Help me fight aptasia!!!

[SethKim]

Hi guys,
I have some unwelcome guests in my tank, Aptasia!!!
As much as I'll love to keep them in my empty tank, I gotta look @ it in long term, I know Joe's juice works great, but I noticed I have some where I can't reach, so I was thinking of peppermint shrimp first, then the copperband.

My question is what do peppermint shrimps eat after they are done with aptasia, and are they good for the reef tank, etc

lets here it!

thanx guys!

 

[loismustdie]

Peppermints and CBB's are hit or miss with aptasias. Sometimes they eat them, most of the time they won't.
IMHO, CBB's are a poor choice since they are wild caught and have a poor survival rate in captivity. And while there is a 50/50 chance of them eating aptasia, there is a 100% chance they will eat your tube worms which are excellent filter feeders and beneficial to your system.
I've still never seen a peppermint eat aptasia.
I think Bergahi Nudis are best. Captive raised for the sole reason of dealing with aptasia. They do a great job.
Ronen (deepwater) organized a GB a while back, but he got unnecessarily hammered. See if he still has a supplier.

 

[donnell]

I have had 100 % success with peppermint shrimps on three different occasions. You cant feed your tank if you do you must target feed. It worked for me within two weeks every time. Good luck

 

[digitalreefer]

I had peppermints take care of some of my aptasia, but you have to help them out. They will nibble, but you need to get the bigger ones out. They work better for maintenance than first strike.

 

[DallasNYC]

I tried pepperment shrimp 4 different times. It wasn't until the 4th time that they ate them. And when they did, they cleaned the tank out 99%. So I agree its hit or miss. But if you find the right ones, your golden. The 4th purchase was from etropicals.com, but I don't know if that was a factor or not.

 

[bad coffee]

my $4.99 pepermints from petco have rocked on the peppermint shrimp. Also a syringe full of thick kalk paste works wonders on the ones you can see.

B

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

i had aptasias in my tank for a while.. i went out and bought 3 peppermints about a week ago or so, for the first week they stayed in the corner of my tank behind a rock and didnt move because of my coral banded would try to attack them. i noticed about a day ago there were only 2 peppermints in the spot and now today none. i looked around my tank and found only one aptasia left, from about 15+ aptasia to one i say peppermints work. they even ate the aptasias that were between my zoas. so far they havnt bothered anything else. i try to keep my tank well fed. only thing is, i wonder if i will ever see the little shrimps again. i have a 55 gallon tank with about 60lbs of rock.. give or take

i heard the nudis work well and was going to get one but read that after the aptasias run out the nudi dies.. i dont know if this is true or not

 

[PalmTree]

I use the kalk mix and it does the job. Only problem is that its such a pain an dI have to do it every 2 weeks. Once you keep it relatively under control you'll be okay.

 

[reefman]

i too used kalk paste. only had 3 aptasias though so it was easy. 2 months n have not seen another.

 

[ellebelle]

My peppermint shrimp ate my one aiptasia and I have never seen another one.

As far as what they eat after the aiptasia is all gone ... my shrimp love the pellet fish food. The biggest one comes out and grabs them as they fall through the water and then he'll sit upside down and munch on it for a while. It's pretty cool looking.

 

[lazyreefer]

My CBB took care of all the aptasia as well as feather dusters and hitch hiker clams

 

[OBTEPPER]

liquid calcium

i injected 5cc of calcium chloride-undiluted with a syringe and needle at the base 4 weeks ago and so far no return. the high dose liquid calcium really disrupts their calcium channels and appears to kill them. the needle allows you to get to the base. any thoughts from other people?

 

[daisy]

when i had my first aptasia problem, I ordered peppermints from swf.com. they were amazing, and after the aptasia were gone, they ate all the food my fish missed. truth is that they got very bold and would sometimes get the food before the fish did! They were really cool-looking to boot.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

sethkim if you are looking to buy something to eliminate or help control your aptasia, peppermints are your best choice. if you have a large tank then i suggest getting several. if they don't eat the aptasia they will eat any foods you feed in your tank.

i have 2 in my 40br and 2-3 in my 120g. they don't bother any of my corals(knock on wood) or feather dusters. but it's all hit or miss. you must decide for yourself if you want to make these part of your aquarium.

the large aptasia must almost always be kalked as they are seldom touched by CBB or peppermints.

 

[robnyc]

I got it too!

Crap. I got rock a week ago and selected the pieces with anemones! Is there anemones that look like aiptasia that I'd want to leave in? I did find some good help on the attached site for removal, but anything further you guys can let me know I'd appreciate.


http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aippepshrpfaqs.htm

 

[robnyc]

I got clams too.

Also, Are the clams that hitch-hike in on live rock desirable or undesireable? I guess I got a lot to learn. I was excited to see about 4 of them.

 

[lazyreefer]

oh yeah one more thing i did - I used epoxy on the opening that the aptasia was coming out of. never saw them coming out of that hole again.

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

hitch hiker clams are good. i have a few. wish i had about 50 more.. if no one wants there hitchhiker clams peel them off and give them to me:sgrin: ill hook you up with a zoa frag lol

 

[crox99]

My peps never touched the aipistia in my sump.

 

[RareZ]

I have a pepermint shirmp that killed all my aptasias that I had (just like yours, in a empty tank) I got lucky and got this pepermint and in a few days it killed all the aptasia. Currently I dont have any aptasias, so for me the first chance of getting this pepermint was a direct hit. I got it from wingoagency. You might wanna check to see if he still has any or can get you any.

I am thinking if I should lend out my pepermint to people who have aptasia.