If you wind up with the bad glass anoemonae (sp?) be rid of them easily..

[pravdaseeker]

Hello all,

I guess everyone is bound to get them sometime.. and I got astapia things from some live rock..

And at first you go hmm, not an ugly thing really.. kinda pretty in their own right, but lordy, they have lots of babies fast..and soon become a huge problem.

I made the mistake of going on vacation for 5 weeks... and THEN deciding to do something about them.. When I returned from vacation they had gone exponential in my absence..!

GET the nudibranches that eat these buggers! It is the ONLY way to.. so easy, let nature get them..

I had quite a colony of them going, in one area they literally carpeted a square foot of floor space in tank! I was freaking out that they gotten so big, so fast, and so many.

Get the nudibranches... and SHOP around for them.. look hard and heavy, the prices range greatly on them..

I have seen them as high as $29.00 EACH, which is astronomical and rediculously high... down to about $4.00 each if you buy a number of them.

I got 15 of the little tiny nudibranches... I was expecting critters much larger.. they are TINY!! Maybe 1/2 inch long, if you stretch em out. And I noticed the container they were shipped in ALSO had some gifts in it. The nudibranches had laid a bunch of eggs during the shipping of them, SOOOoooo I sunk the container in the tank, and let all the eggs hatch, and the little ones had a forest to go into.

You will know it is egg cases as they are slimy looking "spirals" with white dots in them..

Anyhow.... I got to worrying about IF they got going or not..lol.. Worried if water quality was ok fo rthe nudibranches etc.. Over the last 36 hours I have seen a vast tipping point with the bad tank pest.. You will first notice their arms will lose their white spots, and they will take on a darker color, and then it is no time til they are shriveling into almost nothing, the change is abrupt to me..

The nudibranches are the only way to go in my opinion, so slick..

Pravdaseeker

 

[07FocusST]

Typically I would use either Aptasia-X (a chemical solution), or a natural predator of Aptasia such as: Peppermint Shrimp or some sort of Filefish (wouldn't recommend for reefs)

 

[cptbjorn]

i've never really understood the point of chemical based aiptasia killers, a turkey baster and some boiling RO has killed every aiptasia i've ever encountered...

i can see doing peppermint shrimp or berghia for a large infestation where you can't reach them but then don't you have to get the berghia out after their job is done and before they starve to death?

 

[FreakinReefin]

i've never really understood the point of chemical based aiptasia killers, a turkey baster and some boiling RO has killed every aiptasia i've ever encountered...

i can see doing peppermint shrimp or berghia for a large infestation where you can't reach them but then don't you have to get the berghia out after their job is done and before they starve to death?

While boiling RO is a great idea, it won't account for every situation. For example: an anemone that is tucked right between some really great Zoas or Play's or what have you...the RO will wickedly fry the Zoas around the anemone as well. Equally though with the chemical killer but only if you are sloppy and imprecise.

 

[MrSculpin]

i've never really understood the point of chemical based aiptasia killers, a turkey baster and some boiling RO has killed every aiptasia i've ever encountered...

i can see doing peppermint shrimp or berghia for a large infestation where you can't reach them but then don't you have to get the berghia out after their job is done and before they starve to death?

My experience with the Berghia was they did a fabulous job, and when they got hungry you started to see them out on the glass, so it was easy to get them out. I sold them to someone else.

 

[DolphinLVR]

I woulndt mind getting some to take care of the Aprasia I am now starting to see, but I have 2 peppermint Shrimp in the tank as well and I have heard that the shrimp will devour them.

 

[MrSculpin]

I woulndt mind getting some to take care of the Aprasia I am now starting to see, but I have 2 peppermint Shrimp in the tank as well and I have heard that the shrimp will devour them.

I bought a peppermint shrimp and so far it has not touched them that I can see! Though I think its eating some of my Zoa's