Aquarium Monsters

Ich

Ich is the most common saltwater fish disease, and it is present in nearly every aquarium. When a fish is infected with ich, it looks like the fish is covered in white spots, almost as if someone sprinkled the fish with salt grains. These spots are small parasites attached to the fish's body. Contrary to popular belief, ich is not a death sentence. Healthy fish can recover from ich without any intervention. However, if a fish is stressed from being picked on, poor nutrition, or a recent move to a new tank, ich can lead to the fish's death.

What do you do about ich? In most circumstances, healthy fish will recover from ich on their own. If the infection appears to be getting worse, more fish are infected, or some fish are getting more and more spots, then you may want to medicate the fish. One tried-and-true medication for treating ich is copper. Our favorite copper treatment is Copper Power. There is a saltwater version and a freshwater version. To use Copper Power, remove all chemical filtration media, turn off your UV sterilizer, then add the recommended amount to the aquarium. To make sure you added the right amount of copper since the actual water volume is affected by the displacement of rocks and substrate in the aquarium, you can confirm the level of copper in the aquarium with a Hanna Copper Checker. Maintain a copper level of 1.5-2 ppm for at least 1 week to kill ich.

Unfortunately, copper is highly toxic to invertebrates and corals, so it's unsuitable for reef aquariums. If you have an ich outbreak in a reef aquarium, the best practice is to feed your fish well with vitamin-enriched foods to promote immune health. We suggest Boyd's Vita-Chem. Try your best to reduce stress by removing any aggressive tank mates, and consider adding a UV sterilizer to prevent ich.

A UV sterilizer cannot kill ich on a fish, but it can help slow the spread of ich by killing ich in the water column before it can infect fish.

If you have a fish with a particularly bad ich infection, you may want to remove it and treat it with copper in a hospital tank.

Aiptasia

Aiptasia is a genus of pest anemone that is very common. Aiptasia makes its way into nearly every reef aquarium by hitchhiking on rocks or corals added to the aquarium. Aiptasia reproduces extremely quickly, and because it is an anemone, it stings nearby corals. Ultimately, Aiptasia can kill corals by surrounding them, smothering them, and stinging them.

Luckily, Aiptasia is relatively easy to deal with. We recommend using a combination of manually killing the anemones and adding natural predators to get rid of Aiptasia. To manually kill the anemones, the most popular method is to smother them with an Aiptasia-killing product. Our favorite is F-Aiptasia. If you have a bad outbreak, or you hate buying bottles of chemicals, then you may want to consider a Majano Wand, which uses electrolysis to melt the anemones. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you will never find every last anemone. If you rely on manual removal to eliminate aiptasia, you will be manually killing the anemones forever. For that reason, we recommend adding a natural Aiptasia predator to every reef aquarium. You can choose from a variety of predators, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

• Fish
  There are many fish that eat Aiptasia. Unfortunately, most of these fish are known to nip at certain corals occasionally. The two most common fish added to control Aiptasia are the copperband butterflyfish and the leafy filefish. Of the two, the filefish is much easier to care for, but the butterflyfish is far more beautiful. The biggest advantage of these fish is that one of these fish can eat hundreds of Aiptasia over time, and if you keep the fish in the tank, they will eat any new Aiptasia as soon as they appear.
• Peppermint Shrimp
  Peppermint shrimp can eat Aiptasia, and they are much smaller than fish, so they are a better choice for nano aquariums; peppermint shrimp also do not nip at or eat corals like fish occasionally can. The biggest disadvantage of using peppermint shrimp for Aiptasia control is that they often live only 2-3 years in captivity, and because of their size, you need many for effective control. Additionally, some common fish, such as hawkfish and wrasses, will eat peppermint shrimp. We typically recommend 1 shrimp per 10 gallons, which is a lot of shrimp. This makes fish a much better choice for larger aquariums or aquariums with a very bad Aiptasia infestation.
• Berghia Nudibranchs
  Berghia nudibranchs are sea slugs that eat nothing but Aiptasia. Berghia are often purchased in small groups that reproduce in the aquarium until they eat all the Aiptasia and then die of starvation. This is great because the nudibranchs won't eat any corals, and they can completely wipe out all Aiptasia in the tank. Unfortunately, some common fish like wrasses will eat the nudibranchs, stopping them from doing their job. Additionally, if the nudibranchs die of starvation, you will need to repeat the process of adding them all over again when another anemone is introduced. Shrimp or fish will continue to live in the aquarium and eliminate any additional Aiptasia as they are introduced.

Red Flatworms

Red flatworms, sometimes called red planaria, are small red flatworms no bigger than the tip of a marker that scavenge for uneaten food in aquariums. Unfortunately, red flatworms can reproduce to unthinkable numbers very quickly, and they often congregate around or near corals, annoying them and slowing their growth. In severe cases, this can lead to coral death.

To get rid of red flatworms, you can dip corals in a therapeutic dip, add predators, or treat the tank with a medication. If a coral is surrounded or covered with flatworms, you can remove the coral and place it in a medicated coral dip. Our favorite is Two Little Fishies Revive. The dip will stun the worms, causing them to fall off the coral. Swish the coral around in the dip for the duration of the treatment to dislodge the stunned worms. After the dip, you can return the coral to the tank.

Unfortunately, if worms remain in the tank, they will eventually smother the coral again. To help keep the worms at bay, the best approach is to add predators such as a melanurus wrasse, yellow coris wrasse, or sixline wrasse. These wrasses will eat the worms and stop the population from getting out of control. In extreme outbreaks, you can treat the entire tank for worms. Salifert Flatworm Exit will kill flatworms in the aquarium very effectively. Unfortunately, when flatworms die, they release a toxin that can poison animals in the tank. Follow the directions, and be ready to do an immediate water change and add fresh carbon shortly after using Flatworm Exit to remove the toxin.

Bristle Worms

Bristle worms are true segmented worms that live in aquariums and scavenge for uneaten food and detritus. In the past, bristle worms were blamed for the deaths of many aquarium animals because aquarists found dead fish and corals smothered in bristle worms. We now know that bristle worms very rarely harm anything that isn't already dead or dying. Bristle worms are primarily harmless scavengers. However, bristle worms are extremely creepy and ugly-looking, covered in venomous spines, and can get over a foot long and as big as your thumb. We don't like them in the tank.

To get rid of bristle worms, you can manually remove them with tweezers or pliers. Keep in mind that if you rip the worm in half, it will not die. It will simply turn into two worms. Make sure that you pull out the whole worm when worm hunting. You can also add predators that eat the worms. Very large worms have no practical predators, but arrow crabs will eat small worms and stop them from getting out of control.

Bobbit Worms

Named after Lorena Bobbitt, the bobbit worm is a large predatory worm that can get over nine feet long and one inch in diameter. It burrows in the sand or rockwork, popping out to eat fish, and has a bite strong enough to draw blood on humans. Bobbit worms can make their way into the aquarium on coral or live rock and often start fairly small. When small, they scavenge the tank for leftover food, but as they grow, they will start to eat tank inhabitants. The worms often drag their prey under the sand or deep into rocks, leaving no trace.

If you suspect a bobbit worm is in your tank, wait until after the lights are off and check the tank with a flashlight. Bobbit worms are nocturnal and often only visible at night. Once you see the worm, you will need to remove it manually. You can do this by removing and discarding the rock the worm is hiding in or ripping the worm out with pliers. Keep in mind that, just like bristle worms, if you break the worm in two, it will create two new worms, so you must make sure to remove the entire worm at once.