Aiptasia Anenome
Member of the Phylom Cindiary Family (jellyfish & anemone), aka glass anemone.
Aiptasia are small brown anemone-like creatures with an amazing resilience to bad water conditions, low light, and just about every other extreme an aquarist could subject their tank to.They reproduce like crazy, can overrun a tank in very little time, and can be difficult to kill; all giving good reason to why they are considered to be the most frequently encountered pest reef hobbyists face.
Aiptasia have evolved to survive! They reproduce both sexually and asexually, and are capable of regenerating a new polyp from a single cell. In addition, they are armed! Aiptasia pack a powerful sting containing venomous cells called nematocyst. These nematocysts are capable of delivering a potent sting that can cause tissue regression in corals, immobilize prey, and even kill corals, fish, snails, or crabs.
Natural Removal
Berghia Nudibranch - The berghia nudibranch is natures solution for aipatasia. For those of you that have an infestation in your tank, we highly recommend introducing berghias to solve your problem. Although berghia are not an overnight cure, they will hunt and seek out the tinyist polyps irradicating them from your tank. The great thing about these guys are that in most cases because the berghia store the stinging cells from the aiptasa to use as a defense against potential preditors. Most of the time a preditor will bite the berghia and spit them out; sometimes this can cause enough damage to kill the berghia.
Some Preditors include: peppermint shrimp,aggressive wrasses, underfed crabs or shrimp.
For more information about berghia nudibranchs click here
We have listed below fish and inverts that are said to eat aiptasia. However, most of the time aiptasia is a last resort meal (if that in some cases ; we have seen some starve to death after refusing to touch the aiptasia).
b. Peppermint Shrimp - Many claim that peppermint shrimp will solve your aiptasia problem. After many tests, we have found that they are more like bumbling drunk idiots in your tank and instead of feeding on your aiptasia; they are more likely to aggrevate your aiptasia, making your infestation even worse. Also, peppermint shrimp are opportunistic feeders and will choose just about anything over an aiptasia (this includes physically taking food from your corals)
c. Hermit Crabs - Not reef safe & have been known to be very aggressive towards tank mates. They are opportunistic feeders and will always choose tastier food options over aiptasia.
d. Fish - There are several fish (listed below) that have been reported to consume Aiptasia. While not the major component of their diets (nor the preferred one) they have been said to graze on the anemone. Care should be taken in selecting a fish as many of these are NOT reef safe and have been reported to nibble on coral polyps.
•Klein's Butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii)
•Raccoon Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula)
•Copperbanded Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus)
•Saddled Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ephippium)
•Threadfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga)
•Hawaiian Butterflyfish (Chaetodon tinkeri)
•Banded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus)
•Bristle-Tail Filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus)
Sources
Where to find
Aiptasia can be found just about anywhere in your tank or sump system. However, the places they love the most are in the porous parts of rock. This is so that if they feel threatened they can easily retract to protect its pedal.
Behavior
Aiptasia sp. are an invasive and very aggressive pest in the marine aquarium hobby. Most cases they are picked up as hitchhikers when hobbyists purchase or trade corals. Once present in the aquarium, the polyps are extremely difficult to remove, and attempts to remove often create more.
Reproduction
Aiptasia are dioecious, meaning that they have separate sexes.
During spawning, anemones release their gametes into the water
where fertilization occurs. They also spread through pedal laceration.
As they move around the aquarium they leave little pieces of their
pedal behind. Which then creates microscopic clones of the aiptasia.
Removal Methods
Physical Removal
By no means is physical removal recommended. As stated above if an aiptasia is threatened, it will quickly retract to protect its pedal. Once you disturb or "threaten" the aiptasia it will release a "slime" into your tank as a way to protect its existence. Try as hard as you want, but there is no way to guarantee that you got all of this pest! Just because you think you got the whole aiptasia does not mean its gone. What it has now done is spread its seed throughout your tank. Not only will it come back but it will come back with its miniture army.
Chemical Removal
Like physical removal, chemicals used to fight this pest have very limited results and risk the very likely chance that you will only anger the aiptasia resulting in a larger outbreak. The only time that we would recommend using a kalk would be for newly purchased corals that you have quarantined. But, keep in mind, just because you do not see an aiptasia during quarantine does not mean that its not hiding in the porous rocks. Quarantine will help you get rid of the "bigger" and more obvious threat. But there isnt a guarantee that tiny little aiptasia wont pop up in your display tank months later.
Some manufactured chemicals include:
•Red Sea Aiptasia-X™ •Blue Life Aiptasia Control •Joe's Juice •Chem-Marin Stop-Aiptasia •Aptasia-Away™. •Tropic Marin Elimi Aiptasia
Home Remedies
Home Remedies have the same limited success as the above chemical solutions. Just because you think its gone does not always mean that its gone. Here are a few:
•Boiling RO Water •Bottled lemon Juice Concentrate •Calcium Hydroxide •Sodium Hydroxide •Hydrogen Peroxide •
Check out our article in Coral & Reef USA 2013
Aiptasia Prevent Defense
Incorporate this strategy for the prevention and eradication of glass anemones into your reef maintenance routine.
By Matthew and Jessica Reed