[oceanreef]

Someone please tell me there is a way to get rid of Aiptasia!!!I had bought a chemical for this and they are still invading my tank!!I bought a peppermint shrimp and I do not see him doing anything!!What do I have to do take all the rock out of the tank..I cant stand these criters..Please help!!!Thanks so much more anyones time to help me figure this out!!!oceanreef.

[rwag]

Oceanreef,
Try and add a couple more peppermints and focus on killing the large aiptasia yourself. The best way I have found is to remove the rock the aiptasia is on and encapsulate it with superglue
gel.(excellent method)Hope this helps!Good luck
Ryan

[organicreefer]

more peppermints ,kill the big ones with a syringe or whatever(as a matter of fact kill all you have the patience ti kill),and most importantly patience .

[jadeclam]

have patience the shrimp will do his job but they are right you must kill the big ones.

[oceanreef]

Thanks guys for the help,I have this stuff on almost every rock.The problem was I am kind of new to all of this and when they started to appear I did not know that they would invade...I only have one peppermint shrimp but I will deffinitly get more!!!How many more do you think will help,I have a 55 gal..Thanks again for the help..I hate these things so much I was going to tear down the tank .

[jadeclam]

i have one in my 120 he keeps the place clean

[organicreefer]

in youre tank i would put 3 at most-the trick is getting ahead with injections-and then letting the shrimp take care of any that pop up.
it sounds like more work than it really is i bet you could get the populations down real low in a few sessions.thats how i did it-i had alot.i injected with boiling saltwater,sucked em out -a few at a time.
i still have a few i see right now-im gonna inject them this weekend before a water change.
ime once you have them youll always have them-they just wont be a problem /you wont see em.im sure if i took out my peppermints they would make a comeback.
i put six in my 120 -and it worked ,however now i only know for sure that i have 2 in there(not sure about the rest).

[oceanreef]

Wow guys thanks alot for the advice, I feel like I can combat these creatures now.....I guess it all takes time..But when you have something that is so agrivating to a tank time is not on my side..Thanks again anyother coments are appriciated....I feel much better knowing these creatures can be cured,at least forawhile..Oceanreef..

[Steve]

I haven't experienced this myself, but many people have told me that a copperband butterfly will wipe them out and do it with a smile. Copperbands can be finicky eaters though. Once the aiptasia are gone, it may not have enough food. They have long snouts so they can get into rocks to get at the aiptasia.

[jadeclam]

copperbands eat corals

[Steve]

The people that I have talked to that do have copperbands in their reef tanks have said that they have never touched their corals. Feather dusters are another story. But I would rather not have any feather worms then have a tank full of aiptasia. Peppermint shrimp kill snails. They especially like the nassarius.

[Northman_with_reef]

I have som nassarius snails, and mine dont even touch them and the peps are XXL!

My shrimp has never killed anything but Aips, I feed them though.

[Steve]

I agree that that is probably why they go after other stuff. They are hungry! If they are fed enough other stuff they shouldn't bother the snails. I placed a piece of rock covered with aiptasia in my small tank that has two large peppermint shrimps. The rock had a large leather coral on it. They went after the leather instead of the aiptasia! I moved it back to the large tank. I hope the leather can make a come back. They toar the leather up pretty good. I guess they preferred that over the aiptasia.