Aptaisia help

[ging]

What would be recommended to get rid of an Aptaisia that I have found in my tank. I have done a search and could not really find any old post's on them.

ging

 

[Mike02]

i justed posted something on that yesterday (but its not in the title). i dont know how reefs.org search look for since ive never tried it.
I put a peppermint shrimp in my tank yesterday and already it has promptly erradicated all my aptasia except for the one near the top of the tank. The shrimp hangs out near the bottom under a rock. One bad thing is that my snail eggs (i think they were snail eggs) have disappeared overnite. i didnt see who did it. Also, i think the shrimp either ate or harrassed a nocturnal zooanthus polyp. I dont see it anymore(it came on my live rock. its been there since i started my tank 2 months ago). it could be shrunk up from harrassment or its gone. there are a few more of those nocturnal zooanthus polyps. i guess i'll find out if they survive soon enuff.

 

[ging]

Will the peppermint shrimp hurt or kill my cleaner shrimp ?? Some sites say to inject them, but would like to get rid of them naturally. But I dont want to add a problem to get rid of a problem.

ging

 

[DaktariEd]

I used the injection of boiling saltwater method for some time. But I must have gotten careless along the way, because now they're way out of control.

I added two Peppermint Shrimp last week, but still have not seen a major impact on the aiptasia population yet. I understand that the Peppermints may be finicky eaters at times.

I may need to get a Berghia verrucicornis, a nudibranch that apparently only eats aiptasias.

Here's a link to check out:

Berghia info

Then choose "interesting facts."


HTH,

Ed

[ July 21, 2001: Message edited by: DaktariEd ]

 

[julieanne]

Hi! I have tried it all, injecting various things, Bergia nudibranchs, peppermint shrimp and the only thing I found that worked for me is the copperbanded butterfly fish. Actually other butterflies will work too but they can nibble on your corals. I tried the copperbanded many times before I found one that made it.... they are fragile and now I have a beautiful tank of corals and no aptasia and of course the copperbanded butterfly fish. I also have cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, coral banded shrimp and the peppermint shrimp. They all get along well in my tank. Good Luck!

 

[Lunchbucket]

so if i get a nudibrach and it eats all the aptasia then what will it do..starve??? i am gonna try the kalk method again and wipe them out!!

later
Lunchbucket

 

[Mike02]

seems to me a nudibranch would be easy to take out of the tank once it has finished its job. my peppermint shrimp, i could never catch it unless its with one of those traps. the nudibranch thing sounds pretty good. my nocturnal zooanthud is still alive. it moved deeper into its hole because it came in contract with the shrimp. the shrimp couldve eaten it if it wanted to. im just hoping the peppermint shrimp doesnt reduce my bristleworm population. those bristleworms are valuable scavengers and they love hair algae. also i have no idea on what to feed this shrimp. all i have are corals which i never feed.

 

[Doughboy]

I added a peppermint, but no luck yet on the aptaisia. I have two cleaner and they is no problem with the two spieces of shrimp. I have tried the injection of kalk also, but again limited success.

 

[ging]

I have read a few articles on the Copperband butterflyfish and they all say that they end up dying in a few weeks of hunger, and they also leave little bits of Aiptasia that will grow back even worse than what you had to begin with. I still cannot find out how big they get so it also may be to big for my 60gal. They also talk about kalkwasser, but if you do not use it correctly you may also get more that what you began with

Lots of sites recommend the Berghia Nudibranch so I may try that route. The Copperband sounds cool, but I don't want to get something that I will eventually kill slowly. Has anyone had a postive experience with the Berghia Nudibranch ??

ging

 

[danmhippo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ging:
<STRONG>What would be recommended to get rid of an Aptaisia that I have found in my tank. I have done a search and could not really find any old post's on them.

ging</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its your spelling. Its "AIPTASIA", not "aptaisia". I searched aiptasia or aipt, and come up with tons of thread.

 

[ging]

I caught that after I put up the post

I did another search and have been reading for a bit. Damm dyslexia

Thanks for the info

ging

 

[Mike02]

Aptasia update: as of this morning, 36 hours after i purchased this peppermint shrimp, all my aptasia are missing and presumed dead. it hasnt eaten any of my coral polyps....yet.
.....now that the aptasia is gone, i have to figure out what to feed this peppermint shrimp. last nite, right after the aquarium light went out, it ran up the briareum tree as if it was looking for something. something special about briareum? under all those polyps, there could be few amphipods.

