should the worm(s) and aiptasia die off naturally? Am I going to need to fish this worm out? After putting the dried rock back in the tank, should I expect a mini-cycle? For the good news: I noticed two aiptasia on a different rock a couple weeks ago. They were in a spot I couldn't reach without disrupting everything in the tank. Well, I noticed last night they were gone! I'm guessing ol' Jacques (my pep shrimp) finally got hungry enough! "Starving" the tank has paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa1tx Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 You have been alot more patient than I would have been. I would have chunked the rock out the backdoor a long time ago. Lol IMO, I think u will see a mini cycle,but it should not disrupt anything and should be fast with the other rock and filtration you already have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 The worm you saw was probably a bristle worm. They are good cleaners and are healthy for your tank. If you set the rock out to dry, I would leave it out for over a month. This way anything that dies inside the rock will have enough time to disintegrate in the sun rather than foul your water. Maybe you just get a new rock that doesn't have aiptasia? I bet anything those mothers will survive even the Texas summer and STILL come back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 From the way he was describing the worm, it might have been a euclid worm. Would have to see it to be sure. Euclids = bad mojo. Bristles = good (like Teresa said). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 From the way he was describing the worm, it might have been a euclid worm. Would have to see it to be sure. Euclids = bad mojo. Bristles = good (like Teresa said). Yeah, I'm gonna try to snap a picture of it if I notice it again (unless he's already died in the rock) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 The worm you saw was probably a bristle worm. They are good cleaners and are healthy for your tank. If you set the rock out to dry, I would leave it out for over a month. This way anything that dies inside the rock will have enough time to disintegrate in the sun rather than foul your water. Maybe you just get a new rock that doesn't have aiptasia? I bet anything those mothers will survive even the Texas summer and STILL come back Oh man, a month? It doesn't bother me personally, but my clowns seem lost without their home. I was watching them with worry last night; they almost seemed ready to start jumping. I need more rock for the tank, and I would just replace this one, but money is pretty tight for me for about the next month or so (and we all know this LR isn't cheap by any means, although I could go with base rock now that I think of it). Anyways, if its going to take me about a month to get my funds back to normal, I might as well leave that rock out and just keep a close watch on the clowns. Maybe I'll put the glass top back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Okay so I was discussing my tank's progress with my mother and she has actually offered to pick up a bunch of more LR from RCA tomorrow on her way home from work. I think sometimes she's more obsessed with this tank than I am! If it were her call, she'd have already bought me about 20 fish and another 20 corals! Anywho... with me adding more rock, I realize I'll see a little bit of an additional cycle. My question is if my clown pair and peppermint shrimp will be able to tolerate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 They should be able to hand a mini cycle if it is only a piece or two. By removing the rock you actually removed some beneficial bacteria, so you probably kicked off some minor cycling anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 So after having rock out of the tank for a little over two weeks, im getting anxious to toss it back in. Anyone have advice on whether this would be an okay idea? Should the aiptasia have died off by now (rest of the tank is finally completely aiptasia free)? I've read about people boiling their rock; is this something I would need to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inland Reef Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 If you still have the proven aptasia eating Pep shrimp in there, then I wouldn't be too worried about it coming back. I think it would be dead after being dry for a couple weeks, but even if it were to come back, your shrimp should be able to handle it. If it were me, I'd rinse it thoroughly with RO water and throw it back in the tank. If you want complete peace of mind, then boil it. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+C Lo Slice Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 If you still have the proven aptasia eating Pep shrimp in there, then I wouldn't be too worried about it coming back. I think it would be dead after being dry for a couple weeks, but even if it were to come back, your shrimp should be able to handle it. If it were me, I'd rinse it thoroughly with RO water and throw it back in the tank. If you want complete peace of mind, then boil it. Just my 2 cents. Yeah I've actually got 3 hungry peps now in the tank. What does boiling it actually do? After having it in the sun for two weeks, I'd think everything would be dead already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inland Reef Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Boiling it will just ensure that Everything is dead. The only times I've left rock out, it was out for a few months; so I can't tell you with 100% certainty that 2 weeks would kill everything. Although, I would think all nasty critters would be dead after 2 weeks in the TX sun/heat. Personally, I'm willing to assume some risks; so if your only "problem" is aptasia, I wouldn't worry about cleaning it off with RO water and dropping it back into the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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