can you ever ignore aptasia?

[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/factshee...ase=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