what is this?

[craqerjaq]

one of my live rocks has this one which is a little over an inch in diameter along with numerous smallers ones betwen 1/4" and 1/2". what is it and what does it do?

[Poseidon]

It is an Aiptasia Anemone, and it is a pest. Do a search on this board, there is TONS of information on them, and how to get rid of it.

[craqerjaq]

well given that my tank is new and fishless, not even a week of having live rock...it was kinda cool to see some life. I have found small snails cruising the rocks too (any harm there?)...but as far as those Aiptasia Anemone's...only one of my rocks seems to have them.

So I'm reading about Lysmata wurdemanni and I kinda like that idea. would you recommend getting one or two of those shrimp?

[Ninong]

So I'm reading about Lysmata wurdemanni and I kinda like that idea. would you recommend getting one or two of those shrimp?

No. You should NOT get any peppermint shrimp just to remove one or two Aiptasia on a single piece of rock in a brand new aquarium. For starters, they may not eat all of the anemones. Any tiny pieces of tissue left in the cracks and crevices can regenerate into a new anemone.

You should remove the troublesome rock from your aquarium and dispose of the Aipasia one way or another. You could seal it up using super glue or epoxy. Or you could blast it with a miniature blow torch. :eek3:

You could also inject it with vinegar, lemon juice, Kalkwasser, boiling water, hydrochloric acid, etc. ;;

If you try to remove these anemones manually, you will almost certainly leave pieces of tissue behind, which will regenerate into new animals.

Good luck!

[craqerjaq]

What if I was thinking about having some shrimp in my tank to begin with? I always thought they were cool to look at. I don't plan on having a reef in this tank so there would be no danger of them eating anything I paid for. I figured why not find some of those shrimp if there's extra food for them sitting around...idk.

On the rock there is one bigger one and maybe 10 or so smaller ones but they are slowly growing...I guess that means my water has good nutrients. With nothing else but a couple tiny snails and these centipede looking worms I saw last night...the tank is kinda lifeless and the Aiptasia at least gives me something to watch.

If you start injecting things how can you be sure not to harm anything good that would be living in the rock? And what exactly would you use as an injector? The closest thing I have is the water dropper that came with the refractometer but I don't know how that would work since the Aiptasia retracts back into the rock whenever I move the rock.

Say I use vinegar on these things...how long does it take for them to die? Is it instantaneous or does it take a while? I don't want to keep the rock out of the tank for too long do I?

[Ninong]

Let me try to make this as simple as possible: Get rid of the Aiptasia anemones NOW. That means today or tomorrow. Get rid of them even if it means removing that rock and throwing it in the garbage can. Allowing Aiptasia to spread in your tank is NOT an option.

As for the syringe, it should be one with the largest needle possible. You would inject the anemones in the center if at all possible. They should die within minutes. You can purchase expensive products, such as Joe's Juice, or you can use a whole host of household products, beginning with plain white vinegar. Vinegar, or even hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), will not harm anything if you just inject a couple of drops into each anemone. You can't inject more than say half a dozen per day because of the effect it will have on lowering the pH. Of course, this all depends on how large your tank is. You wouldn't want to inject two dozen of them at once in a really small tank (say 20 gallons), but that would be no problem at all in a 300-gal tank. You shouldn't use hydrochloric acid in a plastic syringe. Plain white vinegar works great and it's cheap and readily available at the supermarket.

There is a new product on the market called Aiptasia-X. It looks VERY promising. Their product is not really injected, it is simply applied directly onto the anemones.

Peppermint shrimp are okay if that's what you want in your aquarium. However, Lysmata amboinensis would be a much better choice, especially if you ever want to convert your tank to a reef tank. People usually buy peppermint shrimp for an established tank because they have an Aiptasia problem that they just can't seem to control with other methods.

Good luck! Just remember, the Aiptasia must be destroyed and the sooner the better. Unless you want an aquarium with just Aiptasia and nothing but Aiptasia. :eek3:

[craqerjaq]

well it looks like I'm going to have to go buy a syringe now...and some vinegar since I don't have any.

I need to remove the rock from the tank before I inject them right? Do I need to put the rock into a container of water in order to get them to come out again? I guess what I'm asking is do you do the injections under water or in open air?

[denhay14]

You can inject it in the water as long as you don't get crazy with the vinegar because it won't effect your pH.

[Ninong]

well it looks like I'm going to have to go buy a syringe now...and some vinegar since I don't have any.

I need to remove the rock from the tank before I inject them right? Do I need to put the rock into a container of water in order to get them to come out again? I guess what I'm asking is do you do the injections under water or in open air?

You can inject them underwater in the aquarium, provided you can reach all of them. Just move the rock around if necessary.

[Ninong]

You can inject it in the water as long as you don't get crazy with the vinegar because it won't effect your pH.

It WILL affect the pH but the effect will be very slight and not harmful unless he goes crazy with the vinegar.



P.S. -- He has a 55-gal tank. A couple tablespoons of vinegar in one day shouldn't hurt anything. He's not going to need that much just to kill off a dozen Aiptasia anemones.

Since the tank is brand new and has virtually nothing in it. He could always remove that rock to a large Tupperware container (or large cooking pot) filled with tankwater. It could be sort of a water change. He could put fresh saltwater in the tank to replace the water removed with that piece of rock. Then he could inject the anemones outside of the tank but underwater in the pot. The water could be discarded when the job is done and the anemones have all died.

He could even use other methods to kill them off instead of injecting them. Like sealing them up with regular marine epoxy like you use to attach frags. Except that if you use a lot of that, your skimmer will go crazy when you put the rock back in the tank. It will go nuts for about three days.

[craqerjaq]

They all seem to be on the "front" side of the rock...so getting at them shouldn't be an issue...just that some of them are damn small lol

I went to ShopKo (from what I remember some parts of the US never heard of it...it's like a step up from a Kmart) and asked the pharacist if they sold syringes and only in 10 packs...then I told him what it was for and he gave me a free one haha...score! Got me some vinegar from the grocery store...and now I'm good to go kill me some Aiptasia. This should be interesting...

do I have to remove the dead ones or just let them be?

[craqerjaq]

vinegar lowers pH right? last reading I took it was on the upper end of the color card, around 8.6 it looked like...so the vinegar would actually help me right?

[Ninong]

No, you don't have to remove the dead ones. You just have to watch the tank over the next several days to see if any of them are still alive. Repeat as necessary.

Yes, vinegar lowers pH.

[returnofsid]

Do you dose Kalk? If so, you already have Pickling Lime, most likely. Mix up some Pickling Lime with RO/DI water. Mix it thick, toothpaste consistency. Use your syringe to inject this into the Aiptasia. It's much more effective than vinegar or lime juice.

I've used AiptasiaX recently, after reading all the great threads about it. I'm now beginning to have my doubts!! It doesn't seem to work as good as Kalk Paste, IMO. This could be because it's rather thin and easily blown away from the aiptasia you're trying to nuke. If you turn all your flow off, it seems to be easier to apply.