My "non-scientific" results injecting Aptasia w/Vinegar

Just be really careful using vinegar, it can cause a bacteria bloom and really cause problems with your tank!

 

I once had a major Kalk overdose and ended up dumping about 3 cups of vinegar into my system to bring the PH down. I don't remember any major bacterial bloom after wards. Apparently vinegar is a carbon source so I guess it would be possible but I wouldn't think a few syringes full would affect much of anything unless it was in a really small tank.

 

Ditto...but I can see where Adam is coming from.  It's always good to use as little as possible when adding something to your tank.  Maybe the dying aiptasia would do more than the vinegar itself.  I've heard of people dosing their tank to kill off flatworms and have their tank crash, not due to the flatworm meds, but due to the biological impact of all of the decomposing flatworms in the water triggering a chain reaction.'
And for the record, doesn't sound like that was the case here...that's more a general word of caution.
--AJ

 

Vinegar is often used to help saturate kalk solutions but it can cause a bacterial bloom as Adam stated, I would be careful when using it in the tank as too much could cause problems depending on the persons tank/filtration. If you notice a white film on glass that would be the point where you may want to stop adding any additional product and make sure your skimmer is working properly. Any carbon source that's continually overdosed whether it's vinegar, vodka, sugar can kill coral overnight and cause bacterial infections in fish.

 

The other thing that you need to consider when killing Aiptasia is that when they are "attacked" they release their larva (or whatever they are called) so while the Aiptasia in question may be killed, the act of killing it only results in many more Aiptasia a week or two later.

This is on of the reasons that I'm a big fan of the Aiptasia-X product. When used properly the Aiptasia think it's food and they ingest it and clog themselves up before the larva can be released. Ultimately though, the only true way to control aiptasia is with a good predator. Peppermint shrimp (of the proper variety) are probably the best all around solution.

-JB

 

Yep, it does a great job if you use it as directed. But like any other product, you can only use it to kill the ones you can see/reach. That's why I prefer predation.

-JB

 

Posted By Eric on 11/02/2009 01:25 PM

Posted By AJ on 11/02/2009 07:50 AM
Maybe the dying aiptasia would do more than the vinegar itself.  I've heard of people dosing their tank to kill off flatworms and have their tank crash, not due to the flatworm meds, but due to the biological impact of all of the decomposing flatworms in the water triggering a chain reaction.'
--AJ
I've been considering a scenario similar to this as a possible cause for my algae blooms.
As you know, we both have the dark green resiliant turf type algae from our LR purchase in February - and as I was getting rid of it earlier in the summer I was kalking quite heavily.  Aside from the possible imbalances caused by the kalk, my theory is that I also killed life on the rocks causing excess nutrients for the algae.  My bristleworm population seems to have been drastically reduced and my assumption is from a combination of the kalking and the lack of food in the tank the rocks came from.
-Eric
Could be.  That turf algae sucks.  I've gotten it on a few other frags that I have.  That's nasty stuff.
--AJ

 

Posted By Eric on 11/08/2009 02:56 PM

Posted By JB on 11/02/2009 09:46 AM
Ultimately though, the only true way to control aiptasia is with a good predator. Peppermint shrimp (of the proper variety) are probably the best all around solution.
-JB
So last Tuesday I was @ Pet's Playhouse and picked up 3 peppermints - 2 for my 72g and 1 for the 12g.
I haven't seen them since and I still have aptasia...
From what I saw @ the Playhouse, they do like to hide in the rocks and aren't very obvious in the tank.  The tank they were in was free of aptasia, and they tossed a rock in the tank that had aptasia on it so that I could verify their appetite (which they had).  As they're scavengers, I would assume they're interested in aptasia as a supplement to other goodies they find in the tank.
-Eric
They will start with the smallest aptasia and may never tackle the large aptasia. I put 14 in a 125 with no fish so no other food and it still took about three weeks before I noticed a difference and even then I still have quite a few.
If you have them in a tank thats being fed it might take longer before you notice a difference.
They do hide pretty well but will come out more as they adjust to your system.

 

I have one peppermint shrimp in my nano and it keeps it aiptasia free.  I just noticed one the other day after adding a new zoa frag.  The next day, it was gone.  I feed my tank and my shrimp eats lots of mysis and other food that it can get its claws on.  I would recommend killing off the really big ones.  One other thing, I've mentioned before that I think using peppermint shrimp in addition to Aiptasia-X is a nice way to go.  I think the Aiptasia-X kills/badly injures the aiptasia, and the peppermint shrimp eats what's left.
--AJ

 

If you want to try some before you buy it, let me know...I have a bottle you can borrow for a few days.

--AJ