Natural Control and erradication of aptasia outbreak

[GKrockman]

I have a pretty nasty outbreak of aptasia in my 55. I'd prefer to use the natural method of eliminating them. Besides peppermint shrimp I want to also try using berghia verruciornis nudibranch to eliminate and control these pests. Anyone know where I can get the berghia verrucornis nudibranch on line? Peppermint shrimp appear to be readily available.

I have a 55 with about 50 lbs of live rock, with several softies and LPS corals. I have a Clarki clown and a blue hippo tang also. Thanks.

 

[squeezix]

Do a search on those Berghia here and on reefcentral before you buy...

 

[MandarinFish]

Agreed with GKrockman.

They will ultimately die.

Consider using a turkey baster to such the aiptasia up. Or a tank vacuum.

 

[squeezix]

Here's a thread from RC. Not everyone's unhappy with them. Maybe you can ask this guy for some:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=87382

 

[dvb]

I just killed off the minor amount of aiptasia in my tank. I filled a syringe with Kalk mix and water and squirted it right into the mouth of the aiptasia. Works like a charm! I only had three, but I didn't want to let them get out of control. I tried a peppermint shrimp, but I put it in the tank and haven't seen it since. It didn't touch the aiptasia for two weeks so I tried the kalk.

 

[Mouse]

Dont forget, Copper Banded Butterflys are pretty good with aptasia.

 

[Anonymous]

You know, it might be pretty cool to have a wild Aptaisia tank with a Nudibranch chomping them down. Just a matter of finding out what the right ratio of Nudibranch:Aptaisia. Then you could be happily feeding the Aptaisia to promote their growth.

 

[danmhippo]

The 15 peppermint shrimp I employeed took care of all aiptasia I have in maintank and 2 refugiums.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Dan:
The 15 peppermint shrimp I employeed took care of all aiptasia I have in maintank and 2 refugiums.

-Dan makes a great point here, remember that pepperment shrimp can only eat a certain amount/day. If you have a large amout of aptaisia it will take the correct amount of pepperments to eradicate them. I have always found pepperment shrimp will do the job in my tank.
Steve

 

[MadMorf]

Dan makes a great point here, remember that pepperment shrimp can only eat a certain amount/day. If you have a large amout of aptaisia it will take the correct amount of pepperments to eradicate them.

I have 1 Peppermint in my 20G and it has kept my aiptasia under control for several months...I allow about 6 large (quarter sized) aiptasia to remain, because I like the way they look, but the Pep has kept new ones from appearing...

He seems to be quite healthy and moulting on a fairly regular basis...

He's easily doubled in size since I got him...

 

[GKrockman]

Thanks everyone for you're responses. Especially to danmhippo, thanks for sharing your experience with the berghia. I'm going tostart with the control using peppermint shrimp and then using the syringe with kalk as a secondary plan. Happy Reefing everyone!

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

I've been using a Long Nosed butterflyfish and a Copper Banded Butterflyfish in my reef for two months and one month respectively.

Not a single aptasia visible now.

These fish seem to be reef safe, or at least they have not eaten anything I was trying to keep.

 

[jamesw]

Or you could also look in our library for Morgan Lidster's article on raising Berghia:

www.reefs.org/library

"You guys have a library!!??? I sure wish I'd known that sooner."

Cheers
James