Caring for Rose Anemones the right way
BTA Rose Anemone
What do they look like?
Aiptasia the hated Anemone from Hell!
Also known as Glass Anemone.
Every so often one pops up in each of my tanks.
Where they come from no one knows as the tanks have not had live rock added to them in years.
But every so often upon close inspection I find one hiding out or right out in the open just daring me to
grab the syringe with boiling water to kill the little bugger.
Which I gladly do.
They sting anything in their way and multiply faster then a herd of Rabbits in spring.
They start out so tiny that you can't see them because they blend in so well, then next thing you know
they are the size of a nickel..
They can retreat into their hole faster then you can say "boil me" so a good recall of there hole is a necessity
in order to remember where to put the end of the syringe to boil the little buggers right out of there holes.
To kill them I use a syringe with a 1 foot airline tube on the end so as to get into those hard to reach places.
I boil water in my coffee maker (a one cup coffee maker) then suck up around 5cc into the syringe.
Then I stand and memorize the exact spot where the PITA is growing from, because when I put the end of the tube in
the water it will sense it and suck into the rock.
Now I have it memorized and go in with tube blazing.
Place the end of the tubing where it went into hiding, (wimp) and start pumping the boiling water into the hole.
It always kills them and they will come floating out of the hole in pieces,( much to my delight)
Take note, the boiling water will kill coralline algae on the area and it will instantly turn white, only to grow back later.
And it will also kill any living tissue that you put it directly on, zoos and polyps especially so be careful where you blast.
If I can, I will suck up the Aiptasia as it floats out of the hole after blasting to make sure it does not take hold in another place in
the tank and start a revolution all over again.
Sometimes I can't get hold of it because the powerheads blow it away so I hope for the best and that my aim was exact.
Identification is easy for these animals.
They are brown in color always and have a tiny white mouth usually.
Their foot is the same color as their head and they usually only grow to around 1" tall, their head being around a nickle size when fully grown.
(they should never get that large in your tank).
Always be on the lookout for them as they are stinging terrors.
Here are some picture of what used to be MY Aiptasia.
Funny ,I once bought a live rock covered in them and so I set up a little 7 gallon just for them. Added glass fish on a string for color and enjoyed them for a few weeks.
Then decided that I didn't want them any longer and would add this rock to a tank.
But alas, how to kill them all off fast?
(sorry for the wrong spelling of them on the pictures)
Microwave!!
I put the rock into the microwave and set it on high for 5 minutes, let it cool then replaced it back in the tank to make sure they had all been killed
off.
Well now, talk about tough, not one of them was killed and all survived to be boiled away by the tubing method.
Here are some pictures of that tank and also some close up's so that you can identify what Aiptasia looks like.
And the full tank in all its glory
All just for fun of course.
As you can see I was even kind enough to add a heater to the tank.
Now mind you, when all was said and done, the Caulerpa
had to be thrown out as did the gravel.
A closeup of Aiptasia
In the picture above you should be able to count around 10 or so Aptasia surrounding the Xenia.
It also will take hold on Caulerpa so keep an eye on that also.
It will grow on glass as seen below
One of my better pictures I must say
showing the insides of an Aiptasia .
Don't be confused when getting geared up for the Kill.
Check out the difference between Aiptasia and Featherdusters
You want these beauties in your tank because they are filter
feeders and will help keep your water pristine.
They also multiply like crazy and I love them.
Feather dusters grow from a tube that will always stay in place
when they go into there tubes the tubes are always still
visible.
They come in several colors, red, light red and white.
These are not the same as the large feather dusters, they are small, the heads the size of a dime usually.
So make sure you know what you are killing before getting out the boiling water.
Another picture of their tubes.
And of course as you can see, I love taking pictures so here is another one showing their
tubes that they live it. They are always visible even though they suck there heads inside.
I hope this section has helped you identify the dreaded Aiptasia and that
you get after them if you have them.
Don't let them take over your tanks.
Also known as Glass Anemone.
Every so often one pops up in each of my tanks.
Where they come from no one knows as the tanks have not had live rock added to them in years.
But every so often upon close inspection I find one hiding out or right out in the open just daring me to
grab the syringe with boiling water to kill the little bugger.
Which I gladly do.
They sting anything in their way and multiply faster then a herd of Rabbits in spring.
They start out so tiny that you can't see them because they blend in so well, then next thing you know
they are the size of a nickel..
They can retreat into their hole faster then you can say "boil me" so a good recall of there hole is a necessity
in order to remember where to put the end of the syringe to boil the little buggers right out of there holes.
To kill them I use a syringe with a 1 foot airline tube on the end so as to get into those hard to reach places.
I boil water in my coffee maker (a one cup coffee maker) then suck up around 5cc into the syringe.
Then I stand and memorize the exact spot where the PITA is growing from, because when I put the end of the tube in
the water it will sense it and suck into the rock.
Now I have it memorized and go in with tube blazing.
Place the end of the tubing where it went into hiding, (wimp) and start pumping the boiling water into the hole.
It always kills them and they will come floating out of the hole in pieces,( much to my delight)
Take note, the boiling water will kill coralline algae on the area and it will instantly turn white, only to grow back later.
And it will also kill any living tissue that you put it directly on, zoos and polyps especially so be careful where you blast.
If I can, I will suck up the Aiptasia as it floats out of the hole after blasting to make sure it does not take hold in another place in
the tank and start a revolution all over again.
Sometimes I can't get hold of it because the powerheads blow it away so I hope for the best and that my aim was exact.
Identification is easy for these animals.
They are brown in color always and have a tiny white mouth usually.
Their foot is the same color as their head and they usually only grow to around 1" tall, their head being around a nickle size when fully grown.
(they should never get that large in your tank).
Always be on the lookout for them as they are stinging terrors.
Here are some picture of what used to be MY Aiptasia.
Funny ,I once bought a live rock covered in them and so I set up a little 7 gallon just for them. Added glass fish on a string for color and enjoyed them for a few weeks.
Then decided that I didn't want them any longer and would add this rock to a tank.
But alas, how to kill them all off fast?
(sorry for the wrong spelling of them on the pictures)
Microwave!!
I put the rock into the microwave and set it on high for 5 minutes, let it cool then replaced it back in the tank to make sure they had all been killed
off.
Well now, talk about tough, not one of them was killed and all survived to be boiled away by the tubing method.
Here are some pictures of that tank and also some close up's so that you can identify what Aiptasia looks like.
And the full tank in all its glory
All just for fun of course.
As you can see I was even kind enough to add a heater to the tank.
Now mind you, when all was said and done, the Caulerpa
had to be thrown out as did the gravel.
A closeup of Aiptasia
In the picture above you should be able to count around 10 or so Aptasia surrounding the Xenia.
It also will take hold on Caulerpa so keep an eye on that also.
It will grow on glass as seen below
One of my better pictures I must say
showing the insides of an Aiptasia .Don't be confused when getting geared up for the Kill.
Check out the difference between Aiptasia and Featherdusters
You want these beauties in your tank because they are filter
feeders and will help keep your water pristine.
They also multiply like crazy and I love them.
Feather dusters grow from a tube that will always stay in place
when they go into there tubes the tubes are always still
visible.
They come in several colors, red, light red and white.
These are not the same as the large feather dusters, they are small, the heads the size of a dime usually.
So make sure you know what you are killing before getting out the boiling water.
Another picture of their tubes.
And of course as you can see, I love taking pictures so here is another one showing their
tubes that they live it. They are always visible even though they suck there heads inside.
I hope this section has helped you identify the dreaded Aiptasia and that
you get after them if you have them.
Don't let them take over your tanks.
