Are pepermint shirimp eating the aptasia? Or the contents of the aptasia?

[King_Neptune]

I heard from a couple sources that the Peppermint shrimp aren't really eating the Aptasia. They are actually tearing at the food that's inside the Aptasia. Is this myth or is there fact in this statement?

 

[returnofsid]

Peppermint shrimp are hit and miss. However, in my experience, when my 200 was infested with Aiptasia, I purchased 6 Peppermint Shrimp. A month or so later, there wasn't a sign of Aiptasia in the tank.

 

[King_Neptune]

But the question is what are we seeing?
Them go after the aptasia? Or the food in the aptasia's stomach?

 

[BigAl07]

I'd have to say I'm pretty sure they are consuming the aptasia itself purely because in my 12g system (I neglected it for months) I have a nasty infestation. I picked up 3 peppermint and within a week the tank was clean. I never even saw any sign of decaying matter or anything that would lead me to believe they had been sacrificed for their stomach contents.

Also it's my understanding that if they aren't completely "consumed" they will spread to other areas which is why many methods of eradication are unsuccessful.

 

[returnofsid]

I've never personally "seen" anything. Peppermint shrimp are pretty secretive, usually. I think they are doing whatever damage to the aiptasia, that they're doing, at night.

 

[mojoreef]

I bought 40 and put them in my tank when I had an aiptasia outbreak, the aiptasia eat all but two of them, so no good info from me on this one, lol


Mojo

 

[BigAl07]

LOL! Mike maybe they weren't true "peppermint" ? Regardless that really sucks!!

I'm about to try another "Pest Removal" technique. One of the guys in my local reef club just built one of these (not THE one in the video) and I'm going to rent it in the next couple of weeks.

 

[King_Neptune]

oh wow. i gotta find out where to make one. thats perfect. can I get some links to builds?

 

[BigAl07]

a real aiptasia laser - Reef Central Online Community
Aiptasia frying laser anyone?
Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Lasers & Laser Pointers
Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Reef Central Online Community


Threads

Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Reef Central Online Community

a real aiptasia laser - a real aiptasia laser - Reef Central Online Community

Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Lasers & Laser Pointers


WARNINGS - YOU MUST READ

http://unitednuclear.com/Insert_For_Class_4_Handheld_Lasers.pdf

High-energy visible light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - High-energy visible light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Before I get into the parts you need, I want to share some aquarium safety tips that are being developed:

Best practices for the use of lasers in aquaria (first draft)​

Secure the Area
The lase area should be closed off from any transient traffic to prevent someone from unknowingly entering the area without appropriate eye protection. Any doors should be closed and locked. Any windows should be covered or blinds closed to prevent the escape of reflected laser energy.

Only the laser operator and those required in the process should be allowed in the area. All pets should be removed from the area and prevented for reentering while the laser is in use.

Protective Gear
A high power laser beam striking your eye, or the eye of an observer can result in instant and permanent blindness. Even viewing the beam endpoint without eye protection will cause eye damage. The user and everyone within the viewing or potential reflection areas must be equipped with appropriate eye protection specifically designed for the wavelength laser being used. Sunglasses do not protect against laser light. Laser eye protection is designed to protect against unintentional reflections and endpoint viewing. It is not designed to protect from a laser beam being directed toward the eye. Never look directly at a laser beam or allow it to directly strike your eye. Long sleeves and Nitrile gloves offer an additional layer of protection for the operator.

Identify and Eliminate Reflection Hazards
Using high power lasers in glass and acrylic tanks is virtually guaranteed to create potentially hazardous beam reflections. These beam reflections can cause serious injury. This danger is amplified by the fact that use of the appropriate safety goggles will prevent you from seeing most beam reflections. Positioning the laser at right angles (directly perpendicular) to the tank glass or acrylic should be avoided as unseen laser energy will be reflected directly toward the user. Burns to exposed tissue can occur within seconds.To prevent injury, a low power targeting laser (such as a laser pointer) in a different spectrum that can be seen when using the safety goggles should be utilized to identify any reflections before firing the high power laser.

Identify Backstops
The laser beam will penetrate clean glass or acrylic with virtually no heat being transmitted to the tank material. The beam will quickly (almost instantly) pierce though the targeted item and impact anything behind it. Extreme caution must be exercised to prevent injury to any livestock located behind the targeted item. Painted or dark glass or acrylic surfaces may become heated during lasing.

