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New Member
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Last Login: 5/27/2009 6:56:29 PM
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I've tried everything to get rid of these Aiptasia anemones, but they always come back. So far, I've tried:- Joe's Juice, with the powerhead off, followed by a water change.
- A peppermint shrimp, which ate the anemones and then got eaten itself.
- Putting epoxy over the anemones to smother them.
These things always manage to bounce back! They have bergias at my LFS, but they would break my budget, and my tank won't fit another anemone eating fish in it. Does anybody have any reef-safe ideas? If you want info on the tank, visit my profile FishLover7. Thanks!
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Fishkeeping GURU
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Last Login: 2/23/2011 6:10:41 AM
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You can try what I did to get rid of an even more tenacious hitchhiker cnidarian...smothering in Kalk paste. You take the rock out (assuming it does not have corals living on it that can't be detached, in which case this may not be the best treatment for you) and cover every anemone in a thick paste mixed from kalkwasser and saltwater. You leave it to dry in a bucket for 12 hours or so, rinse off the paste, and if the aiptasia are gone, put the rock back. It took me two treatments, but it helped me get rid of an infestation of a type of anemone that dwells inside calaereous tubes that it withdraws into when in danger, protecting it from basically everything. Good luck.
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New Member
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Last Login: 8/18/2010 6:43:19 AM
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| We have these pesky critters in our tanks and use a kalk slurry in a syringe and blast the suckers in the tank. When we see them we give them a squirt about once a week. I have also used lemon juice with varied success. We have tried the peppermint shrimp and they just wait till feeding time and for the most part ignore the pesky anemones. It seems to be an ongoing battle that we just stay on top of. If you come up with any other ideas I'd love to hear them.
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Senior Member
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Last Login: 6/7/2012 3:28:55 AM
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I always had good luck using a trio of peppermint shrimp, they destroyed them all within a week, and kept them from coming back as well.
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29 gallon f/w glowlight tetra's, 4 cories, Neon tetra, zebra danio.29g f/w convict cichlid. 10g s/w Percula Clown
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New Member
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Last Login: 12/16/2009 6:20:05 PM
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I had the very same problem once. I ended up buying a Long nosed Butterfly fish about 10 Peppermint Shrimp and a Copper banded Butterfly fish they did the trick in addition to Joe's Juice and/or Aptasia control.
Pitfalls:
-Mainly the Copper banded Butterfly fish; They are pricey and typically die after all the aptasia is gone. Also I went through 2 of them before everything was said and done, both died. (They will definitely eat the aptasia but some are more hardy than others so take your time and observe their behavior before purchasing-make sure they're eating and look healthy)
-The Long nosed Butterfly fish is great other than mine has a penchant for Clams (Apparently these fish don't all nip at Clams and SPS corals but mine loves the clams it has eaten 2 and I cannot keep them in my tank)!!!
-Peppermint shrimp are probably your best option; they're cheap and easy to come by. You need to get many of them however for them to have an impact; they do better in groups anyway. ( I used 10 on my 150 gallon reef)
-Aptasia Control and Joe's Juice work great but i didn't exactly follow the box directions; I discarded the syringe and tip that were enclosed and got a 5 or 10 cc/ml syringe (I work in health care so this was easy; you could get one from most pharmacies or just ask you Doctor for a few next time you pay him/her a visit) and an 18 and 20 gauge needles (20 gauge is slightly smaller for the smaller aptasia). Next I "pulled up" 5 cc/ml of product and secured the needle in place. Then carefully inject the aptasia through the mouth down into the stock and generously cover their tentacles (this will take some practice as they are very fast as you probably already know) you may have to draw a little water up into the syringe from time too time to thin out the product as it is grainy. Most importantly DON'T DO THE WATER CHANGE; just leave it alone for a day or two and let the product sit there on the rock (as much as the powerheads will allow it to)
If you do this and have patients your aptasia troubles will be over too (it took my about 2 Months but I haven't had but a few aptasia since)
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New Member
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Last Login: 5/4/2010 4:15:16 PM
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| I have used the syringe/lemon juice method and it was successful 90% of the time if you shoot the juice directly into the stem, mouth with a needle, not just floating the liquid over the thing.
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New Member
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Last Login: 3/27/2010 5:30:10 PM
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| A few Peppermint Shrimp cleaned out the Aiptasia in my tank in a few days. I was super surprised how quickly they did the job.
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New Member
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Last Login: 10/31/2010 12:51:01 PM
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What has always worked for me and cost nothing was to take the rock out of the water, get a grill lighter and cook it. There is no damage to the rock, it is usually free(unless you don't have a bbq lighter), and is guaranteed to work. All you need to do is cook it, hear it sizzle/pop then wipe with a cloth. My tanks were overrun with over 50+, and now I have 0 7 months later.
There's a reason we love fish, we're made mostly of water, huh go figure
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New Member
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Last Login: 12/14/2010 7:39:50 AM
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| I added 2 Peppermint Shrimp to my 29 gal reef tank and they ate every one of my Aiptasia in 2 days! Try them again. You may be suprised!
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New Member
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Last Login: 5/29/2012 5:03:56 PM
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| I have tried the pepermint shrimp but they did not work for me. I have found Joe's juice to be very effective. I had aptasia in 10 to 15 areas in my tank. i have used Joe's Juice twice and have been aptasia free for a couple of months now. Good Luck!
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