Glass anemones
I have a problem!
Glass anemones (Aiptasia) ?I have peppermint shrimp in there and I tried a Raccoon Butterfly But I have a Yellow Tang in the tank and it would not leave it alone. It is a reef tank and I know that Raccoons are not good but I am out of ideas.  I did take the Raccoon out.  My next step is Muriatic acid. What else is there?
Thanks Sandy
<Hi Sandy,
I used a product called "Stop Aiptasia" which worked fine in my case. You need to apply it with a syringe. Here is a link http://www.premiumaquatics.com/thestore/prods/STOP-APTAS6OZ.html
Some reefers also inject them with Kalk, which works from what I hear.
Other than that, and other chemicals or substances which can be injected, there are no 100% reliable biological answers. Copperband butterflies are hit and miss (not to mention a bit fragile themselves) and peppermint shrimps do not always work as you've found out.
If there is a particular rock or two that have a large concentration, you can pull that rock out and boil it if practical. You will kill the rock but it will be decolonized in time. Don't do this to more than 20% of your live rock at once though. Hope this helps.
Good luck
Jim>

Hermit crab risk and possible Aiptasia eating starfish 8/6/04
AdamC Hi Nicole here. Only have one coral and it has to go back due to not enough lighting and can't afford to get more just yet (sad) but anyway would hermit crabs be a problem for feather dusters if I get them soon? Don't really care if I have to remove them they just eat crap on the bottom and keep tank clean. Cleaned my canister filter today and found only two Aiptasia. Found one large one behind a rock but otherwise no sightings, tank one was on substrate so easily removed likewise filter ones. Got cowry after Aiptasia disappeared so has to have been starfish then. They are just little ones about 1 inch across that I got from local boat ramp, nondescript brown mottled. but damn they do a good job keeping the tank clean and obviously Aiptasia free too, yay!!!!! <Your hermits are probably fairly risky to your feather dusters, especially if not well fed.  I would encourage you to test your theory that the stars ate the Aiptasia.  If they do, you may have a lucrative cash crop!  Best Regards.  Adam>

Hermit crab and other invert info 8/1/04
More info than a question in case anyone's interested. I have a hermit crab that like eating my closed brain coral, b*st*rd it is slowly disappearing so hermits are a problem in reefs.  <I am fairly sure that you will find that most of the crew that replies to marine and reef queries are not fans of crabs of any kind.  I generally advise against keeping any.  They are far too destructive for their benefit.>
Also I had quite a numerous Aiptasia problem on live rock got a few with Kalkwasser but only the bigger ones now there is not one to be seen. There were less every day until now there are none yay! Must have been eaten by something,  <I would love to know what!  Peppermint shrimp are known predators as are Berghia nudibranchs (not what you describe below).  Other, less specialized predators (some starfish, some predatory snails other shrimps, etc.) are probably very risky to also eat corals.>
in my tank I have damsels (lemon, sergeant major, blue/yellow and 2xblack with eye spot on tail) small wrasse similar to Christmas wrasse, two purple/orange/black nudibranchs, small brownish mottled starfish, cowry, pistol shrimp, four or so hermit crabs I think that's it. So one of them eats Aiptasia! Hope you find this of use.  <Out of the bunch, I would only suspect the starfish or cowry.  The nudibranchs are a very very tiny possibility, but most of them are very specialized feeders (sometimes down to the exact species of coral, sponge, etc. that they prey on!)  Thanks for sharing, and please update us if you hone in on your mystery helper!  AdamC>

Distressed Leather? (Removing An Aiptasia From a Leather Coral)
Greeting WetWeb Crew!
<Hi there! Scott F. here tonight!>
Kudos to you all, for the time and effort that is put into this site. It helps people like me to better enjoy and appreciate this great hobby.
<We're thrilled to be here for you...We have as much fun answering your queries as we do playing with our fish!>
I've been reading your site now for about a year and have a 90 gallon marine tank for almost as long. My question is about a beautiful new mushroom leather coral I just purchased -Sarcophyton. The crown is about 4 to 5 inches across and is attached to an approximately 2 inch thick "stalk", about 3 or 4 inches long. On the very bottom the stalk is a piece of rock about the size of a quarter. Wedged in-between this piece of rock and the coral are a couple of nasty Aiptasia. Eeek!! If I am very careful, with a sharp scalpel, or exacto-knife, could I or should I slice a very thin layer of the coral just above the rock, taking the Aiptasia with it?
<I have experienced a similar occurrence with a Sarcophyton, and was surprised how easy it was to remove the Aiptasia without damaging the coral. The base of the Sarcophyton is surprisingly "tough", and you can practically scrape the anemone off of the coral without damaging it.>
If so, what treatment should follow?
<My best advice is to simply maintain very good water quality after this "procedure">
I have read in Anthony's Coral Propagation book that these corals are quite forgiving. I value your advice. What do you think?   Thanks in advance,  Brenda.
<They are very forgiving! As Anthony and others have implied, you can practically run 'em through a blender and end up with a new coral. However, they do deserve the highest level of care we can offer, so try to be careful when conducting this "operation". Good luck! Regards, Scott F.>

