Reef Discussion

potatocouch

Member
Jan 16, 2014
1,124
153
Sydney
Aiptasia: Lemon Juice Or Aiptasia X
As always, am going to fall back to my fellow crew here in Reefuge as I trust you the most; definitely more than FB.

I am going to give Peppermint Shrimps a chance here but if that doesn't work, should I lemon or Aiptasia X? What's the safest option? Don't want to spoil the water params as much if I can and don't mind doing it gradually as long as it is the safest option.

Let me know your thoughts. TIA!
 
You know I have been pretty lucky the last eight years that I've been reefing, never really had any atasia issues. However the last six months has been totally different. When ever I used to get the odd aptasia in the past I simply used boiling water in a big syringe and targeted it. That worked great and I never seemed to have any need to do it again. The one I killed was dead and maybe a few months later I may have another one. But on the whole for six or more years I just never had any big outbreaks.

Six months ago I had a handful of these guys in a very tricky spot. I though I'd try Aptasia X and see, because it has that little pipe that screws onto the head of the syringe and its got a bend in it...all of a sudden there where heaps more... I mean heaps and heaps more! So my theory, and I might be very wrong here but its almost like more eggs or something was released when killed this way. Is it just me? I have never heard of Lemon juice but I'm interested to know how that goes. Still, I recon I've had a dramatic increase in aptasia ever since I started using Aptasia X. I wish I didn't now... should have stuck to the boiling water or maybe even your lemon juice. Am I going crazy here? Are we being suckered into using a product that kills one but helps spread the aptasia eggs? It would be the perfect deception...
 

Buddy

Member
Mar 13, 2012
3,142
1,526
I had the same experience with Aptasia X a few years ago that @somethingfishy76 did. You are supposed to cover the mouth in the Aptasia X before the Aptasia can spit out and spawn more. Even doing this, I would end up with half a dozen babies in the immediate area of the one I just killed. I have had the most success with a Copperband. I have had the shrimp before but they didn't really take on the big Aiptasia.
 

NiCd

Lead Moderator
Jul 29, 2011
4,296
1,586
Sydney
wicked lasers used to be the go-to for most people as they used to have a guaranteed delivery policy for Australia, which has since been removed, but ebay has a lot of options, some people also get them in kit format to prevent the possibility of getting pinged by customs