Control of this pest may be by physical, biological, or chemical means.
Physical control involves removing the animal by hand. If the anemone is attached to a glass surface it can often be removed by sliding a sharp razor blade under the base and siphoning or netting the carcass out of the tank. If you have an acrylic tank, an acrylic scraper, sharpened by honing with sandpaper or a whetsone, can be used the same way. Make sure the material you use does not scratch the surface - test in an out-of-the-way spot in the tank. If however, the animal is cut or torn apart, any part remaining in the tank has some capability of regenerating an entire new body! This might result in actually increasing the number of Aiptasia.
Biological control methods include several fish - the coral-banded butterfly fish (Chelmon rostratus), copperband butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula) and black-lipped butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii) and peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemani).
Fish predators can be effective, but have the disadvantage of feeding on other inhabitants of the reef after the Aiptasia are eliminated. This can be fairly expensive when they begin to nibble on your favorite corals. Removing the fish from your tank can be very, very difficult, often requiring that you tear down the reef to net the fish!
Peppermint Shrimp are effective at reducing Aiptasia polyps, especially the small ones, but they are not very effective on large individuals. A massive infestation of Aiptasia is usually too much for either butterfly fish or peppermint shrimp.
Chemical control methods involve injecting strong chemicals, such as concentrated saltwater,calcium hydroxide, lemon juice, even hot water, into the body of the anemone. This is difficult to do since the anemone will contract on first contact with the needle. So any of these solutions will be difficult to accurately administer and can only be done on a limited basis without affecting the chemistry of the aquarium water.
Aquarium Arts
has tested a new product called JoesJuice, which we find to be very effective. Formulated and extensively tested by an aquarist in Connecticut, the solution is a milky substance that is placed on or in front of the oral disk (mouth) of the anemone which then seems to take it into its body. In a few minutes, the anemone is a small blob of mush. Within a day it is gone. The Aiptasia do not seem to withdraw when being treated, rather they tolerate the syringe so that it is relatively easy to get a good dose into the animal. The preparation has a patent pending and comes with a plastic syringe with a green plastic tip that is very easy to see in the water.
JoesJuice is packaged in 20ml bottles. The price is $7.99 plus shipping. Call us and we will be glad to send you a supply of JoesJuice to clear up your anemone problem. In most cases one bottle will do the job, but we can tell you if you will need more after we talk to you.
Majano Anemones
This is the only way we have found to effectively and efficiently tackle a large infestation of Aiptasia although it may take a couple of weeks of treating a portion of the population at one time. We highly recommend that you use it when you first see an Aiptasia in your tank. Removing one or two is quick and much easier than trying to reduce a population of hundreds later on.
Once the anemone is eliminated, the rock surface is again exposed to light and coralline algae or other inverts will quickly re-grow on it.
Another pest anemone that may show up in your tank is Anemonia majanos, which is a stockier, more colorful little anemone, but it reproduces asexually very rapidly, can move about in the reef, and stings other corals. Reefers sometimes think they have a nice little addition to their tank until it covers everything! Feeding with JoesJuice will quickly eliminate the problem.
Return toMarine Aquarium Supplies or
661-834-8516 - Email
