You think you have aiptasia? Look here.

[Cassii]

Question--will a blue-girdled angel, a bicolor angel, a powder brown tang, or an ornate butterfly (*grumbles* don't ask. Better yet, go ahead) eat them? And if so, wouldn't they be a good treat for said fish?

[1ofManyNguyens]

Juvenile peppermints normally stay away but if you get an adult (tank raised are normally bred feeding on aiptasia) they seem to go after it a lot more.

[jgsensor]

I went the unheard of way for a reef......butterflys. I know don't cringe, but it was a last resort. I have a 375g that hasd hundreds, much too large to reach all the pests with joe's juice or aptasia-x. I tried peppermints and my hawk fish thought they were great, I think he even asked me for more please. Went the bergia route, with no result. I have a worthless copperband for years now who wouldn't touch the stuff. So as a last resort I added a pearlscale and a raccoon butterfly and gone. They even taught the copperband to eat it finally. I wouldn't recommend this route, as it is now hit an miss as to what corals I can add, but for the most part they leave them alone. I have more problems with an evil domino damsel bothering my corals than the butterflys. I still have aptasia pop up now and then in the tank, but if they can get to them they're toast. I move rock occassionally so they can get the aptasia between them and they are gone within a few minutes.

[squidy]

Why is it every time I find a new critter and get all excited on to do a little research and find out it’s a nuisance? I never get good hitchhikers damn it! I just found one of these today and of course I have been ALL excited. I don’t even know where the little punk came from. I haven’t added anything new to my tank for a while.

[csbbsn]

well I'm new and sorry to say I have one of them growing in my tank and I was excited b/c I thought it was a feather duster? Any advise? Just get the shrimp and try that for a while or chemicals I really don't like to put them in the tank I worry that it will affect the tank?

[next]

I picked up some Aiptasia courtesy of some new live rock. I went to my LFS and picked up a Peppermint and in the course of 2 nights he's been a mad man eating every piece in sight.

Before I bought the Peppermint I learned there are more than one type or just imposters and not all eat the pesky Aiptasia. The Lysmata wurdemanni is the real guy.

[fishmama67]

Why is it every time I find a new critter and get all excited on to do a little research and find out it’s a nuisance? I never get good hitchhikers damn it! I just found one of these today and of course I have been ALL excited. I don’t even know where the little punk came from. I haven’t added anything new to my tank for a while.
__________________Oh BABY ! Do I hear you! I am so glad someone else said it too! Seems like every time I turn around, I have a "bad guy" show up. I get all happy because I think it is some new "good" critter. Then I get a pic andc post and SHAZAM! find out I have another "baddie". Holy ****ake mushrooms! Well, I guess I do have one "goodie". He is this little tiny Bright orange feather duster but wouldn't ya know it?! He's on the same rock as a truckload of colonial Hyroids (which I ALSO got all excited about!) Anyway, now I have to try and get rid of those little fatherless children and not kill my new sweetie! NUTS and RATS and BOTHER!
I also have a "lovely" aiptasia campin' out on the same rock so I gotta get that first. I use some stuff called "Aiptasia Control" from Blue vet by Blue Life. Seems to kick tushy in the Aiptasia department but I have only had a few (that tapping sound is me knockin' on wood) that I had to treat so there is that. I last treated about two months ago and onkly just have a couple now. One is about 1.5 inches tall and the other two are almost invisible they are so little. Let you know how the Mrs. Wages works on the hyrdios after the weekend when I do my WC.
Luck to all!

[zy112]

I love when people see my tank, find an aptasia and think its a cool coral... I never had luck with peppermints, but joe's juice cleaned them out great.

[next]

Well my aptasia is 100% gone thanks to my peppermint shrimp (who seems to be quite happy and has already molted once).

[drwellness]

I have to say I'm not impressed with the Aiptasia X... it SEEMS to work with maybe a couple shots on the more hardy sprouts.. but I always seem to have more little ones pop up all over the tank regardless of how I get those little buggers with the X... I've used kalk paste.. seems just as effective... little harder to work with.. esp. with a tiny hypo needle..

I think the most effective I've found so far is to take the rock out of the water and then squirt it with lemon juice.. and let it sit out for a minute or so.. and then if possible I inject the stem of the aiptasia with some more lemon juice.. then put it back in.. they seem to go bye bye that way...

No luck with the peppermints b/c of a hungry snowflake eel... expensive gourmet meal for him!

but alas.. the battle against aiptasia goes on....

[sambrinar]

I just found a wee Aiptasia, I couldn't get the superglue gel to work with me.. so I covered it's hole with tank epoxy that I use to hold coral frags and rock in it's place.. I will see if it works...

[l3fty999]

Here's some food for thought... if you don't successfully treat your tank, would they become resistant to some of the methods we use to get rid of them? You know, kind of like people that don't follow an antibiotic treatment all the way through.

Take care
Aaron