That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information
I have tried most every method of eliminating pest anemones such as Aiptasia and the so-called Anemonia majano over the years and really did not have a favorite. There are some techniques that I don’t like and won’t use, but there are several methods that work ok. Although, none of these methods really stood out over the others. That is until now. I love this stuff! I have been using Red Sea’s Aiptasia-X all over the Northeast US for about a month now leaving a trail of dead pest anemones in my wake. You can practically hear the Aiptasia shriek in horror when they see me enter their store to demo Aiptasia-X. Ok, not really, but it is a fabulous product!
Red Sea’s Aiptasia-X has a number of attributes which distinguishes it from the competition. It comes in a large 60 milliliter bottle, enough to treat even they largest, most infected displays. You also get the syringe and two stainless-steel applicators included in the package. This makes it a very good value for the price since you have a large supply of the liquid and you don’t have to buy all these items separately.
And that is not all that is different. The product itself is very different from others in that it is non-caustic. The pest anemones don’t retract into a small hole in the liverock when exposed to Aiptasia-X. In fact, in most instances the anemones actually feed upon the Aiptasia-X liquid. Ingesting the Aiptasia-X exposes any planulae (baby anemones inside the parent polyp) to the product killing them as well.
You will also notice that the Aiptasia-X liquid is very sticky. This minimizes the chances of it being blown all around the aquarium. Because it is so sticky, it tends to stay on the target animal. But, even if a little blows away, don’t worry. It is completely safe to the rest of the display inhabitants.
When applying Aiptasia-X, you don’t have to inject the pest. You merely gently squirt the liquid near the mouth of the polyp of the Aiptasia. It sticks to the mouth, the tentacles enclose the liquid, the product gets eaten, and after about fifteen seconds or so, splat, the target anemone is dead and starts to disintegrate. It is as simple as that. They do twitch for a little while in their death throws. I have found it helps to have an evil laugh as they are dying. Ok, again, not really, but it might help your mental outlook if you have suffered any coral losses to these pest anemones.
Click below to see Aiptasia-X in action!
Thanks Steven, sounds like a cool product. And for a limited time, Aiptasia-X is 20% off at That Fish Place. Now’s your chance to give it a shot.
Until next time,
Dave
Does it work on Majanos?
I have applied it to a few majano’s in other peoples’ displays but have not gotten feedback yet.
Aiptasia-X is the solution for getting rid of those nasty Aiptasia’s and Majano anemonies.
It works exactly as demonstrated on thatpetplace’s site. My 56 gal. reef tank was infested with Aiptasia and in a few minutes after treatment they were all gone. Majano’s in my 29 gal. reef tank got the same treatment and the product killed them too. I see no ill effects to my soft corals, fish and inverts. One 2 ounce bottle of Aiptasia-X is enough to kill at least 500 Aiptasia’s I’d say. To the Aiptasia… dinner is served !
I have tried it on both manjo and aiptasia a few times and nothing happened? What is wrong with the product? Is it sanke oil as I relly saw no results.
hi, Cory here. I have used Aiptasia-X on many occasions and it has worked well. I have noticed that it does not kill everyone the first try, it may take a couple of shots before getting rid of them. I think the survivors are not getting enough of the solution ingested, or there isn’t enough of the solution being applied to the individual. I would recommend trying it on a few of the larger Aiptasia and make sure that the solution is being ingested, not spit back out after application. As far as the ingredients, I’m not sure what Red Sea is using, they keep their formulas well protected.
I’ve used Aiptaisia-X many times and it does as advertised, kills the pests on the 1st or 2nd try, but I have also noticed that within a week I’m finding new residents elsewhere in my tank to repeat the application time and time again. I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round with things! Nothing works better tho.
yes, unfortunately it isn’t a preventative, but eventually you should be able to get ahead of them