Aiptasia on a new set up

[vurbul]

Hi,

My tank is a less than a week old 28g Nanocube. The LR and Livesand, I got from a fellow hobbyist. The tank now is cycling and I mixed some LR and dead rocks.

I've just notice some aiptasia on all LR but none on the dead rocks. What do you think I should do now? Should I remove them and dip in FW and scrub a bit or just let it grow and squirt some Joe Juice later on?

And just FYI, I didn't do a FW dip on the LR when I started the tank.

[FuEl]

Some things will eat them. Peppermint shrimp and copperband butterflyfish are the very few reef safe options. Berghia nudibranchs work very well but you cannot get them in Singapore now.

[vurbul]

Thnks. I think Copperband and Berghia are out. I'm trying to go low on LS so there's a limitation there. I don't mind Peppermint shrimp. Easily available here?

But considering that the tank is new and empty except for LR and sand, was just wondering if cleaning the LR thoroughly with FW would eliminate the aiptasia.

[FuEl]

Thnks. I think Copperband and Berghia are out. I'm trying to go low on LS so there's a limitation there. I don't mind Peppermint shrimp. Easily available here?

But considering that the tank is new and empty except for LR and sand, was just wondering if cleaning the LR thoroughly with FW would eliminate the aiptasia.

No, don't waste your time. Even boiling water does'nt kill them. Peppermint shrimps always come in during Carribean shipments.

[divinesloth]

Aiptasia is amazingly hardy. Tried kalk concentrate and JJ. Visually see them shrivelled up and disappear but appear again after a few months. I'd take out the LR and sun it dry.

[zorden]

Aiptasia is amazingly hardy. Tried kalk concentrate and JJ. Visually see them shrivelled up and disappear but appear again after a few months. I'd take out the LR and sun it dry.

oh.. no wonder your rics come with this pest... ..

[divinesloth]

Yes that is the one that cannot be killed...but now that you killed my ric, I can sun the rock dry....

oh.. no wonder your rics come with this pest... ..

[yellowtang]

take out the rock and dig the damned apti out. After that put in 1 or 2 peppermint shrimp. Dont feed the shrimp and they will eat the balance apti that you have missed! Hope it helps.

rgds,

[vurbul]

Maybe sun drying them is a good idea. I'm gonna try it this weekend. See how it goes. Thanks all.

[MOssrope]

Maybe sun drying them is a good idea. I'm gonna try it this weekend. See how it goes. Thanks all.

do note if you sun dry your LR for too long it becomes DR.

one source of filtration down if you are doing it for all your rocks :<

pretty sure the aiptasia will outlive any other thing on the rock in the sun.

[vurbul]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't get to sun dried them afterall. It's been raining past few weeks so not much of the sun.

I am begining to accept it in my tank as I understand now that they're part of the ecosystem. As long as I can keep their numbers down, I'm happy enough.

[Creetin]

DONT be silly. there is no such thing as a good apitasia.

apitasia is bad news from e start. even 1 can wreak havoc later if they like your tank.

better nuke the crap before it gets out of hand.

for cheap and easy means, use kalkwasser paste and inject with a syring to cover the apitasia. off your wavemakers while u do that. leave for around 15 mins to let the kalk burn the api, then you can turn on your wavemaker again.

u can do this as long as u like since u dont have any corals. your ph will drop but this wont matter till u want to add animals in. for now, please go ahead to nuke them...as often as u can!

[vurbul]

Agreed that they can be a PITA when they overran your tank. I am nuking them whenever I see them. I'm just saying that I don't want to lose sleep over it trying to eradicate this pest.

So far its been good for me. Manage to kill quite a number. There's few small ones just coming up. Letting it grow a bit bigger then I'll nuke them again.

Cheers

[RockyBoy]

The more you nuke the more it will come back.

[TayHongSiang]

Agreed that they can be a PITA when they overran your tank. I am nuking them whenever I see them. I'm just saying that I don't want to lose sleep over it trying to eradicate this pest.

So far its been good for me. Manage to kill quite a number. There's few small ones just coming up. Letting it grow a bit bigger then I'll nuke them again.

Cheers

just use a syringe and fresh lemon / lime juice and squik on them...they will melt almost instantly...about 10-20ml will do...

[Thexder]

Should inject the lemon juice into the aiptasia body. Just squirt on won't kill them outright.