Tee December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Hi, I have some of these bad boys in my tank. I want to kill them. How To Eliminate Aiptasia Anemones? Have any of you try to inject lemon juice into the aiptasia? If you have any other method, please show me. I don't want to add any fish or shrimp just to kill these bad boys. Thanks Tee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Do a google search on Joes Juice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tee December 31, 2007 Author Share December 31, 2007 Yeah, I search, and know that there are several medicine to kill them. But there are some website suggested that you can use lemon juice to kill them too. http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/msubpesta.../a/aa061903.htm I was just wondering if anybody ever try this. Thanks, Tee ---------- Do a google search on Joes Juice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fab December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 I used a few peppermint shrimp and a Copperbanded Butterfly fish. Aptasia were gone within a few days and I haven't seen a single one since. Unfortunately, I don't know whether the shrimp got them or the Copperbanded Butterfly fish did, but they are gone. Frankly, I don't care who got them. fab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Copperband butterfly will get rid of all of them. They are also beautiful fish......so you get the double whammy. Peppermint shrimp are hit or miss and Joe's Juice doesn't necessarily kill them.......they can keep on coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Copperband butterfly will get rid of all of them. They are also beautiful fish......so you get the double whammy. Peppermint shrimp are hit or miss and Joe's Juice doesn't necessarily kill them.......they can keep on coming back. Copperbands can also be hit or miss. Someone else said that the Pyramid butterflies will also eat them. Do a search on WAMAS for aiptasia and see what you come up with. This topic has been debated over and over again and there's a ton of feedback on most or all of the various methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEEPBLUE December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 White vingar works great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lletellier December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 I know people have used a straight shot of kalk with success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rioreef December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Peppermint shrimp worked like a charm for me. If you get one, make sure it is a peppermint and not a camel. They look similar in shape and color, camel has more white color and the peppermint is somewhat translucent between the red patterns. LiveAquaria Shrimp Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Fit December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 Do a combination, peppermint and injecting with Joe's Juice or Kalk. If you are persistent then you'll see good results in a couple of weeks. I had a bad case and the combination of 5 peppermint and injecting worked great. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 (edited) I found one in my 29g setup just last week and injected it with lemon juice. After it retracted back into its hole, I didn't see it for 3 days. Then, when it did come out, it looked pretty beat up. I gave it a second shot of lemon juice and haven't seen it since. So, lemon juice does work. I added some peppermint shrimp late in the week just in case there's some more coming. Edited December 31, 2007 by Origami2547 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaironman December 31, 2007 Share December 31, 2007 I know people have used a straight shot of kalk with success Confirm this method beautifully. Just did this last night for a friend. Use a syrine and shoot straight to its mouth with generous Kalkwasser liquid. Let it calciumfied all over the mouth and within 10 minutes, the aiptasia anemone will be destroyed right in front of our eyes. No worry about vinegar, etc.... 10 minutes job and sure shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 Vinegar Pros - acid that will kill the aiptasia by essentially disrupting all of its cellular functions and dissolve it Cons - has phosphate in it and may offset your pH in your tank (not likely if you are careful with how much you use) Joe's Juice Pros - will kill anything that eats it in your tank that is anemone related, typically only needed once to do the trick Cons - will kill anything that eats it in your tank that is anemone related, including zoanthids; also very messy as you have to spray it into the mouth; costs a lot when you consider how much it treats if you have a large infestation Kalk Pros - will typically kill the aptasia by disrupting its pH and dissolve it Cons - not always 100% effective as you have to inject it inside the anemone and if you do it wrong, it won't kill it Lemon Juice Pros - same as vinegar except it's a citric acid, does not add phosphates from what I know Cons - not sure what else is introduced into the system, may make you salivate a bit and think of ice tea Kalk and Vinegar Why mix them? You might as well inject with RO water as the base and acid will pretty much nullify the desired effect of throwing off the pH inside the aiptasia Peppermint Shrimp Pros - will eat aiptasia Cons - hit or miss as far as them eating the aiptasia, some do not acquire the taste for it; will not always tackle the larger ones Copperband Butterfly Pros - will eat aiptasia, even the large ones Cons - hit or miss as far as them eating the aiptasia, some do not acquire the taste for it; sensitive fish and may not survive if it's not already a proven eater Berghia Nudibranchs Pros - will eat only aiptasia, cool to watch Cons - expensive! and you need to take care for how you introduce them as they are really tiny and are rather sensitive to water conditions in my experience; will die once aiptasia are gone and may not eradicate it if you do not take a very slow approach