aptasia winning help

[sw_addicted]

The day we put our lr in our tank we have noticed those nice little anemones. After about 2 weeks they were spreading about doubling every week. We discovered that these were aptasia and can eat smaller creatures in the tank. Mission 1 kill all aptasia our first battle we sent a copper banded butterfly to the front lines. It appeared that he ate all the aptasia in about 2 weeks then would not eat so he was returned to the lfs. Just a few days later noticed small aptasia again back to war we go. Our next offensive included a huge syringe for horses injecting calcium, lemon juice finally we discovered boiling water killed them better then anything. This however is a very exausting experience that continues to this day. Our newest covert mission to send in the peppermint shrimp, placed 3 in the tank to discover they just want to play poker together upside down under the same rock occupied by my huge condy and my cleaner shrimp. In the last few days the peppermints numbers are down to one. So our question is what is the best way to iradicate aptasia.

 

[Hooked]

Peppermint shrimp have always worked for me (3 different tanks). It will seem like they're not doing anything and then the next time you look, all of the aptasia are gone. :bigbounce

However, they are the only critters I ever have acclimation problems with. I usually buy 4 or 6 at a time and drip acclimate them; even then I usually end up losing about half of them.

If it were my tank, I'd add a few more and try to be patient.

HTH and good luck

 

[mwrager]

Peppermint shrimp have always worked for me, now it did take a few of them before I found 2 that I have been able to keep alive for almost a year now.

 

[BoomerD]

I've had incredible sucess using "Joe's Juice".
Joe's Juice
Sure looks like kalk, but works extremely well.

 

[sw_addicted]

The majority of you say joes juice, do you inject it in those darn things? Can you buy it localy or is it something that needs to be ordered?

thank alot

 

[BoomerD]

As far as I know, you have to order it from them. They send a 5cc syringe, and you aquirt it in the area of the mouth. GONE!

 

[EdgeKrusher]

peppermint's have always worked for me. but they don't tend to last very long. I have to get another cuz my last one vanished.

 

[Mebigloser]

I have tried these Methods.

1. Boiling water
2. Kalkwasser paste
3. Lemon Juice
4. Peppermint Shrimp
5. Copper Banded Butterfly

The butterfly is kicking butt, I have gone from a ton of the little buggers to hardly any.. I have to really search to find one.

Plus I now have the butterfly eatting frozen foods like a pig, I was worried I might be able to get him to eat the regular stuff.

Thanks Ron

 

[Gina]

Ditto on the copperband. He destroyed all of ours almost. Peppermint shrimp for us did nothing. We also killed some using Kalkwasser paste.

 

[Montanareefer]

Copperband and peppermint shrimp worked for me. I had thousands of those little suckers and in about two weeks I notice the number go down and now don't have a one!

 

[RogueCorps]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/ac/feature/index.htm

Here's a Calfo article on using the Berghia nudibranch against aiptasia as well as how to culture them. Seems like a better solution to me is to use the nudibranch, then pass them to another reefer with an aiptasia problem of their own. That way they can be kept alive and growing instead of having a population crash when the food source is depleted.

He's coming to our local meeting next week so maybe we'll get more info on them.

-Rogue

 

[bronco7777]

I see a lot of information that states that berghia can eliminate aiptasia. However, I never see any mention of them eating majano anenomes, which in my book are worse than aiptasia. Anyone out there can shed some light on this?

Can berghia nudi's help eliminate majano?

Also, aren't nudi's considered dangerous if they should happen to die in your system. Don't they send out toxins like a cucumber?

 

[fishinchick]

Joes juice, microwaved for a few seconds so it is hot and injecting is about the only way I've found to consistenly work. Joes alone does not quite do it. Nothing, unfortunately, beats work work work. Just keep at it and get a few each day and eventually you'll win.

 

[gussy]

Peppermints take a while and you need a few of them. It took 6 peppermints about 4 months to clean about 20+ aiptasia. However, I'm sure the shrimps are eating some of the fish food too.

 

[addict]

The berghia nudibranchs are very tiny (about 1/2" to 3/4" long), so if one were to die in your tank, I don't think the other inhabitants will notice it.

I've considered berghia at one time or another in my battle against aiptasia, but the method of using them is just a bit complicated.

You can't just buy a couple and put them in your reef... you first have to culture them for a month or two, until you have several of them, then you put the whole batch in your reef and let them go to town.

Then you have to be careful with predatory fish, that will try to eat them, currents that will try to blow them off of rocks, and large aiptasia that will swallow them whole (sometimes the predator/prey thing is reversed).

Then there's the cost... about $40 each for berghias ready to reproduce, which you need to start your culture.

So, needless to say, we never got around to it.

As far as majano's go, the only effective treatment I've found is a sharp screwdriver... just scrape them off the rock. I've tried Joe's Juice, but that only upsets them so that they split... I've tried injecting them with kalkwasser, but they just shrink up for a few days then come back again... tried vinegar... same thing.

But, the sharp screwdriver has been working great, and whenever an itty-bitty one pokes it head out of a hole in the rock somewhere, it gets a cap of two-part epoxy, to seal it in a makeshift grave.

 

[ironman361]

me personally used peppermint aswell as other people here.i bought a very very nice piece of live rock out of my local fish store's show tank that had quite a few of them but the rock was so richly covered with coraline that i couldnt refuse but the peppermint shrimp ate it with out a problem i guess i just got lucky with the right peppermint out of the bunch .but i did do my research and peppermint shrimp love the stuff its like candy to them..ohh by the way that was 2 years ago and i still have the shrimp and no aiptasia problems.

 

[Jerome]

I used "joe juice" my lfs carries it. If the liquid touches the aptasia it dies. I havn't noticed any problems for my other critters in the tank...

 

[addict]

Joe's juice combined with peppermint shrimp has been a lifesaver for me as well... in my old tank I had a Copperband Butterfly that did a fantastic job, but in the new tank we've foregone the Copperband in lieu of actually being able to keep feather dusters and coco worms.

If it's any kind of worm, the Copperband will decimate it... well, I never actually saw mine eating bristleworms, so I think that variety is safe.

 

[Witfull]

aptasia? whats that,,never had them....