Anenome on my LR

[lizardfishman]

I just bought some LR and theres some very small anenomes on one piece. i forgot the name but i know that they are "undesirable". they are dark purple with thin stalks and very thin tentacles. ill get some pics up later. how exactly should i go about getting rid of them if they are going to cause problems.

o and this is in my 20gal. with 10lbs of LR, a bicolored pseudochromis, a bunch of tiny hitchhiking starfish, and a few other hitchhiking inverts that are pretty small.

 

[sweeTang21]

The easiest way for me is getting a small needle and syringe from the vets office and using that. if there small i just get them to retreat into there hideout and inject a little bit of 100% concentrated lemon juice in there. This burn the flesh of the small onces and kills them. If you have a lot, only do a small amount at a time so you don't cause a huge change in water quality. Its a very easy task and if they are larger try to get it in there stalk otherwise just go for burning there flesh. That should take care of it, i did mine about 3 months ago and have not seen any since.

They are called Aipstasia.

 

[Predator 1]

The best "Natural" method of getting rid of Aiptasia is to buy a Copperband Butterfly fish. They love to eat them. I have used them to clear the same problem myself, with a 100% success rate. And as a bonus, they are a very coulerfull fish.

 

[sweeTang21]

The best "Natural" method of getting rid of Aiptasia is to buy a Copperband Butterfly fish. They love to eat them. I have used them to clear the same problem myself, with a 100% success rate. And as a bonus, they are a very coulerfull fish.

Remember that his tank is 20 gallons. copperbands get large and active. He may also want coral which do not always mix with these fish. I agree thats it a great way for the Natural approach, but you could also soak the rock in strait RO water with no salt, and re-cycle the rock again. Not my preferred method of approach.

 

[lizardfishman]

ok thanks for the help guys. i wish i could get a copper-b butterfly fish but they do get too large. i have a 55gal but id rather just get this done on my own w/o spending 45$ on a fish that, while awsome looking, im really not too confident about owning quite yet lol. ill go for the syringe method w/ lemon juice method. thanks for the help. i knew the name started with an "a" and had "pista" but didnt fully know the real name. once again, thanks for the help.

o and i might try some coral eventually

 

[lizardfishman]

if i took the piece that the anenomes are on and kept it out of the water for a few days, would that solve the problem? would that cause an ammonia spike when i put it back in? im not sure if getting a needle and syringe will be possible. im goin to do some more research on this

 

[tunerX]

nudibranch are the most effective, since that is all they eat. The only problem is that once they eat it all they will die of starvation. You can also try peppermint shrimp, they may or may not eat it.

With aiptasia, as long as a piece of it is still there, it can grow back. Pulling the rock and soaking in RO will get rid of that anemone on that rock, but it may have already spread to places that you cannot see.

 

[lizardfishman]

well i just got the rock today. i also bought two peppermint shrimp but they are both in my 55gal tank. i tried some pure lime juice and they havent come back out yet. i found another one that was on a different piece of LR and i squirted that one and it didnt come back. i had tried to suck the other 3 out with no luck of course so they were a little annoyed when i squirted them. the fact that the one i didnt bother hasnt come back out yet is a good sign. i dont have a hypodermic needle but i do have a syringe so im using that for now. ill see if they are back in the morning.

o and i found a featherduster worm . so theres a hitchhiker i do like

 

[philliptobin]

I don't know much about Ct, but TSC (Tractor Supply Company) or any other farm type store should have syringes with needles. They should be with the animal medications.

 

[sweeTang21]

ok thanks for the help guys. i wish i could get a copper-b butterfly fish but they do get too large. i have a 55gal but id rather just get this done on my own w/o spending 45$ on a fish that, while awsome looking, im really not too confident about owning quite yet lol. ill go for the syringe method w/ lemon juice method. thanks for the help. i knew the name started with an "a" and had "pista" but didnt fully know the real name. once again, thanks for the help.

o and i might try some coral eventually

In your first post you said it was a 20 gallon!! just thought i should point that out. Lemon juice, not lime, although lime juice may work, is the way to go. As I said earlier this burns the tissue of the Aipstasia. I like peppermint shrimp, they add a bit of life to the tank. I have never owned one that went for aipstasia that i know of lol.