AIPTASIA CONTROL
Dear WWM Crew,
I recently purchased a Copperband Butterfly in order to control an exploding population of Aiptasia in my 437 gal. tank.  The fish has taken care of the problem but has, to my surprise, killed all my Nassarius Snails.  Apparently the Copperband assumes that the trunks of the snails protruding through the substrate are worms. << I've seen many butterflies go right up and eat snails that were on the glass and rocks.  He may be confused, or maybe he isn't (just taking advantage of the situation). >>  I had about 100 of these snails before adding the Copperband.  
What can I add to the tank that will keep my sand bed aerated but will not be eaten by the Copperband. << Bristle worms?  Sand sifting gobies?  Hmm, not sure what I would recommend.  Certainly micro fauna of copepods are the best. >>  
How many Peppermint Shrimp would I need to keep the Aiptasia under control in such a large tank?  << I'll just throw out a number... 10?  That is what I would try. >>
Thanks, Ron Allard
<<  Adam B.  >>

A good way to get rid of Aiptasia
Bob,
<Craig>
Aside from peppermint shrimp (they will make quick work of the Aiptasia pest) I have made a suction device that works quite well in my tanks containing live rock and fish whose menu includes peppermint shrimp. I use a 60 cc plastic piston syringe (normally called an irrigation syringe and available at any surgical supply and most pharmacies) with a length of rigid 1/4" plastic tubing attached to the end with a small piece of 3/8" flexible tubing used as a fitting (allows easy positioning of the rigid tube in the tank. Then it is simple a matter of placing the end of the rigid tubing just above the anemone, pulling the plunger of the syringe back, and sucking the whole of the little devil right off the live rock into the syringe. Works flawlessly every time and without chemicals.
Craig    
<Hee heee! And I like the thought/imagery of the whole process! "Schhlurrrrp! You're outta there!" Bob Fenner>

Aiptasia Killer!
Hi dudes, <Hi! Ryan Bowen with you today> collected a piece of live rock with "baby" (ha ha) anemones on. ID'd shortly thereafter as Aiptasia. <OK> They have tried to get onto other surrounding things such as rocks and substrate but only probably two or three a week and I just remove the substrate particles as I see them Seem to be under control so far. Questions are:
1) If I scrub one off a rock with my fingers in the tank am I spreading the particles to produce many more wherever they float? <yes>
2) Will careful feeding (not overfeeding) of fish etc., and vigilant removal of interlopers keep them in check long term? <No, they'll spread like wildfire and kill most anything in their way.>
3) Should I just count myself lucky they are still on the rock and remove it while I still can (only it has lovely Caulerpa growing wonderfully on it) or can I remove the rock and treat it somehow maintaining the plants and "live"ness of it? <Kill it all.  Joe's Juice works wonders, as does vinegar with a syringe.>
4) Also the ones I find on the substrate are they likely to be just moving from the rock or reproducing and spreading?
<You're going to need to kill every last one!  Good luck, Ryan>