to how you propagate and feed them My suggestion: use multiple sources for ridding yourself of aiptasia (I suggest a copperband, a bunch of shrimp, and Joe's Juice or Kalk to take care of the really big ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtC January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 Or just learn to love them... Something in my main tank eats them. I have absolutely no idea what and I guess I won't know until 'it' dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtC January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 IIRC, one of the CMAS speakers said Joe's Juice consists of kalk and salt. But all of the 'safe' products are based on locally overdosing something that is found in the aquarium anyway. Acids, bases, salts, kalk: small ions that the cellular membrane can't deal with when there is a big gradient, but which which make a tiny contribution to the levels in the tank as a whole once dissolved. High gradients burst the cell membranes via water transport in addition to any damage the material itself does - which is why salt also works. The slight advantages of kalk are that you are actively trying to increase the Ca levels in the tank anyway, and it doesn't dissolve before the whole animal gets killed. Kalk particles are more likely to drift to something you value - I spilled some on my clown's anemone last week while killing something else and I thought it was a goner, but it healed over in a couple days. I guess reef life is used to chemical warfare. Fully dissolved kalkwasser should work about the same as the acids - might take two shots instead of one. My aptasia are small, and I never had any trouble killing them with kalk paste just dumped on them. It will sure kill whatever part of the animal it hits. Even my real anemones only take one shot as long as I get it on the disk. (I dunno what they are, Calfo couldn't ID one in person so I gave up trying.) Vinegar Pros - acid that will kill the aiptasia by essentially disrupting all of its cellular functions and dissolve it Cons - has phosphate in it and may offset your pH in your tank (not likely if you are careful with how much you use) Joe's Juice Pros - will kill anything that eats it in your tank that is anemone related, typically only needed once to do the trick Cons - will kill anything that eats it in your tank that is anemone related, including zoanthids; also very messy as you have to spray it into the mouth; costs a lot when you consider how much it treats if you have a large infestation Kalk Pros - will typically kill the aptasia by disrupting its pH and dissolve it Cons - not always 100% effective as you have to inject it inside the anemone and if you do it wrong, it won't kill it Lemon Juice Pros - same as vinegar except it's a citric acid, does not add phosphates from what I know Cons - not sure what else is introduced into the system, may make you salivate a bit and think of ice tea Kalk and Vinegar Why mix them? You might as well inject with RO water as the base and acid will pretty much nullify the desired effect of throwing off the pH inside the aiptasia Peppermint Shrimp Pros - will eat aiptasia Cons - hit or miss as far as them eating the aiptasia, some do not acquire the taste for it; will not always tackle the larger ones Copperband Butterfly Pros - will eat aiptasia, even the large ones Cons - hit or miss as far as them eating the aiptasia, some do not acquire the taste for it; sensitive fish and may not survive if it's not already a proven eater Berghia Nudibranchs Pros - will eat only aiptasia, cool to watch Cons - expensive! and you need to take care for how you introduce them as they are really tiny and are rather sensitive to water conditions in my experience; will die once aiptasia are gone and may not eradicate it if you do not take a very slow approach to how you propagate and feed them My suggestion: use multiple sources for ridding yourself of aiptasia (I suggest a copperband, a bunch of shrimp, and Joe's Juice or Kalk to take care of the really big ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 The only 'injector' that I have is the one from Joe's juice. Where could I get a needle that's not quite as sharp as a regular hypodermic, but sharp enough to get inside the animal? With the Joe's juice injector, I can only get inside the biggest ones. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 Bob, I use dosing syringes from the salifert test kits... (i.e. the alk test kit... the one I go through the quickest... I just keep the old syringe for my testing and use the new one for something else. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 My copperband is always on the hunt for an aptasia, my refugium and sump are infested with the pests but none to be seen in the main tank. I found Joe's juice the best cure for aptasia and the other pest that I can't think of the name of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 1, 2008 Share January 1, 2008 Bob, I use dosing syringes from the salifert test kits... (i.e. the alk test kit... the one I go through the quickest... I just keep the old syringe for my testing and use the new one for something else. Dave Ah.... yeah - those are pretty sharp! I have a couple of big ones that I've never been able to kill with Joe's - because they suck themselves into a hole in the rock when I squirt them. Bet if I can get it inside them, they won't be so lucky! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tee January 2, 2008 Author Share January 2, 2008 Origami, Thanks a lot for your confirm. I will try the lemmon juice first, before I buy something else. Tee ------- I found one in my 29g setup just last week and injected it with lemon juice. After it retracted back into its hole, I didn't see it for 3 days. Then, when it did come out, it looked pretty beat up. I gave it a second shot of lemon juice and haven't seen it since. So, lemon juice does work. I added some peppermint shrimp late in the week just in case there's some more coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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