Bpb Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 As some of you may know. I picked up a mature stocked reef tank earlier this summer. It is a 55 gallon with sump and refugium, and came with some zoas and a brain coral. For the past several months, I've seen a whole array of different colored and size feather dusters amongst the rock work. All harmless, and some very pretty. There is one critter that looked like a feather duster sticking right out of a zoa colony. It has gotten a little bigger over the months. Well I assumed it was another feather duster and ignored it, however after just browsing some reef forums and looking at pictures I am 100% certain it is a lone aiptasia anemone. I have looked very closely and believe it to be the only one. As tempting as it is to just take some scissors and cut it off at the base, I know that won't work and it will spread. I looked into some eradication methods and think that lemon juice injection is my best bet to kill it quickly and prevent it from spreading. Any one have experience doing this? I don't want to harm the zoa colony that surrounds its foot so this one will be tough to kill without having any casualties of war. I have access to syringes and long, tiny spinal tap needles, as I work in a hospital. Hopefully I can inject accurately. Wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Good luck but the only way that I have been able to get rid of a small amount of aiptaisa has been pep shrimps. I also had a wide spread aiptasia problem that I solved by bleaching the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Dave Pettit (dapettit) has an majano wand that works incredibly well for getting rid of aiptasia. He makes it available to ARC members for a small fee and it is well worth it. I'd PM him 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 That looks pretty cool. I live quite a ways away but if lemon juice doesn't work, I'll definitely see if I can arrange something. This little guy is nestled in a dense little patch of healthy zoas so I'm afraid to hurt them. I don't have a lot if coral in this tank so I don't want to kill what little I started with. I'll try to snap a pic tomorrow or Friday when the lights are on and everyone is all opened up. Luckily it's on a small rock so I can remove it and perform the procedure in a bucket if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 take the rock out and put it in qt. buy one pep shrimp and put him in with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Mike what does that wand do? is it just a laser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I states that it turns the water in the nem cells to hydrogen which disintegrates the aiptasia. - Ben - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I've had pretty good success at killing them off using kalk paste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 The nice thing about the wand is that the tip is like a very large needle. Unlike kalk paste or other methods, this allows you to plunge the tip directly into the aiptasia and not affect the surround corals. Watch the video and you'll see what I'm saying. And dapettit lives up north, so assuming it's not currently loaned out it wouldn't be that far from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBMarlin Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 This works for me: http://www.marinedep...LC-vi.html and LFS will have it. As Mike said though it will cause harm to coral, although mine always recover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I have it if you need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 The nice thing about the wand is that the tip is like a very large needle. Unlike kalk paste or other methods, this allows you to plunge the tip directly into the aiptasia and not affect the surround corals. Watch the video and you'll see what I'm saying. And dapettit lives up north, so assuming it's not currently loaned out it wouldn't be that far from you. Using a wand in the past they can damage coral, I was extremely careful but it still managed to damage a coral when the aptasia started to die it hooked the coral and they both hit the wand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I appreciate the replies everyone. I will try to take a crack at the wand if the lemon juice doesn't work. Anyone have experience with lemon? The YouTube videos I saw were pretty convincing. Some say lemon concentrate in the plastic lemon bottle may have other junk in it. Would actual lemon juice from the fruit not be strong enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 i have read home methods are lemon juice as well as hydrogen peroxide. i have used peroxide for gha and it works miracles but makes corals close, and xenia pulse so fast they look like they will explode. havent tried lemon juise but im down to try it if someone else goes first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I'll give my report tomorrow morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I find digging them out with a flat blade screwdriver quite cathartic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Got around to injecting with lemon juice. I kind of touched the surrounding zoas to get them to close up so I could see the aiptasia better. Once it was kind of isolated I stabbed it in the mouth with the needle and injected about 0.2 ml. It closed up, but I could see its foot so I stabbed again and hit it with another shot. The zoas are VERY unhappy and are closed up tight. Hopefully they bounce back. I also have noticed there is a white sponge growing on the base of the same rock, and now that everything is closed up, it looks like its trying to grow onto the zoa colony. Ill watch closely and if it starts smothering them I'm gonna just torch the whole rock. Hate to kill corals but may have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Hey man i got some aptasia control this weekend. i tried it on my one and it killed it with no side effects to the tank. u can try it if u want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 For those who were waiting for my results as the lemon juice guinea pig, all my zoas have opened back up and the lone aiptasia has passed onto the other side so to speak. I'll keep an eye out, and hopefully the issue is dead. Unless I update otherwise, lemon juice concentrate, from the plastic lemon at the grocery store successfully worked. No deaths or negative side effects other than those that were intended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 For those who were waiting for my results as the lemon juice guinea pig, all my zoas have opened back up and the lone aiptasia has passed onto the other side so to speak. I'll keep an eye out, and hopefully the issue is dead. Unless I update otherwise, lemon juice concentrate, from the plastic lemon at the grocery store successfully worked. No deaths or negative side effects other than those that were intended Cool, congrats and thanks for the info. Do you have any shrimp or other crustaceans that wandered into the area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hermit crabs and snails were nearby, as well as a flower anemone and the zoas the aiptasia was footed amongst. No ill effects. Zoas actually look better than before. Probably because they aren't getting stung anymore. I was worried about the turbo snail that was closest but he is fine. Cruising around as we speak eating nori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I was worried about the turbo snail that was closest but he is fine. Cruising around as we speak eating nori In my [limited] experience, if the turbo is ok, everything is ok. Mine is my canary. So that's great news, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismunn Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I've injected with lemon juice in a fully stocked tank. It worked like a charm with no side affects to anything else in the tank. Very easy to do. Syringe+lemon juice+aptasia= no more aptasia. If I could figure out how to get into my old laptop I would post a vid for you. It's nothing to stress over, just make sure your injecting the anemone And not just spraying a bunch of juice around in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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