Eradicating Aiptasia II
Hi again Graham, the rock in question actually has hundreds of the little buggers on it ranging from an inch or so in height to barely 3mm and every couple of days I check for evacuees and usually get two or three around the place on the substrate which I remove along with the shell or sand they are attached to. When they attach to my other rock or glass or equipment however they cannot obviously be removed without risking leaving bits floating around. So are these ones the evacuate the rock likely to be reproduced ones or simply the ones that are there moving around?
<It's very tough to say. Generally it's a poor idea to leave pieces of tissue floating around the tank, as this can actually be used as a method to propagate even more anemones.>
I don't want to crate a problem of plague proportions in my tank if I can avoid it and have managed to keep it contained to the one rock so far which is why I think unless you believe they are not that big of a drama, that I would choose to get rid of them now (without killing the rock if possible as I have found on it some really pretty coralline I would like to culture in my tank and some very neat other unidentified "growths" such as a feather duster I believe and some cool pink anemone type things about the same size as the Aiptasia but bright pink and the tentacles have little balls on the end of them not unlike my corals look, any idea on what these might be?
<Sounds like Anemonia Majano. From my experience, these are worse than Aiptasia as you are very unlikely to find a natural method of defense against them.>
So the Aiptasia how do they reproduce I mean by that is it at a certain size or certain conditions that they do or just completely randomly?
<Aiptasia will naturally reproduce by fission, a way of creating an identical morph of the anemone. Under nutrient rich conditions do Aiptasia multiply the quickest. If you feed your tank heavily this may be one reason why the anemones seem to multiply so quickly.>
Would a hyposalinity treatment of the rock kill the coralline and Caulerpa?
<Yes, eventually it would.>
it would probably kill the other creatures I mentioned though I suppose?
<Correct.>
How successful is injection and should I wait for the little ones to get bigger as they may be very difficult to inject, in the mean time are they likely to reproduce?
<From my experience, Aiptasia can reproduce at almost any size. From the way you described the situation, injecting the Aiptasia will most likely make little damage to the Aiptasia in such large numbers.>
As you can probably tell I am at panic stations in fear of these critters after all I've read. Do they actually kill other stuff in the tank like my coral or anemone etc. What harm exactly are they capable of doing?
<They multiply quickly and can sting neighboring corals. Not to mention that the larger anemones may also consume small sized fish, such as clownfish or cardinal fry.>
Thanks so much for humoring my myriad of questions. Cant seem to find any definitive answers anywhere else.
<I would highly recommend you cut down on your feeding, as this may be a factor which is contributing to the growth of the anemones. It would also help to get a description of your tank, including all of your livestock, filtration, how old the tank is, water quality, etc. The more information you include, the better. As far as control comes, I would highly recommend the Peppermint shrimp I stated earlier. Around 6-8 may make a difference in eradicating the Aiptasia. Take Care, Graham.>

Free Gift with Purchase?
Hey crew,
<Hi! Ryan with you today>
I have to say that your site is awesome! <Thanks! Glad to hear you like it> I am a newbie and have found so
much information on it but currently I have a situation which I haven't been able to find a definitive solution. <I understand>
I have a 30 gallon tank with 1 clown, 1 blue Chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp, 4 snails, 3 hermit crabs, 1 conch, just a few pieces of live rock, some plants and crushed coral as my base. I am currently using a Tetratec PF300 Power Filter but I am thinking about investing in a protein skimmer. <I would highly encourage you to do this>
I just picked up the snails, hermit crabs and conch 2 days ago from my LFS since I am having a brown algae problem (tank is approx 2 months old). I discovered an Aiptasia on the conch's shell. I have read that these can breed quickly and removing them is difficult. I researched on your site but can't find anything similar to this situation. I also submitted this question in the newbie forum but no one could really come up with anything.  I don't want to hurt the conch especially since he is doing such a great job cleaning house. The Aiptasia is pretty small. <Remove the conch from the tank, place him in a bowl of water. Use a set of tweezers to remove all the Aiptasia from his shell. You don't want to do this in the tank, or all the little pieces that you break off from the anemone will regenerate in your tank when they land. After you've got all of him off the shell, go ahead and put the animal back in. > The base of it is about 1/4 inch in length and the tentacles are about 1/2 inch in length. How should I remove this little pest from him? Also, do you have any recommendations regarding protein skimmers for my size tank? <A CPR Bak-Pak would be a great skimmer for this sized tank. Good luck! Ryan> Thanks so much for your help!

