www.berghia.net ???aiptasia eating nudis

[drgnbttrfly]

im looking and im thinking it looks good so anyone want to do a group order in august when the next batch is up?

[alton]

Larry (Instar) is a great guy and I have used his Berghia to clean up a large rock that someone gave me. Acclimation is key to get them to live. Berghia eat aptaisa including the roots, they eat so many that you can not see, whereas peppermint shrimp are lawnmowers.

[rz1a]

i dont know, i wouldnt chance with peppermint shrimp since i always hear stories of them eating polyps and taking bites out of LPS. i believe they even go after anemones like btas

[Ping]

Peppermint shrimp eating polyps, LPS, and anemones, that is new to me. Do you have a reputable reference on this, I would like to read up on this.

Good explanation Alton

I have used Larry's Bergias on a tank infested with aiptasia and had success with them. with any natural control, patience is the key. I have peppermint in my current tanks and they have been model citizens.

[SoLiD]

I have 5 RBTA's in my tank. I started with 1 that split into 5 and all of them had been left alone by the peppermint shrimp. One of the RBTA's that had split of was the size of a nickel and was completely left alone. It is now about the size of an tennis ball.

[rz1a]

Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) and similar species often, but not always, consume Aiptasia, although they seem to prefer other foods. They also prey on small crustaceans, like copepods and amphipods, in the rock and sand. Sometimes, they are general polyp (coelenterate) predators. In this case, polyps refers to a group of animals that includes corals, anemones, and various other organisms for which we pay money.

Sometimes camel shrimp (Rhynchocinetes durbanensis) are sold as peppermint shrimp, so be careful! In general, many or most of the shrimp sold as peppermint shrimp are not L wurdemanni, but some will eat Aiptasia.

[rz1a]

you could be right Ping, but it looks like they either eat aiptasia or they dont. and depending on what species you have because a couple are hard to tell apart, you might end up with the wrong one, but theyre hard to distinguish. not talking about the camelback in this case

"Peppermint shrimp, Lysmata wurdemanni, have been recommended to clean up Aiptasia in display tanks. Basically, they work sometimes. I have had tanks where I introduced a few and within weeks all the Aiptasia were gone. In other instances, they don’t seem to eat any Aiptasia , and instead concentrate on stealing food from fish and corals. I have even witnessed them attacking and eating small feather dusters and Astraea snails, so I would say these are at best hit or miss. The one thing to watch out for if you select this method is to be sure that you get the true Peppermint shrimp. You are looking for Lysmata wurdemanni. These are collected out of the tropical West Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean. There are several other shrimp that are also imported and are occasionally mistaken for Peppermint shrimp. The most commonly available is Rhynchocinetes durbanensis, also called the Camel Shrimp or Dancing Shrimp because of the distinctive hump on their back. These are easy enough to distinguish, though. Additionally, there are two other species of Lysmata shrimp that are occasionally available and much easier to confuse with the true Peppermint shrimp. Lysmata rathbunae and Lysmata californica are similar and alleged to be not as likely to consume Aiptasia. Both of these also hail from cooler water, so there is some concern for their long-term viability in typical warm water reef displays."

[phrog]

I'm in on a group order in August.

[barderer]

nuke your large ones with a feeding of kalk then throw a few peppermint shrimp in there and the small ones will be gone in a few days. Has always worked for me.