can you ever ignore aptasia?

[Moonrs]

I've got a 75 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump underneath. Recently, I noticed one 1/2" high aptasia on one LR. It's the only one I can see. I was horrified when I caught sight of it. I figured, if there was one I could see, then there were bound to be some I couldn't. Now I'm faced with the obvious problem of trying to remove it. My problem (besides the aptasia) is that the LR that it's on is near the bottom of the pile of LR, and getting out it would be a fairly major undertaking. Should I do my utmost to remove it asap, or is one aptasia not going to hurt anything? It's off near the bottom, away from everything. I don't know enough about aptasia to know whether an undisturbed aptasia will multiply or not. How quickly should I try to remove it, or does it need to be removed, if it's not threatening anything? Thanks everyone.

[::pete::]

Dont try to pull it out or break it up it will just grow from every piece!

Try kalk or pickling lime if you have some, mixed to a thick paste and nuke it for @ 20sec. then inject it to the mouth area and it will die!

[Ram_Puppy]

what pete says is pretty much the most common way to do it, don't let them go, I did, and I regreted it, 3 became 10, then I used Joes juice and 10 became about 30 or 40. unfortunately, mine are all on a piece of rock that is very 'craggy' it looks like acropora head, i can't get at all of them.

I first tried the natural control method with berghia from Larry, but I let my water quality slip for a while, and my little tank has been having very hot weather, whatever the reason, I think my little berghia's have gone the way of the dodo (I am a bad daddy). The bad water quality only exacerbated the issue as well, as it provided nutrients for the little punks.

I am not knocking joes juice, just don't believe the 'you can get away without siphoning' let it die, then siphon the remains out.

[newhomes4reef]

we have to due exactly as Pete described once a month...it's now a part of our maintenance. How the **** things ever got in there in the first place i don't know but it seems like they mulitply exponentially overnight! Good luck...i hope it's just one and you can kill him off!
Jeff

[newhomes4reef]

we've tried adding peppermint shrimp, but i've never had any results from that unlike others here. We also tried a coral banded butterfly with no results...kalk injections and cussing!

[Ram_Puppy]

lol, I feel your pain man. My understanding is it is hit or miss with the cbb, and if there is enough food present for the shrimp, they will eat that first.

Anyone know what to do with one right in the middle of a zoo colony? (10 zoos deep in any direction, with NO space between...) I am afraid if I joes juice it or if I kalk it, I will hurt the zoos.

[MikeDeL]

Ram, I had some Joes Juice land smack in the middle of a button polyp once. One side of the polyp curled up and stayed that way for a few days, then slowly started to open back up.

[::pete::]

Anyone know what to do with one right in the middle of a zoo colony? (10 zoos deep in any direction, with NO space between...) I am afraid if I joes juice it or if I kalk it, I will hurt the zoos.

I kalk them too!!!! Just touch the zoos carefully around the aptasia so they close and then get it. If a little gets on the zoo it will open again.

[Ram_Puppy]

thanks guys

[cpreefguy]

Joes Juice has worked wonders for me

[brewercm]

Pure lemon juice will work great also. Burns the heck out of the little buggers. It will cause your zoos to curl for a little while but as long as you don't directly inject them they will be fine.

[GaryP]

Yes, you can ignore it if you want it eventually taking over your tank. While the chemical means of killing it can be effective on the ones that you can see, you'll never see all of them and it they will eventually come back. IMO the only way to effectively control them is with a predator like a Berghia. Otherwise you will be working on them constantly. Remember, you only see a small percentage of the aiptasia in your tank.

I had Berghia in my 75 and the aipatasia are starting to go away. I recently spotted a couple in my 125 and I plan on dropping a note to Larry to get a few more. We're lucky to have a breeder in our area. From what I have heard, getting Berghia is difficult at best. I know that Larry had to wait a long time to get his breeding stock.

Gary

[SaltyJim]

So, when you talk about injecting them, do you actually mean inserting a needle into the flesh of the pest? Or just dosing the mouth part with the kalk?

[CD]

We've been really lucky in our 75G so far. I've only had one of the little buggars come in on a piece of encrusting coral we bought from a LFS. Nuked it with kalk paste dosed via hypodermic needle - didn't even have to stick it in the flesh, just squirted at the mouth area, and it shrivled up immediately - gone. :skeezy:

Wendy

[newhomes4reef]

ok, so what's a Berghia??? This sounds like something i should definitely have!!!
thanks,
Jeff

[Moonrs]

Well, it seems the general consensus is that, like it or not, I"m going to have to go nutso and move all the LR around to get at the aptasia. ARRRGH!! I figured that's what I'd have to do, but was hoping you guys would tell me otherwise... :-/
Now, the question is whether to go with Kalk, joe's juice or the bergia(this is some type of Nubibranch?). I'll go get some of the stuff if you guys recommend it. As far as a butterfly goes, what is it's preferred diet? Is it going to starve once it eats the aptasia? If I were to try the berghia, can I get one from Larry? Thanks

[SaltyJim]

If I were to try the berghia, can I get one from Larry? Thanks

Send Instar (Larry) a PM about them. Recommend getting 3 (so they team up). They are sensitive little critters, so your water params need to be very good. He'll give you all the details.

[GaryP]

You don't have to move anything around with a Berghia. They are quite capable of getting to the aiptasia in those out of the way places. A butterfly is a very difficult to care for fish. I would never recommend one for aiptasia control alone. Besides, getting a healthy one is not an easy thing. They carry a lot of parasites and also can require special feeding. Personally I love them, but they are a high maintenance fish that I would never recommend to anyone that does not have the experience and knowledge to care for one. They will not starve if they don't have aiptasia. Its more of a snack for them than a main course.

Here is a link and pic of a Berghia verrucicornis. There are some other links there as well. I would recommend you talk to Larry Instar). He is a walking, talking Berghia encyclopedia. He's forgotten more about Berghia, and for that matter Butterflies too, than I will ever know. Most people are lucky to keep a copper band butterfly alive. He has a school of them.

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=bergverraq

Gary

[Moonrs]

I'll pm instar, then. I'll keep y'all posted. I hope the berghias work out, because I didn't want to move everything.

[bprewit]

I mix kalk and r/o to a think paste and add lemon juice to the mix. Get it thick enough it will barely go into syringe. No needle as it actually seperates the mixture and just releases the water, leaving the kalk packed in the syringe. With it that thick you can just squirt it all over the place the aptasia is and it will completly fill the rough jagged places and then dries almost like cement sealing them in a kalk tomb. I had just one little rock with a couple on it from LFS and in no time they spread to other places. Best of luck