Reduce Water Flow
Pumps should be turned off during lasering. This limits the cooling effect of water passing over the target thereby increasing the effectiveness of the laser and reducing the firing duration required to achieve the intended results. It also simplifies targeting as the intended pest is motionless.

Protecting Tank Inhabitants
Failure to protect tank inhabitants from repeated viewing the beam endpoint will likely result in blindness to your livestock. Ideally, all livestock should be removed and held in quarantine in a tank protected (covered) from stray laser light until laser treatment is completed. Alternative methods(s) to protect livestock from encountering the beam or end-point include,

• Physical Barriers - Use of physical barriers to prevent inhabitants from accessing an area being lased and to prevent any laser energy (beam pass-through or reflections) from entering any areas containing livestock.
• Endpoint Shield - If physically blocking off the area being lased is impractical due to tank features, an end-point shield should be used to prevent inhabitants from viewing the end-beam. In this case, extreme diligence is required to extinguish the beam should any inhabitants approach. This is likely, due to curiosity over the “sizzling” sound created by the operating laser. The endpoint shield can be created by simply as a short section of opaque acrylic (such as painted or frosted.) PVC should not be used as it emits toxins when heated.

Potential Impact to Water Quality
Use of a lasers to eradicate certain marine pests may result in the release of undetermined levels of toxins into the water column. It is believed that the intense heat may break down some of the compounds (such as Palytoxins.) Depending on the type and number of pests being destroyed and the size of the tank, the user should be prepared to use fresh carbon and or execute a water change to reduce any toxins produced.

Securing the Laser When Not in Use
When not in use the laser should be treated and stored as a firearm. When not is use it should be secured in a lockable case with batteries removed. The locked case should be stored out of the reach of children.

All of the above came through a thread on my local Reef Forum
A new toy to try

 

[BigAl07]

a real aiptasia laser - Reef Central Online Community
Aiptasia frying laser anyone?
Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Lasers & Laser Pointers
Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Reef Central Online Community


Threads

Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals - Reef Central Online Community

a real aiptasia laser - a real aiptasia laser - Reef Central Online Community

Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser for frying pest anemones in a reef aquarium - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Lasers & Laser Pointers


WARNINGS - YOU MUST READ

http://unitednuclear.com/Insert_For_Class_4_Handheld_Lasers.pdf

High-energy visible light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - High-energy visible light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Before I get into the parts you need, I want to share some aquarium safety tips that are being developed:

Best practices for the use of lasers in aquaria (first draft)​

Secure the Area
The lase area should be closed off from any transient traffic to prevent someone from unknowingly entering the area without appropriate eye protection. Any doors should be closed and locked. Any windows should be covered or blinds closed to prevent the escape of reflected laser energy.

Only the laser operator and those required in the process should be allowed in the area. All pets should be removed from the area and prevented for reentering while the laser is in use.

Protective Gear
A high power laser beam striking your eye, or the eye of an observer can result in instant and permanent blindness. Even viewing the beam endpoint without eye protection will cause eye damage. The user and everyone within the viewing or potential reflection areas must be equipped with appropriate eye protection specifically designed for the wavelength laser being used. Sunglasses do not protect against laser light. Laser eye protection is designed to protect against unintentional reflections and endpoint viewing. It is not designed to protect from a laser beam being directed toward the eye. Never look directly at a laser beam or allow it to directly strike your eye. Long sleeves and Nitrile gloves offer an additional layer of protection for the operator.

Identify and Eliminate Reflection Hazards
Using high power lasers in glass and acrylic tanks is virtually guaranteed to create potentially hazardous beam reflections. These beam reflections can cause serious injury. This danger is amplified by the fact that use of the appropriate safety goggles will prevent you from seeing most beam reflections. Positioning the laser at right angles (directly perpendicular) to the tank glass or acrylic should be avoided as unseen laser energy will be reflected directly toward the user. Burns to exposed tissue can occur within seconds.To prevent injury, a low power targeting laser (such as a laser pointer) in a different spectrum that can be seen when using the safety goggles should be utilized to identify any reflections before firing the high power laser.