One Aiptasia?
Dear crew,
<Ananda helping out today...>
I have made an agreement to purchase a used reef system in a 46g bow front tank. The system is over 4 years old, the tank and VHO lighting system are 1 year old. The livestock is of negligible value, 2 PJ cardinals, a mature Percula or False percula clown with his anemone, 2 small brittle stars, 2 medium scarlet reef hermits, an impressive bristle worm at least 6-8 inches long that I intend to get rid of.
<Aw. Maybe put him in a sump? BTW, compared to retail prices around where I live, I'd put a $$ value of about $75-100 on that livestock.>
There is 100 lbs of well encrusted live rock and a 2 inch coral sand base. Because of sale of house I'm able to get this set up with a beautiful, custom made oak stand 6'X4'. I can get the whole thing for $200!
<Sweet!>
The rock alone is worth at least $800! There are many small white polyps on the rock and, here is the rub, one white slender-tentacled something that looks suspiciously like the Aiptasia on page 100 of Bob Fenner's book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". Since I haven't taken possession yet should I back out of the deal? What I'm asking is since there is only ONE suspicious organism in a 46 g tank and I'll be running an Amiracle Quad protein skimmer rated up to 90g and have A peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) is this set-up worth the risk and potential work it may entail? In your opinion of course.
<I'd go for it. There's a definite possibility the shrimp will munch the suspected Aiptasia; if it doesn't, an injection of Kalkwasser or hot water may deal with it.>
Let me know as soon as possible since I'm supposed to take possession on Sat morning. Thanks in advance for your input. Sue
<I'd say "Have fun with your new tank." :-) --Ananda> 

Aiptasia Again (4/127/04)
Hello, I was wondering if I could get some advice, as always I turn to WWM crew instead of LFS. Before I ask my main questions I wanted to know where I can get Mr. Fenner's book other than ordering on line. <Often available at local bookstores. I have seen it at Borders and Barnes & Noble. But what do you have against ordering online? I love Amazon. That's not to say I buy everything online, but only to point out that there is nothing to fear. You're probably at greater risk handing your credit card to a restaurant server.> Anyway I have 140 gal. reef water is nitrate 20, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, 1.024 salt, I have about 180 pd.s of LR.
I have a very bad outbreak of Aiptasia, I put in Peppermint shrimp, they don't do anything! <Are you sure they're true peps (Lysmata wurdemanni) and not another species mistakenly sold as peps?> As a matter of fact my hippo tang pulled' clean it , the tang got mad at it and killed it. <Hmm, maybe I'll try that next time I don't get good customer service somewhere. ;) > I read about copperbanded butterfly fish, <Iffy. No guarantees here either.> I knew they were hard to keep, especially when all the food is gone. The LFS sold one to me and said after he gets big and fat bring him back for full credit so someone else can use him. <I had a nice big plump healthy looking one that I found leaning up against a rock dead one morning after 8 months. He was eating and acting normally the night before.> Sounded great except one thing. I put him in he started to eat and do fine right up until my Naso tang swam up to it and killed it <Can be mean indeed>, I tried to get him out but in a split second it was over. I do try too look up all husbandry, and I didn't see were the two wouldn't get along, I felt really bad for her. <Sounds like you have a bully on your hands. It ill probably kill your Regal eventually too, as your tank is too small for the two of them.> I have way too many Aiptasia to squirt with chemicals and last weekend I tried the boiling water trick, nothing seems to work, other than taking the rock all out I'm not sure were to go, I don't have many corals but I'm afraid it will get the better of them , I have a bubble coral as well as a cabbage coral and a LTA and a flower pot which I have had for a year. I'm Afraid it will kill my corals. Do you have anymore suggestions? <You could look into Berghia Nudibranchs as long as you don't have fish that will eat them. I'd be a little concerned about the Naso in this regard. This situation is a clear demonstration of the scourge of Aiptasia and the need to eradicate it before it gets out of hand like this. You may need to pull the rocks out one-by one and inject the Aiptasia in a separate container of SW, such as a clear Rubbermaid. There is a lot of great information in the FAQs on Aiptasia. DO read all of them.>
Thanks in advance. PS excuse the spelling I am a bad typist. <That's what spell-checkers are for. Also, please capitalize the proper noun "I" and use apostrophes so your mails are easier to read.> Scott <Hope this helps.>

Goby Gobbles Nuisance Anemones, News at 11:00
Hello Crew,
<Drew>
Just thought I would share this as seems every one has come up with different ways to get rid of glass anemones.  In my marine tank I have a Fan dancer goby or Black knight goby, and yes he is marine and has been for close to 5 months now , I bought him as brackish along with some monos and was told that the monos do very well in marine, and I did some reading and found that Gobies will do well full marine as well.
<Some species>
anyways off topic there the reason I am passing this on is my goby has acquired an appetite for Glass Anemones, in fact the 11 I had sprout up he has devoured in one day.  Just thought I would share this with you and see if you have any thoughts on this?
Thanks, Drew
<Neat. Will post for others edification. Bob Fenner>