 

[aquaguy]

I've tried Berghia some time ago with amazing results, this seaslug is not so fast eating aiptasia but they will eat every single aipt in your tank, don't expect overnight results because one berghia eats only one aiptasia every other day, don't forget to give you berghias to somebody else when they finish their "job" otherwise they will starve.

You can buy some at: www.seaslug-vs-aiptasia.ebz.com
I hope this can help.

 

[toptank]

I have put in 4 peps and haven't seen them since? Wonder if something ate them?

Barry

 

[gael]

i put two peppermint shrimp in my tank several months ago to try to get rid of all the aiptasia i have. the shrimp disappeared for about two months, then suddenly appeared, and had grown from being smaller than a dime, to being 1 1/2 inches or more each. the bummer is, they arent eating the aiptasias.....i have more than ever before, i'm guessing over a hundred. do you think the peppermints are going for easier food? i have too many bristleworms too. they grubbed my arrow crab and emerald crabs

gael

 

[HARRISON]

I have a copperband and looked up a little info to answer your earlier questions...

Max length is 7.9 inches (20 cm)
Minimum Recommended Aquarium 75 gal. (284 liters)

I added a copperband to my 80 gallon tank about a month or so ago. I was pretty selective and watched to see it eat BEFORE I bought it. They are tough to get to eat and hard to keep alive due to that fact. It also does not eat anything I put in the tank. So far I have had luck with frozen brine, mysis and bloodworms. It has NOT shown an interest in eating flake food of any kind or the reef select frozen cubes. It also snubbed the algea strips I put in for the tang.

In my opinion, I do think that it is important to look for a couple things. First I would find one that is eating BEFORE you buy it, like I said before. Next, I would get one that is about the same size as a tang in your tank so it has a "buddy" to watch and learn from. I notice that my copperband pays very close attention to what the tang is eating and mimics the behavior. I might be completely wrong in this but that is what I have gathered from watching them feed. I also left the room for the first week after I added the food so it wasn't afraid to come out. I will add that my tang (Atlantic Blue) is still pretty small itself so I wouldn't get a huge copperband either.

The first few days I thought I screwed up but then almost over night the aiptasia disapeared. As soon as he got used to the tank and decided to eat, he ate all of it. There isn't a single peice left and I have not had another one grow back. (that I have seen) Since I have made an effort to feed frozen food a little heavy to be sure he gets something to eat. I also watch him eat now so I am sure he is eating. I have also been doing this with a couple of scooters so feeding has been of great interest to me. I know I overfeed right now a little but i know everyone is getting a full belly. I will let you know if things remain as rosy as they appear right now. I hope they do because the scooter pair and the copperband are cool fish to have.

Sorry for the wordy post (as usual) but I thought I might be able to answer a few questions. Barry has also had experience with a copperband so you might ask him too.

HARRISON

 

[whusband]

I've had some peppermint shrimp that wipe them out and others that leave them alone. I've noticed that none of the peppermint shrimp i've gotten will eat large aiptasias. my solution to this proplem was to cut the anemome with a pair of scissors as close to its foot as i could while it was stretched out. then the shrimp would eat the remaining part. i think that they might not attack the big ones b/c they are afraid they will lose

 

[whusband]

1 more thing -- i currently have only 1 peppermint shrimp and he eats the frozen food i put in my tank. i can't remember the name of it - it's really common at lfs's. it's the frozen green cubes. i get more animals to eat it by microwaving it in a mug of tank water for 12 seconds, and then stirring it up. some of dissolves in the water - the corals eat that part. my shrimp, fish, worms, and brittle star eat the bigger pieces. i've noticed a much bigger level of excitement when the food is hot. i guess they can all smell it better

 

[Anonymous]

Huz, interesting thought about the peppermints maybe being afraid of the big aiptasias - I have two shrimp that mowed 'em down, but left 3 big ones. I'm gonna cut their heads off & see if the shrimp will eat the rest.

My shrimp are always happy to eat any fish food that makes it to the rock or bottom (if the serpent stars don't get it first). They come out of the rockwork as soon as the food hits the water.

[ March 29, 2002: Message edited by: Brian Boyer ]</p>

 

[zooqi]

If you decide to get ride of the rocks and start all over again like some people in my area. I will buy the rocks from you,,make me a deal