Aiptasia Problem

[3fsh]

I have a 25G tank with about 19 lbs of live rock in it. I just noticed that it has little things growing all over it which look suspiciously like aiptasia. I've been looking at different options for getting rid of them and I really don't want to use chemicals, boiling water, etc. I would like to get some peppermint shrimp, but wouldn't my picasso trigger eat them? He's already killed and eaten a few of the little hermit crabs and clams living on the rocks.

 

[Navarre]

Peppermint shrimps and Coperband butterflies are the natural means of removing them. Copperbands will do the job but the tank is far too small and these fish are notoriously difficult to keep healthy. Peppermints are the best optoin but your trigger will find them a tasty snack. )

 

[Max]

maybe let him in there for 1-2 hours have a snack and put him in a sump or somthing...

 

[ostrow]

The peppermints will take months to clear a heavy population of aiptasia and will not touch the large ones. Try Joe's Juice.

 

[Reefer 4:19:59]

I second the joes juice. Sounds like you have an Eclipse type tank; if you do not have additional filtration & LOTS more flow than a standard eclipse hood provides you will never get rid of the aiptasia.
Why do you wnat to get rid of it? You can't have corals in that tank with the trigger so it is a FOWLR correct? WTH ya have a FOWLER with aiptasia. If you are having a real bloom your tank parameters are out of whack probably & you need better filtration.
Your fish will kill most anything that you could shoehorn into that tank that might eat the aiptasia besides making it awfully crowded for more than a short term.

 

[3fsh]

Actually, my water params are perfect and have been perfect since day one. (I've had it up and running for about two weeks.)

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Specific Gravity: 1.024
pH: 8.3


Secondly, I'm not sure that they are aiptasia, but they do look like it. Would you be able to identify it if I posted a picture of it?

Thirdly, they are TINY... smaller than a pea, and there are not a ton of them. I am just worried that if THEY ARE aiptasia, this number will grow quickly to be too many.

Fourth, I have read that they are harmful to fish, that is why I wanted to get rid of them. Were my sources wrong?

 

[ostrow]

Better post a pic cuz it could be some sort of zoo polyps (which would be very lucky indeed) or tubeworms (ditto) or small feather dusters (ditto). Basically, need to see a pic at this point.

 

[3fsh]

K... I'll post a picture tommorow (if I can). Hopefully it isn't aiptasia... but we'll see.

 

[3fsh]

Look under the member's aquarium pictures section for a photo of the stuff that I believe may be aiptasia (and for other pics of my tank ).

 

[3fsh]

Here's the link: http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=48610

 

[ostrow]

response posted on the other thread.

 

[3fsh]

Thank you sooooooo much for the id! *breathes big sigh of relief*

 

[rena]

They may be newly forming feather dusters. I thought I had aptaisa, took the rock to the LFS and found out I had bunches of baby feather dusters (their so cute). Anyway, I have one aptasia in my 30 gal, its been there for about 3 months and it has created anymore, so I figure what the heck, leave it.