Ridding Aiptasia 4/20/04
hi bob,
<Anthony Calfo in his stead>
another dreaded Aiptasia question, I have 3 in my tank that I know of for sure.
<really not that big of a deal. They will only flourish if there is a flaw in the system: overfeeding, sloppy feeding, poor water flow, weak protein skimming, weak water change schedule, etc... things that allow nutrients (especially particulates here) to accumulate>
Would you please be able to tell me how to rid this guys,
<not trying to pass the buck, but this topic is written about extensively in our archives... we work so very hard to build this database for folks and friends like you to help themselves and learn/help others in the future. Please do take the time to enlighten yourself there (wetwebmedia.com)>
and what is the root cause of getting them
<wholly nutrient driven... they do not grow from thin air, or nutrient poor water, as it were>
and how can I avoid this in the future?
<proper quarantine of all wet livestock: fishes, corals, snails, sand, rock, algae,... everything! QT is not only for diseases, but for preventing the introduction of pests and predators too. We also have articles and FAQs in the archives on QT protocol>
and on another note, earlier today I had about 5 or 6 Stomatella snails standing up on a piece of live rock, spitting out this white milky substance for around 5 - 6 minutes, would you know what this strange behavior would be?
<not so strange... simply reproduction and the release of gametes>
Thanks Tim
<lots of reading ahead for you Tim... enjoy the journey! Anthony>

-Humu and clown-
Hey Guys, great website!  I had 2 quick questions.  First, the other day my maroon clown fish picked up a small rock in his mouth, swam to the top of the tank, and spit it out almost hitting my Humu trigger, who was down below. < (gasp) > A little odd, do you think he's trying to take him out? <Haha, I think you've been watching the Sopranos too much.> My more important question is that I believe that I (have) glass anenomes, that have slowly spread from 5 in the original rocks 1.5 years ago to 15 now. <Wow, spreading out pretty slow, nuke them now.> Do you think that I should do something about them? <Well, maybe I shouldn't be so hasty. If you have no intentions on keeping any live coral, then you have no need to kill them. They're only pests if they're killing stuff, absolutely no problem in a fish only tank.> They kind of add to the tank but I don't want them to become pests.  Thanks a lot in advance, Jon <I hope this helps! -Kevin>

Aiptasia Bath?
Good Afternoon,
<Same to you! Ryan with you today>
I have a friend whose tank is filled with Aiptasia.  He thought these were a
good thing (as he was told by his LFS). <Heard this story too many times!>  Now we've been trying to remove
them.  We tried injecting w/ pH up, Liquid Calcium and Boiling Water, and
had some limited success. <I actually like Joe's Juice in a quarantine tank, or scrubbing the rocks down>
The boiling water led to an idea.  I carefully locate the varmint's position
on the rock, and then place the whole rock into a bucket of tank water.  I
bring this to the kitchen sink.  Most of the rock will stay in the water in
the bucket.  The part with the Aiptasia I will hold out the top of the
bucket, wrap it in a wet towel, leaving an opening about the size of a
quarter over the removal area.  Then I simply spray that small area with the
hottest water from the sink, being careful to have water spray away, rather
than in the towel and over the bucket.  <Will kill the animal, but not certain that it will prevent it from returning.  All pieces of the tissue must be removed, as they may create new growth.  I like you idea...maybe combine it with a small toothbrush?  I even know people who Dremel out the little buggers.>
Then it's back into the bucket and on to the tank.  We tried this with
4-quarter sized areas and did no more, because I was worried about the tank
cycling.  He's tested every day for three weeks, and there's been zero
ammonia and nitrites with no increase in nitrates which have been 10 ppm.
<If he's cycling, and there is no life on the rocks worth keeping, I would just take the rocks out, scrub them down with a brush, and let them bake in the sun for a few hours.  It will kill most everything, and spike ammonia, but after a few water changes you'll be back in action.>
Am I foolish to think that this is a viable method of removal (there has
been zero sign of Aiptasia in all 4 areas tested)?  Or is the risk too great
that there will be more die off than the tank can handle?  The purple
encrusting coralline algae did bleach in all 4 areas, but that bleaching has
not spread at all past the sprayed area.  In fact, one area has already
started growing a light green encrusting algae that is located on it's
neighboring rock.  <This should grow back amazingly fast, even if it dies back.>
Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for your time and
sharing your knowledge with us everyday.
<You're more than welcome, and good luck!  Ryan>