Natural aiptasia control

[rickrutland]

I've got some aiptasia I'd like to control.

I've heard about the peppermint shrimp and copperband butterfly fish.

Will they also eat yellow polyps, feather dusters, coco worms etc.?

Where could I get some peps (w/o making a trip to Port A)?

Thanks

Rick

[ErikH]

It's probably too cold to find them now, best bet is port A unless someone has some they are willing to part with. Otherwise the LFS may have some, at a pretty price.

[Gseclipse02]

when i priced them out ed had them the cheapest ... make sure your fish are not going to eat them lol it adds up quick

[Big_Pun]

copperband is a feather duster killer, lol now I only have dusters in my fuge

[glennr1978]

Fwiw, peps are also fond of acans.

[Jarob]

I second that about the peps and acans.. a deff no

[justahobby]

My peps took the aiptasia out in a few days. It took weeks for them to go after the acans. It's def. a "try it at your own risk" kind of deal. Copper band butterflies can be very finicky (eating) and not as likely to eat the aptasia from what I have seen.

[Europhyllia]

how bad is it? Is it all over or just on a certain rock?

[los.tejanos83]

my jaw just hit the floor...what's this about pep shrimp harming acans? i've been fighting an aiptasia problem for many weeks, so i've put more than a handful into my tank...nobody ever mentioned a downside...what damage can i expect to see on my acans?

[ShAgMaN]

I have a pair of peppermint shrimp in my tank and they haven’t touched my acans I put in six months ago.....maybe I’m lucky?

In fact they had babies which are living in my overflow right now. If they make it and grow I’ll give you some…but it will prolly be a while.:rolleyes:

[los.tejanos83]

My aiptasia was so bad i put pep shrimp in my overflow boxes and still no luck...i had to scrub the overflows this weekend just to eliminate the majority in them. I hope my luck runs like yours and see no evidence of damage to acans.

[firecoral3msd]

You could get aiptasia eating nudibranchs.( Berghia Nudibranchs) They only eat aiptasia so once the pests are all gone you'll have to make sure you sell them to some one that is infested with them.

[los.tejanos83]

Yeah, i read that somewhere and called Aquarium Designs but they didnt have any at the time and never pursued it...guess i may have to reconsider if i continue to have the problem after several months of pep shrimp placement in tank.

[txav8r]

There is a local guy that sells them. They are not cheap.

http://www.berghia.net/

[cbianco]

There is a local guy MAAST sponsor that sells them. They are not cheap.

http://www.berghia.net/

The member's ID is Instar and his name is Larry...

http://maast.org/forums/member.php?u=5817

Christopher

[Jarob]

yea last year i put a few peps in my tank with an acan frag and they ended up eating the entire tissue of the frag after a month or two of being with it. Just be careful!

[Europhyllia]

Wow he's in Floresville!

[Jarob]

I think it would be pretty cool to put together a group order for those nudi's! im sure we could get people interested

[carlinsa]

larry does have some good products for getting rid of the aptasia. if you like your tank and dont want it to look cruddy you are going to have to spend some coin or luck out and find someone giving away exactly what you need at the right time.

[txav8r]

I've been talking to Cbianco about a group buy from him. I'd be in if someone wanted to put one together.

[wesheltonj]

I am up for a group buy.

[los.tejanos83]

Will the pep shrimp go after the nudi's? I'm in for a group buy...can't do anything right now until i return to TX 11 days from now.

[rickrutland]

I'd probably be in for a group order.

[alton]

A few years ago Larry brought me three nudi branches, he acclimated them and placed them on a 30 lb piece of live rock that was too valuable to destroy to get rid of an aptaisa problem. After a few minutes you could see the nudis eating starting with the roots first and working there way up. After a few weeks the visiable aptaisa where gone so I guessed they where eating the ones you don't see? In this 158 gallon tank I lost them after a while, but I never had a problem after that. I had a Copper Band in the tank but he did not attack them that I know of? I do believe you can not have peppermint shrimp though? One thing about Copperbands and peppermints is that they are mowers on aptaisa, they don't kill them, just control.

[msmith619]

Another aptasia solution that works for me;
I take REAL LEMON juice and pull it up in a small syringe and directly inject the apsasia. It kills about 80% with 1 dose. The survivors will not open for a week or two and a second dose got all of them in my main tank. I missed (forgot about:blushing:) the ones in my fuge and so had another outbreak 3-4 months later. Time to treat again.

[los.tejanos83]

No matter how often i treat, i cant target the unseen devils (those behind rocks)...i just cant win...hopeing for a group buy.

[SKNR]

I would be in for a group order as well, right now looks like I have an Aiptasia tank

[HoppyBunny]

Did you guys every get a group buy together for these nudis? I am in desperate in need of some aiptasia eradication! Let me know if there is an order in the works because I would definitely be in for a few. I checked out the site and it says they will have some grown out and ready to ship around March 30th...

[rcasiano]

Does all this stop aiptasia from sprouting ?

[OrionN]

I got a syrine with Kalk paste. I injected drip a few drip on the aptasia, they ate it and it is the end of that aptasia. make sure you turn the pumps off so you don't blow kalk paste all over the place. Nee to look closely and treat as soon as you see one until they are all gone. A 10 cc syringe (with no rubber) plunger will last for months, use 18 g needle. I got one behind the rock right now that I will turn it over this weekend and treat it.