Aiptasia parasitic anemone already on day 2!!!!!

[kimbaco6]

Second day of new tank setup. I got live rocks from my local store in NYC and I can see that I have at least 3 little aiptasia anemone buggers happily hanging out.

Should I return the rock, get peppermint shrimp, or try to scrape them off? I understand they can infest a tank, and mine is only 29 gallons so I need to be careful.

I was going to try to scrape them off, but when I move the rocks or take them out of the tank they hide so successfully that I can't find them. They must be attached inside the holes.

Thanks!!!
Kimberly

 

[tynman]

Are they only on 1 rock? if so take the rock out and leave it out kill them that way.. Or bring it back but the other rock in the store my have them too so who knows what you are goiing to get also the other rocks in the tank might have them too already.. If you could get to them in the tank try using a needled syring with either lemon juice or the akl part of a 2 part dosing system and stab them in the stem(neck) inject the stuff inside of them that should work.. I put over 8 peppermint shrimp in my tank that has been running for over 2 years now and they just hang out and jump on my hand but eat the aptasia yeah right why would they do that....LOL but if your just starting to run the system and it has to cycle yet that might kill them too but that I dont know cause I never had them from the start of the tank... The zapper works great if you can get to the buggers in the tank....

 

[kimbaco6]

Yes, I read about the lemon juice. Do you do that right in the tank? And it's not bad for the other fish?

Yeah, I heard that the shrimp don't always eat the aiptasia. Is it risky to introduce shrimp so early in the cycle? I hear they are delicate. This is literally day 2 and I already put in 4 fish!

 

[kimbaco6]

Oh, and yes, it's on more than one rock. So far I see two on one rock and one on another rock. I also just noticed another one of a different type. Comes out of a long tube and fans out, looks white and feathery with a small stripe around the middle area.

 

[jrobbins]

Yeah, I heard that the shrimp don't always eat the aiptasia. Is it risky to introduce shrimp so early in the cycle? I hear they are delicate. This is literally day 2 and I already put in 4 fish!

Ummm...sounds like you are off to a great start??



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[johnny roastbeef]

I use a quick shot from a propane torch, right on the aiptasia. It wont come back, and you wont kill off the rock.

 

[kimbaco6]

Interesting. I got one little peppermint shrimp, who seems quite happy, so let's see if that helps. Otherwise, gotta get rid of these little pests another way.

 

[tynman]

Oh, and yes, it's on more than one rock. So far I see two on one rock and one on another rock. I also just noticed another one of a different type. Comes out of a long tube and fans out, looks white and feathery with a small stripe around the middle area.

Im going to guess with out seeing it it sounds like a feather duster, with the tub. But you are brave to put fish in it with the tank just running 3 or 4 days.. do you put any cycle bust in to make it cycle faster then the normal 6 to 8 weeks? What kind of water are you using? RODI or tap water? That also makes a very big diffrence. Yes shrimp and inverts are very sensitive to things so be careful adding them to early.. the lemon juice you can do right in the tank it may (but your only going to use a small amount) but it can lower you PH slightly.. But I would get rid of those thing as soon as you can cause they are a pain in the butt...

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Do you have a pic?

 

[kimbaco6]

pics

Here are the best pics I could take...

 

[kimbaco6]

Yes, used tap water. No resource to get anything better, but working on fixing that.

Used Stress Coat and Stress Zyme, and I have live rock and substrate.

 

[NYCEnglish]

Are you allowed to say which store the rocks came from?

I couldn't find cured rocks for sale at any LFS in NY!

 

[kimbaco6]

Sure. It was manhattan aquariums. 37th bw 10th and 11th
They didn't actually have any designated for sale, I just asked them if I could buy some that were in their tanks. They charged $8 per pound. But they said that they usually do have a tank set up for live rock sales, just taken down right now.

 

[NYCEnglish]

I was there just a few days ago and they didn't have any for me....I guess I got lucky!

That's bad luck for you though - they seem to have a nice setup there.

 

[kimbaco6]

They seemed pretty awesome to me! Amazing coral selection, can't wait to get my feet wet with that. But have a ways to go....

 

[NYCEnglish]

I agree - I love going to that place, just a PITA to get too!

Best selection in Manhattan as far as I can find.

 

[rookie07]

Kim,

You have added alot of fish to you tank, and very quickly. You should be very careful from here and do weekly water changes. Four fis should be the limit in you tank, unless they are tiny fish.

I know it is hard to do, but you shod not add anything else to you tank for a few months. I would also be very careful with how much you are feeding.


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[kimbaco6]

Thanks. Yes, no more fish for sure for a while. I wish I knew about this forum BEFORE I set it up, but have to plow forward at this point.

 

[KathyC]

Am I reading this correctly - this tank is only 2 days old and you have 4 fish in it? If so, it would be best if you could either return the fish to where you purchased them, or if you have a friend with a SW tank, ask them to hold the fish for you.

At 2 days old the tank has not cycled yet and you will most likely kill the fish, at best they will suffer from ammonia burns to their gills and live only an abbreviated life.

If you take a look atop the Reefs For Beginners Forum (you can see it by accessing the forum from the blue info bar on the home page of the site under 'Forums'), you will find many great links to the info you should know prior to setting up a SW tank.

A properly set up SW tank will take approximately 6 weeks to go through the nitrogen cycle and only after that point should a clean up crew be added, and then fish can start to be added slowly.

Stresscoat and Stresszyme are more appropriate for FW tanks.


Can you tell us what equipment you already have - skimmer, lighting, test kits? Are you running a sump with this tank?

 

[kimbaco6]

The tank has been running about a week at this point.

I only added a few fish because I was told it would help the cycling process. I got this advice from more than one source so I thought it would be ok. I keep reading conflicting things about the cycling process, which is what makes it difficult for a beginner. (not a beginner with fish, just SW) Have read in numerous places that the cycling process can happen in days or just a week, and doesn't have to take 6 to 8 weeks if you have biological filtration like I have with the live rock and live substrate.

I have a 29 gallon BioCube by Oceanic. It's fully set up for a reef tank, with all the proper lighting and filtration. I don't have a protein skimmer yet.