Aiptasia Anemone Pictures
25 April 2007I’ve written in the past about the Aiptasia or Glass Anemone that came along with my live rock.
As I was researching this, I had a hard time finding a good picture and as I was writing a few other posts, I just realized that I had a picture to share. It’s not a very good one as mine was at an awkward angle, but with a little imagination, it is a pretty good representation of what it actually looked like as it waved around.
It was quite small, only about a centimeter in diameter and length. You can see the 4 or 5 prominent tentacles in this picture, but there were several other smaller and more colorless tentacles closer to the rock.
I think the distinguishing characteristics are pretty visible here: milky color with tentacles that taper to a point.
Getting Rid of the Aiptasia
100% of the advice that I read and received said to get rid of this guy. My first course of action was to put a peppermint shrimp in the tank.
The anemone was gone within 48 hours. Sounds like I was pretty lucky there as the pet shop owner said that some peppermint shrimp won’t ever find it, or be the sort that likes to eat them. So it’s sort of a crap shoot.
Even if it didn’t do the trick, I like having the shrimp in the tank. It’s a very interesting creature.
on April 26th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Another good way to kill them is to “inject” them with concentrated kalkwasser using a needle into its base. I’ve heard of people using lemon concentrate and boiling water too…but don’t know how effective that is.
on April 26th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Hi Cody. I’m glad I didn’t have to go the chemical route. “Joe’s Juice” is a product that I’ve come across as well, and what they use at my local pet store.
on April 26th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Youre right the best thing to do is to get rid of them, no matter which method works just get rid – if you don’t they will quickly grow into plague proportions.
Glad you got rid of it, make sure that when you are choosing new corals for your tank that you have a good look at the rock and stalk (where appropriate) of your potential purchase to ensure that it is clean.
Peter
on December 30th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
We had so many in our new tank that the only way we could get rid of them was by taking out all the rock and soaking it in fresh water for 2 days. We only had 4 or 5 adult specimens but litterally hundreds of juveniles. We don’t know yet what the results will be, but our mentor advised this method. But it should only be used in extreme cases on new tanks. Will send more information after the rock has been in the tank for a week or two.
on December 31st, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Since I wrote this, I’ve had several run-ins with Aiptaisia.
I’ve had very good success with peppermint shrimp.