Identify Backstops
The laser beam will penetrate clean glass or acrylic with virtually no heat being transmitted to the tank material. The beam will quickly (almost instantly) pierce though the targeted item and impact anything behind it. Extreme caution must be exercised to prevent injury to any livestock located behind the targeted item. Painted or dark glass or acrylic surfaces may become heated during lasing.

Reduce Water Flow
Pumps should be turned off during lasering. This limits the cooling effect of water passing over the target thereby increasing the effectiveness of the laser and reducing the firing duration required to achieve the intended results. It also simplifies targeting as the intended pest is motionless.

Protecting Tank Inhabitants
Failure to protect tank inhabitants from repeated viewing the beam endpoint will likely result in blindness to your livestock. Ideally, all livestock should be removed and held in quarantine in a tank protected (covered) from stray laser light until laser treatment is completed. Alternative methods(s) to protect livestock from encountering the beam or end-point include,

• Physical Barriers - Use of physical barriers to prevent inhabitants from accessing an area being lased and to prevent any laser energy (beam pass-through or reflections) from entering any areas containing livestock.
• Endpoint Shield - If physically blocking off the area being lased is impractical due to tank features, an end-point shield should be used to prevent inhabitants from viewing the end-beam. In this case, extreme diligence is required to extinguish the beam should any inhabitants approach. This is likely, due to curiosity over the “sizzling” sound created by the operating laser. The endpoint shield can be created by simply as a short section of opaque acrylic (such as painted or frosted.) PVC should not be used as it emits toxins when heated.

Potential Impact to Water Quality
Use of a lasers to eradicate certain marine pests may result in the release of undetermined levels of toxins into the water column. It is believed that the intense heat may break down some of the compounds (such as Palytoxins.) Depending on the type and number of pests being destroyed and the size of the tank, the user should be prepared to use fresh carbon and or execute a water change to reduce any toxins produced.

Securing the Laser When Not in Use
When not in use the laser should be treated and stored as a firearm. When not is use it should be secured in a lockable case with batteries removed. The locked case should be stored out of the reach of children.

All of the above came through a thread on my local Reef Forum
A new toy to try

 

[King_Neptune]

thx.
I found this too ^_^

 

[King_Neptune]

Green Laser Pointer 1 Watt | S3 Krypton | Spyder III | Wicked Lasers

 

[trido]

Wow! only $259!! I could buy a skimmer and build an aptasia burner for about the same with ALOT less risk to myself, family, tank and fish.

 

[King_Neptune]

How bout a $15 alternative?
HOW TO TURN A 5MW LASER INTO A 100MW LASER - YouTube

 

[mojoreef]

Yea the burners dont work, lol tried that to. I would hold off on anything like the laser until its verified that it works. The burner was all the rage when it came out to, but then the damm things survive if you miss like one cell!!

becareful folks

Mike

 

[King_Neptune]

Oh yea. I figured they would be able to release eggs to live on. But I still see a laser as a quick method to cull a population....even if you have to do it every few days.

 

[mojoreef]

It might be King but if they survive it, they will come back way more. When I tried the burner/zapper thing I would clean off an entire rock, within a week their was twice as many small ones taking their place, it became a thing with the more I tried it the stronger the population became. I would latch onto someone that has used it for a couple of months and see if they were seeing the same thing or if it was truely getting rid of them that all.

good luck and be careful


Mike

 

[trido]

Yea the burners dont work, lol tried that to. I would hold off on anything like the laser until its verified that it works. The burner was all the rage when it came out to, but then the damm things survive if you miss like one cell!!

becareful folks

Mike

Ive been using my aptasia burner with 80+% success for near four years now. It takes a bit of practice to learn how to kill them but once I learned the process I get most of them the first time. Its much safer than adding kalk paste to the tank and I dont get my hands wet.

Ive never had them come back stronger or spreading from the ones I've missed. Typically I will see the one I didnt fully kill slowly grow back over the next week or so.

 

[mojoreef]

I think it may have been the sheer number I had also??? Not sure but it would kill them, but a week or so later they were back real strong.

MOjo

 

[trido]

Also, I'm not against the idea of a laser as I've seen one in action on my own tank many years ago. I just wonder how one would prevent a fish from swimming into the beam in a fully stocked tank. Seems like there are a lot of risks with reflections, painted glass or dark acrylic and the disclaimers go on.