What is this??

[Someone]

I found this in my tank(still cycling) and I don't know what its is, whether it is good/bad. any help would be great also if its bad, what is the best way to get rid of it?

[Reef69]

Umm, if im not mistaken that an aptasia anemone, bad for reef tanks..you can buy some solution you will have to inject it into the mouth of the anemone..they sell different products in the LFS, hope this helps.

[1salt]

Aptasia Anemone (rock anemone) #1 complaint of the marine hobbyist. There are different ways to get rid of these little monsters. I would recommend going on google and do a search on "aptasia" and you'll find a ton of stuff on how to get rid of it.

[Ed]

Yep, Aiptasia. Here is a link to more info than you ever wanted to know.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/msubpestaiptasia/

HTH.

Ed

[mathias]

isnt there some stuff called joes juice or something?

[Ram_Puppy]

I have a few, I got some berghia from larry and the babies are allready gone.. goooo berghia! (I am a total fan now! :) )

[cailan]

i've read that peppermint shrimp are predators of the aiptasia. has anyone ever tried them, how effective are they?

[Instar]

Peppermint shrimp are dangerous to other reef animals and all kinds of life in the rocks. They eat slow moving inverts like cucumbers too,
lps and all sorts of polyps and anemones. I wouldn't have then again unless it was in a very specialized tank. My peppermint shrimp would
even pluck polyps off the montipora sps in the mid afternoon, even though they got fed 2x daily.

Better take care of that aiptasia now or you'll eventually be buying some of these Berghia. Although Berghia are cool and safe to all life
in the rock, they do cost a little more than joes juice. Joes juice may kill small things in the immediate area, but, not really too bad. If your
tank is not very large, then too much kalk paste or jj will mess up the chemistry. Super glue defeats the purpose of having rock and what
good would it do to glue the top of a sponge (basically what a rock is) just to have a million baby aiptasia come out somewhere else. Thats
what happens when they have to escape under the glue, thru the rock. The aiptasia lacerate and make thousands of babies. Those aiptasia
will sting and kill almost everything you want to keep, so waste no time getting it out, dead, etc. I used a red hot screw driver heated up
on the stove and burned some of mine to death. Just hold the rock, heat the tip of the flathead screw driver till its red hot, and fry the thing
over and over till its all burned up. No chemicals, cheap to do if you only have a few, really easy. If you do that, make sure you fry all of the
foot or it will grow back.

[GaryP]

Someone,

You just got a free lesson from the foremost expert on Aiptasia in Floresville, TX.

Gary

[dan203]

are Berghia safe? do they eat anemones(bubble tip)?

[Sherri]

Peppermint shrimp are dangerous to other reef animals and all kinds of life in the rocks. They eat slow moving inverts like cucumbers too,
lps and all sorts of polyps and anemones. I wouldn't have then again unless it was in a very specialized tank. My peppermint shrimp would
even pluck polyps off the montipora sps in the mid afternoon, even though they got fed 2x daily.

I agree Larry on the Peppermint Shrimp....great on aiptasia...but rough on the rest of the tank inhabitants. Caught mine "eating" off the leg of 2 sand sifting starfish - one died from it and the other survived and is growing the leg back. Banned the Peppermint to the Quarantine Tank and then a quick trip to a LFS...

[Instar]

are Berghia safe? do they eat anemones(bubble tip)?

I put 8 Berghia in my reef. I have an awesome rock flower anemone in there and two other little rock anemones, leathers, zoos, mushroons, lps, sps, sponges and zenia.
ALL of the aiptaisia are gone and I know the nudis are still in there cause I saw one the other day. Berghia don't eat anything else, just like all the references say. I would not hesitate to put a BTA in there with them. This (Berghia) is one creature that truly is "reef safe", whatever that means. I also have a mix of fish in there with snails, tiger brittle stars, and hermits.

[bozack]

If anyone wants to split shipping on some of these from Larry let me know.
Otherwise I plan on ordering a few once the heat dies down.

[mathias]

I may want one.... a Berghia

[JimD]

I dunno, I guess theres two sides to every story, Ive never had any problems with Peppermint shrimp in regards to controlling Aiptasia. The worst thing Ive seen them do is steal food from my anemonies, aggravating, but hardly a means for eradication. I have them in all my tanks with no visible or obvious decimation to any life forms that I can tell, other than Aiptasia. Im wondering if some shops are miss-labeling the shrimp as Peps when theyre really the more aggresive variety that closely resembles the true Peps... ? Just an opinion and a thought....

[OldSalty]

Ok, I give up! what is a BERGHIA????

[Sherri]

Jim....I had great luck with the peppermint til he turned on my starfish...Actually saw him doing the damage....I had been a big fan of the peppermint til then...but they are great at getting rid of aiptasia....don't have anymore because of one....

[GaryP]

Oldsalty,

Berghia nudibranchs. The only thing they eat are aiptasia.

Gary

[Instar]

JimD, I am fortunate to be able to be home at all hours to observe. I saw them doing the damages. They don't perform their
little tricks all the time, its cyclic, so if you're not looking when the tide rises, you won't see it. Most people don't care about
all the little filter feeders inside the live rock, but, I do. I had true peppermints, L. wurdmani. I bred them to tank raise for a
while. Very interesting larval stages. And the most colorful things I've ever seen in larval stages! Wish I had pictures of that.
Its truly amazing and way beyond description.

[Instar]

This is a blown up picture of a Berghia nudibranch...

They really are quite small - can't tell that from the picture.


http://www.maast.org/albums/Instar/Im003089Young.jpg

[mathias]

alright who I need to talk to ?

I want some :)

Berghia nudibranchs