Aiptasia..

[MadCatter]

If you have a fish only tank (in my case, potentially a single clown goby and a brittle star), what makes aiptasia so horrible? Is it only considered horrible around other anemones or corals?


I have found a ton of info about how to get rid of Aiptasia, and I can see how they could cause problems with corals and anemones.. but apart from that, what harm do they cause? Are they more likely to kill fish?

 

[SkiFletch]

Not likely to kill fish, but they'll COVER your tank if you let them

 

[MadCatter]

If they are generally harmless, aside from aesthetic purposes, would it be fine to leave them in my tank? I may or may not have aiptasia - I have 3 little hydroid creatures.. one of which has the brownish tint I hear of when reading about aiptasia, but the other two are milky-white and peach-ish. The peach-one has trippled in size in the last week (is now about 4 mm long from where its body comes out of the rock to where it's longest tentacle would stretch if pointed straight out from the rock. The milky-white one almost has a "beaded" look on it's tentacles, and hasn't grown at all sinceI first noticed. The brownish one hasn't changed much in size either.

I've just taken a liking to all the strange hitchhikers I've found, and unless they're going to kill potential fish I put in there, I'd like them to stay.

 

[Mr.September15]

Mine was bleached because it was under my rock in the shade but once it got bigger it became the tint of brown. I would take them out because they will become a problem if you leave them in there. Just to stay on the safe side

 

[sothoth]

Not to mention they're thought to sting other corals, so if the pest anemones become invasive you can have a real problem keeping other things.

My wife got two peppermint shrimp and in about 1 week they ate every glass anemone in there. She returned them to our local LFS after they took care of the problem and got store credit for them.

 

[MadCatter]

I have a 5 gallon nano with a 10 gallon normal flourescent hood resting on top. I'm in college, and this is about as low-tech for saltwater as one can go. There will be no other corals, just a brittle star fish, and possibly a clown goby. (with a small cleanup crew of a couple hermits and turbos)

It's just hard for me to get rid of them.. they're adoreable, and I've grown attached They don't have names yet however Only my hitchiker snail has a name.

 

[Mr Miagi]

I have a 5 gallon nano with a 10 gallon normal flourescent hood resting on top. I'm in college, and this is about as low-tech for saltwater as one can go. There will be no other corals, just a brittle star fish, and possibly a clown goby. (with a small cleanup crew of a couple hermits and turbos)

It's just hard for me to get rid of them.. they're adoreable, and I've grown attached They don't have names yet however Only my hitchiker snail has a name.

If your not interested in corals, Aiptasia can be beneficial! Crazy I know, and against all books you may have ever read until now, LOL. They are actually very efficient in particulate matter uptake, and can efficiently pull detritus/food from the water. A few people are actually in the process/have made a specific sump compartment to hold only Aiptasia for this purpose.

 

[MadCatter]

I have a 5 gallon nano with a 10 gallon normal flourescent hood resting on top. I'm in college, and this is about as low-tech for saltwater as one can go. There will be no other corals, just a brittle star fish, and possibly a clown goby. (with a small cleanup crew of a couple hermits and turbos)

It's just hard for me to get rid of them.. they're adoreable, and I've grown attached They don't have names yet however Only my hitchiker snail has a name.

If your not interested in corals, Aiptasia can be beneficial! Crazy I know, and against all books you may have ever read until now, LOL. They are actually very efficient in particulate matter uptake, and can efficiently pull detritus/food from the water. A few people are actually in the process/have made a specific sump compartment to hold only Aiptasia for this purpose.

Chances of it killing a clown goby? A brittle star?

 

[Mr Miagi]

I have a 5 gallon nano with a 10 gallon normal flourescent hood resting on top. I'm in college, and this is about as low-tech for saltwater as one can go. There will be no other corals, just a brittle star fish, and possibly a clown goby. (with a small cleanup crew of a couple hermits and turbos)

It's just hard for me to get rid of them.. they're adoreable, and I've grown attached They don't have names yet however Only my hitchiker snail has a name.

If your not interested in corals, Aiptasia can be beneficial! Crazy I know, and against all books you may have ever read until now, LOL. They are actually very efficient in particulate matter uptake, and can efficiently pull detritus/food from the water. A few people are actually in the process/have made a specific sump compartment to hold only Aiptasia for this purpose.

Chances of it killing a clown goby? A brittle star?

Brittle Star? Unlikely. Clown Goby, a little more likely, but something I wouldn't worry about. Brittle Star Eating Goby, VERY likely.

 

[13thmonkey]

in a period of two months i went from no aptasia to every bit of rock covered with them, of course i think keeping a desireable nem in the right water conditions also helped the aptasias. after that it cost me dearly to rid the tank of them.

 

[Donya]

If your not interested in corals, Aiptasia can be beneficial! Crazy I know, and against all books you may have ever read until now, LOL. They are actually very efficient in particulate matter uptake, and can efficiently pull detritus/food from the water.

I don't have space for a sump or special compartment, so I just stick the bigger ones on the top of the powerhead by hand where they're most efficient at helping filtration. They seem to like it there, so it's win-win They are great little filters, especially for cleaning up surface debris. Of course, I don't have anything in the tank that could be hurt by them, so controling them isn't as big a deal.

Chances of it killing a clown goby? A brittle star?

Well...really small Aips wouldn't pose a problem. Bigger nems would be a bigger risk, and stinging potential varies between species. I've got one individual of an unknown Aiptasiidae species that could definitely take out small fish due to sting potential, and a couple regular/common Aiptaisia that are big enough to pose a similar threat. Not sure about the brittle star. I've never seen an Aiptasia have an effect on an echinoderm...my starfish and whatnot harass the nems, rather than the other way around lol.