Mysterious Invertebrate

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:47 am

I inject mine with a little vinegar and it works great. But ofcourse I would not use the vinegar too much.

Post by **snoopdog** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:43 pm

I purchased about 5 peppermint shrimp for an outbreak, two weeks later there was not an aptasia left.

SixLDfalcon · Post by **SixLDfalcon** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 7:43 pm

Thanks for the info. I've been trying the boiling water idea but it just seems to irritate the things instead of actually killing them. If it doesnt work after some more tries, ill buy some more peppermint shrimp, since my yellow tang just killed one of them.

Post by **snoopdog** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:13 pm

Well Vinegar does wonders for killing them through injection....but ....sometimes you cannot SEE all of them. Since you cannot see all of them, they spread. Vinegar kept them at bay for a while but the peppermint shrimp took them down for good.

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:49 pm

I dont know if it is just me, but the peppermints only seem to eat the much smaller individuals, not touching the big ones. Thank God when I did have Aiptasia before, they were all tiny.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:55 pm

I have only had a couple so my experience is limited. I tried injecting vinegar and a thin kalk solution and then a thick kalk solution on top and in the hole that it retreated to. When I injected it (both times) it ended up turning into two. I guess that I cut it in half with the needle. Then I got a bunch of peppermint shrimp. The kalk paste worked pretty good for the ones that you can get to but the peppermint shrim took care of all of them. I added 75 to my 100 gallon (I caught them locally which won't help you). I understand that the shrimp are hit or miss unless you train them to eat Aiptasia. All you have to do is put a small rock with an Aiptasia in a small tank with the shrimp and enough equipment to keep them alive (an airstone and small water changes is really all you need for short term training). Do not put any food in there, the shrimp will eventually eat them when they get hungry enough.

Post by **snoopdog** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:05 pm

My Aptasia were HUGE and they eventually ate every single one....took two weeks to see good results though. I had at least 50 heads to be eaten, but they got to them.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:27 pm

I was reading throught hte whole thread and the tube part of it doesn't sound like an Aiptasia. They look like small thin condilactus that are light brown to white and have a long foot unless they are getting a lot of light. It kind of sounds like a Vermitid snail which has a tube and grow a lot in the sand. In the sand all you see is the clear tenticles they use to gather detritus/food.

Sometimes they look like this:

SixLDfalcon · Post by **SixLDfalcon** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:30 pm

It's definitely aptasia. I think i've gotten rid of it but the next few days will tell. I hope my shrimp keep on top of it.

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:30 pm

This worked for me

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:55 pm

Scott, the picture you have there is a vermetid snail. However, the things you are referring to in the sand are not. Vermetids use strands of mucus to gather food. The animals found in the sand are actually worms, usually chaetopterid worms, characterized by two clear feeding palps (though it can appear to be just one).

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:46 pm

I'm thinking of the worms that you are refering to. From the first post that is what it sounded like, being in the sand. All the Aiptasia that I have ever seen were on rocks.

SixLDfalcon · Post by **SixLDfalcon** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:11 pm

I only first spotted them on the sand. After a while I noticed them behind my live rock on the glass.