help and hi everyone

[debi]

hi everyone
nice to be in this forum
I am new to marine tanks..
I have an apitasia problem at the moment ..
I did buy a copperbanded butterflyfish.. but my yellow tang just dislikes it intensly..
I was told that pure lemon juice works on the anenome? Is that at all true and how much?
I do not have a siringe needle but do have a normal dropper i could use?
any ideas to get rid of the glass anenome would be welcomed..
Thanks..
Also any ideas about the tang and the copperband?
the tank was running for 9 months then was moved to my place..
Its a juwel 125..
thanks for any replies in advance
Debbie x

[lcstorc]

Welcome to RS!
There are several popular ways to get rid of Aiptasia. One of the most common is to get peppermint shrimp who like to eat it. Be sure to be true peppermints and not the camel shrimp that are often sold as peppermints. Do a search to see pictures of both so you know the difference.
The next most popular way is with a product called Joe's Juice. It comes with a syringe and you just put a small amount in the mouth of the anemone. I just did this about 5 minutes ago amusingly enough.
I have also heard of people using kalc paste, lemon juice, and boiling water but I have never tried these methods.
As far as the tang and the copperband the best thing you can do is try to reduce the tangs home territory (or what it recognizes anyway) You can try rearranging the rockwork and see if that works. Or you could temporarily move the tang to a qt tank or even a fuge or sump for a couple of weeks. Then it will be the new fish in the tank and less likely to be a bully. It may get agressive again but that is about all you can do short of getting rid of one of the fish.

HTH.

[ReefGuy69]

Ive heard of the lemon juice with a syringe and of joes juice. Either one work the same i believe. The peppermint shrimp would be the easiest though if they like the apitaisias. plus the shrimp are cool to watch. i use to have a cleaner and loved it.

[blue_eyes53813]

Hello And Welcome to RS.. Aptasia is a true headache.. Can you post a picture of your tank and show us how bad it is? The ideas reefguy and Lynn are great ideas. If you can remove some of the rock(top layers) you can take them out and snip the aptasia off the rock with scissors or anything like an old toothbrush to scrub them off the rocks, Rinse VERY well in a seperate container of water before adding to tank.. This can be a long tedious job if there is alot. A few that I had I took the rock out and when they retracted back into the rock I super glued the hole shut.. They never returned.. Good luck..

[lcstorc]

I forgot about the superglue trick. That is another good one if they are down in the rockwork.

[cheeks69]

Welcome to RS
CBB fish are difficult fish to keep add to that an aggressive and established fish like a Tang and that could spell disaster for the Butterfly. I would recommend the Peppermint shrimp BUT it will take time for them to put a dent on the aiptasia problem if it's severe. These pest anemones tend to spread quickly if there's excessive amounts of dissolved nutrients, I would suggest investing in a real good skimmer to help control them.

[MrB]

Hello and welcome to the site im sure you will get a quick reply to your problem

[framerguy]

Welcome to RS!! I can't add anything to the solutions given. Use Joes Juice, and remove the tang for two weeks would be my suggestions. Peppermints will work but it usually takes a mob approach, something like 1 per gallon. Then once the problem is taken care of, sell or trade the shrimp.

[AQTCJAK]

Welcome Aboard

[cheeks69]

Peppermints will work but it usually takes a mob approach, something like 1 per gallon.

That is an exageration IMO even in the most severe cases !
It would be much better to correct the cause of the problem and that would be to reduce the amount of dissolved organics by using strong filtration and a small group of peppermints to eliminate the current population.

[JFK_Jr]

[caitrina]