Help rid tank of aptasia!(age old question.any new answers?)

[lynn53]

Well this past year my tanks have really had a aptasia explosion. I've treated them (every month or so) with Joe's Juice and my own kalk concoction only to find them disappear for a week or two (thinking their dead) but then they just come back and look even bigger? I haven't been on this board for a year or so and thought maybe there was a new way of killing these things. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Lynn

 

[Anonymous]

I use the kalk paste method and so far so good.

 

[mr_X]

i have used a syringe and vinegar successfully. you have to inject it right into their flesh. 1 or 2 drops turns them into snot :wink:

 

[fishinchick]

but if you have a LOT of aips using vinegar will mess with your Ph and such.

Then again so would using the kalk.

It's easier to really screw things up using vinegar over kalk though. If you used Joes juice and they 'came back' I am willing to wager money that you missed a few.

I've found that if you keep at it solidly for a month you can usually get them all. It's inconvenient but making an every day job of going on an aiptasia hunt usually gets rid of them all. Some days you may not find any, other days you'll find a couple. Remember they move around so you may find one tomorrow that was under a rock last night....

Having a small holding tank to give your corals a 24 hour quarantine before putting them into your display usually gives naughty things enough time to show up - like aips, nudis, flatworms etc etc.

 

[mr_X]

how much vinegar would be needed in order to alter ph? a drop or two per pest here and there wouldn't do much.

 

[Anonymous]

I've had great results with the syringe with a large bore needle filled with Kalk, followed by the pink colored reef safe putty over the spot technique. The putty makes sure the what's left over in the crevices of the rock doesn't regenerate.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, Lynn, not only can I not really help you in this department, but I'm more interested in your Friesians! Those horses are absolutely gorgeous, rivaling Andalusians.

 

[lynn53]

Oh thanks! I sure do love them too! We've had alot of horses but I'm really hooked on this particular breed...not only their beauty but their incredible minds and personalities.
Do you have Andalusions? If so I'd love to see them.

 

[Anonymous]

No, never even been able to work with them. My family, on my mother's side, used to breed Puerto Rican Paso Finos. When I was younger I showed and bred Arabians. Dutch Friesians are just beautiful, and I would love to get a chance to handle such a horse. I can't get enough of looking at them, that's for sure.

I visited your site, too. You do really wonderful work (photography, I wish I had such skill and talent) and congratulations on being published.

 

[hotrodder]

I use Joe's Juice. Stuff seems to work great. I think it's just kalk paste. I'm not sure.

 

[Anonymous]

I use Joe's Juice. Stuff seems to work great. I think it's just kalk paste. I'm not sure.

Kalkwasser paste with shrimp juice mixed in. Try making some with kalkwasser powder and the liquid from your frozen fish food when it thaws. It works just the same.

 

[Anonymous]

That's interesting! So what, the shrimp juice lures the lil buggers out and the kalk paste nukes 'em?

 

[Mthompson]

I think I am gonna try the juice/kalk paste thing this week. I have three aips I can see now. Perhaps I will do a little pseudo-experiment...

treatments:
- RO/DI water (for control; then I will kill it with another method)
- kalk paste
- kalk/shrimp juice paste

No replications of each treatment though, but I am sure I will have some more crawling out real soon!

On the first two aips in my tank, all I did was burn them with a grill lighter (out of the water of course). Well, I tried that on two of these three but they were able to retract far enough into the rock that it didn't work. Even after holding the flame in their crevice for 10 seconds!

Anyway, I will try these two methods this week and let everyone know how it works.

 

[Anonymous]

That's interesting! So what, the shrimp juice lures the lil buggers out and the kalk paste nukes 'em?

Yeah, IME the critter will retract immediately when I use straight kalkwasser (or vinegar or lemonjuice), but will remain extended long enough to get a good injection when I mix in the shrimp juice. Then it's all, "I'm meelllting! I'm meellting! Oh, what a world!" </wicked witch of the west voice>

 

[Mthompson]

Well I did the treatment last night. Here are my initial results:

- RO/DI water alone resulted in retraction, but not death.
- Kalk paste alone resulted in retraction, and no reappearance as of yet.
- Kalk paste/ shrimp juice resulted in same speed of retraction as all other treatments, and no reappearance as of yet.

I also went ahead and kalk pasted the control aip as well, so hopefully they are all dead now.

 

[ChrisRD]

If you have any regrowth try boiling the mix in a microwave right before you use it. I've had a better kill rate (probably 99%) with heated kalk mix vs. non-heated.

I've always done the near/on squirting, not direct injection...

Peppermints have always worked for me too.

 

[Mthompson]

I am not totally sure I injected any of them. When I put the needle down next to them, they pretty much retracted all the way in to the rock. I found that stabbing them through the base help retard their retreat, but they eventually pulled all the way inside the rock. So I just squirted the paste in their crevice until it was filled up (not more the 3/4 CC each time).

I think it will work out just fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Peppermints have always worked for me too.

Don't they melt once submerged in the water, though? :?

 

[ChrisRD]

When I put the needle down next to them, they pretty much retracted all the way in to the rock.

That's why I don't try to inject them. I find it more effective to slowly squirt the mix right near them and let them take it in. Once they start to retract I but a nice size blob on the area and let it sit there for a while (with all pumps off). Just what has worked best for me...

Peppermints have always worked for me too.

Don't they melt once submerged in the water, though? :?

Heh, the shrimp, not the candy... :wink:

 

[das75]

What I've done is mix some kalk into a fairly thick paste then get some frozen Mysis, thaw in tank water then drain the water into the kalk paste.

Using a large bore needle, from a little above the aptasia slowly drip some of the paste onto them. Find they'll stay out and just take the paste in.

Not that I'm 100% aptasia free as can't either reach them all (peppermint shrimp slowly work on those) but the ones I get, I'm totally confident that they're dead as never see any back in the some area for months if ever.