Well to start off my buddy has had his tank for a while and I have been helping him take care of it because he is new to the hobby I myself have had my tank since 2001. I went out of town for the summer and when i got back all of his live rock is covered in aiptasia. It is pretty bad!! Anyways I've put in pepermint shrimp and they dont seem to be making a difference and used joe juice. i'm almost to the point of telling him he is screwed and he should start over. Any thoughts?
Houston we have a problem!!!
- Thread starter reeffuzz
- Start date
:welcome:
Peppermints are hit and miss. You sometimes you need to try a dozen+ to find one or two that will eat Aiptasia. You may want to consider adding a few more.
How large is the tank? Fish control may be possible if the tank is larger.
It's going to be a very hard uphill battle.
Peppermints are hit and miss. You sometimes you need to try a dozen+ to find one or two that will eat Aiptasia. You may want to consider adding a few more.
How large is the tank? Fish control may be possible if the tank is larger.
It's going to be a very hard uphill battle.
It is a 40 gal. with no corals just alot of live rock and a hawkfish, clownfish, and the shrimp. On another forum someone told me to cook the rock not sure what he ment by it maybe boil them, but that would create alot of dead tissue so i couldnt just put them back in the tank after i'm done. I could probably put the fish in a quaritne tank and just overflow it with peppermint shrimp.....
Cooking the rock is a catchy term people use these days meaning to put the rock in total darkness for weeks on end (often more then a few months). It is definitely not a suggestion to boil the rocks 
Cooking will unlikely work. Aiptasia do not need light to survive, and they fair really well in total darkness. I would not do this.
Your friend might simply be better off changing out all the rocks if the problem is as bad as it sounds.
You need to remove the hawkfish if you are going to try shrimps. The hawkfish will eat all the shrimps.
Cooking will unlikely work. Aiptasia do not need light to survive, and they fair really well in total darkness. I would not do this.
Your friend might simply be better off changing out all the rocks if the problem is as bad as it sounds.
You need to remove the hawkfish if you are going to try shrimps. The hawkfish will eat all the shrimps.
Ive never heard the term used thank you very much He is actually a well mannered hawkfish because all shrimp are accouted for, compared to the one i have in my 100 gal at my house he is mean little sucker. well tomarrow is another day we will try. On the other forum another person said add about a tablespoon of kalk paste a day to kill off the big ones then release the peppermints after to clean up the little ones, sorry I have never delt with aiptasia because i have never had this problem with my own tank
Kalk paste can sometimes work, but you need to target each polyp individually. With a lot of polyps, it becomes a tough task. Joe's Juice works well too, but again, a lot of work. Usually, if a peppermint will eat the small ones, it will take out bigger ones too. You just need to find some that will eat the Aips, and give them time to develop the taste for them.
I had aiptasia in my 30 and I found the 'best' way to get rid of it. You take the rock out of the water and let it dry out under the summer sun for a week. Then you rinse it off really well, scrubbing out as much built up gunk as possible. Then you toss it in your sump for 2-3 months.
But then again, I was breaking that tank down...
Good luck!
But then again, I was breaking that tank down...
Good luck!
The Berghia do work though. Just gotta take your time with them like many of the other delicate things we keep. They are by far less trouble and much less expensive than loosing 100 dollar corals or starting a new tank, replacing rocks, etc. And much less trouble than injecting over and over. Except in tanks with lobsters. I've used them in several tanks with great success, totally getting rid of the Aiptasia in those tanks. There is information on the site Acclimation page that is critical information to success with the Berghia slugs.
if you can inject .. thats the most sure fire way to kill them. i use joes juice all the time, and it works great. Just turn off all your pumps, start with one rock, and nuke each one individually till they are all gone, then move to the next rock.
remember we are talking about a 40g tank... There's only so much surface area for these things to cover in a tank that size
B
remember we are talking about a 40g tank... There's only so much surface area for these things to cover in a tank that size
B
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
