Katchupoy
Well-known member
Cool thanks... I remember when I visited Point Defiance Zoo, they also have thousands of these little creatures on their display (softy) tank.
Let's Talk About ~Pests~
- Thread starter NaH2O
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
I can't believe we have gotten 2 pages into this and no one has mentioned the "A" word. Aiptasia, there someone said it. What does anybody do for theirs. I have tried Joe's Juice, Kalk, peppermint shrimp, among other things.
Joe's Juice seems to be a hit and miss thing. It knocks the little ones into the dirt, but the big ones, it just seems to chase them to a new spot nearby.
Anybody else??
Joe's Juice seems to be a hit and miss thing. It knocks the little ones into the dirt, but the big ones, it just seems to chase them to a new spot nearby.
Anybody else??
Crows Ridge
Well-known member
We went 4 years without the "A" word. Then I got "1" as ahitchiker and they spread like crazy. I put in 10 Peppermint shrimp and they were all gone within a week. And there were quite a few spread over the 350g.
Now I have a word worse than "A", and I need a cure! Its the "M" word. Majano! THey are taking over and stinging the daylights out of the rest of the tank.
Foxface are supposed to eat them. I bought one a week ago. He is very fat, does not seem to eat what I put in the tank, but I see no drop in the M pop. yet either. He is supposed to be reef safe, I hope hes not getting fat on my Pepps
Chris
Now I have a word worse than "A", and I need a cure! Its the "M" word. Majano! THey are taking over and stinging the daylights out of the rest of the tank.
Foxface are supposed to eat them. I bought one a week ago. He is very fat, does not seem to eat what I put in the tank, but I see no drop in the M pop. yet either. He is supposed to be reef safe, I hope hes not getting fat on my Pepps
Chris
Curtswearing
Mantisfreak
Here's some common cures. PS....I have found that injecting the base works better than injecting through the oral disc for boiling water.
INJECTION: Mix up a strong dose of kalkwasser. Put it in a syringe, and inject each of the little stinkers with it. Drawbacks to this are that there is always the possibility of a little piece of tissue surviving and reproducing. Your drugstore will sell you a syringe if you tell them what you need it for.
PEPPERMINT SHRIMP (Lysmata wurdemanni): Just put a few in and pray. Sometimes they will eat them, and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they will only eat the small ones. Be aware that a lot of LFS's commonly mislabel camelback shrimp as peppermints and they won't touch aiptasia.
BUTTERFLY FISH: Both the Copperband Butterfly (Chelmon rostratus) and the Klenni Butterfly (Chaetodon kleinii) will eat Aiptasia. Make sure your tank is properly sized before obtaining a butterfly and that it is appropriate for your tank. Once the aiptasia are gone, it might find other suitable things to eat like feather dusters, polyps, etc.
BERGHIA NUDIBRANCHS (Berghia verrucicornis) These tiny nudibranchs rely solely on Aiptasia for their dietary needs and are completely reefsafe. What more could you ask for? Unfortunately, once the aiptasia are gone, you will have to find a friend with aiptasia before the nudibranch starves.
KALKPASTE: Mix kalk into a paste or keep some of the sludge that settled down to the bottom of your Kalk mixing bottle. Put the paste on the majano or aiptasia. In small tanks, make sure you have some waterchange water if your pH raises too much from the Kalk.
LEMONJUICE: Inject them with lemonjuice instead of Kalk. Lemon juice doesn't seem to impact the pH like kalk does in small tanks.
BOILING WATER: Inject them with boiling water. PS....I have found that injecting the base works better than injecting through the oral disc for boiling water.
For majano only......
SPURILLA NEAPOLITANA NUDIBRANCH: These have the same pro's and con's for majanos that Berghia does for aiptasia.
INJECTION: Mix up a strong dose of kalkwasser. Put it in a syringe, and inject each of the little stinkers with it. Drawbacks to this are that there is always the possibility of a little piece of tissue surviving and reproducing. Your drugstore will sell you a syringe if you tell them what you need it for.
PEPPERMINT SHRIMP (Lysmata wurdemanni): Just put a few in and pray. Sometimes they will eat them, and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they will only eat the small ones. Be aware that a lot of LFS's commonly mislabel camelback shrimp as peppermints and they won't touch aiptasia.
BUTTERFLY FISH: Both the Copperband Butterfly (Chelmon rostratus) and the Klenni Butterfly (Chaetodon kleinii) will eat Aiptasia. Make sure your tank is properly sized before obtaining a butterfly and that it is appropriate for your tank. Once the aiptasia are gone, it might find other suitable things to eat like feather dusters, polyps, etc.
BERGHIA NUDIBRANCHS (Berghia verrucicornis) These tiny nudibranchs rely solely on Aiptasia for their dietary needs and are completely reefsafe. What more could you ask for? Unfortunately, once the aiptasia are gone, you will have to find a friend with aiptasia before the nudibranch starves.
KALKPASTE: Mix kalk into a paste or keep some of the sludge that settled down to the bottom of your Kalk mixing bottle. Put the paste on the majano or aiptasia. In small tanks, make sure you have some waterchange water if your pH raises too much from the Kalk.
LEMONJUICE: Inject them with lemonjuice instead of Kalk. Lemon juice doesn't seem to impact the pH like kalk does in small tanks.
BOILING WATER: Inject them with boiling water. PS....I have found that injecting the base works better than injecting through the oral disc for boiling water.
For majano only......
SPURILLA NEAPOLITANA NUDIBRANCH: These have the same pro's and con's for majanos that Berghia does for aiptasia.
Crows Ridge
Well-known member
SPURILLA NEAPOLITANA NUDIBRANCH: These have the same pro's and con's for majanos that Berghia does for aiptasia.
Okay Curt, where can I get one?
BTW, I am still LMAO from the Wificus infection you have
Thanks, Chris
Okay Curt, where can I get one?
BTW, I am still LMAO from the Wificus infection you have
Thanks, Chris
NaH2O
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2004
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- 8,568
Great info Curt! Another treatment to add to the list for aiptasia and majanos is Joe's Juice. It is important for the juice to be applied to the mouth of the pest anemone.
The next pest has been getting a lot of attention lately because of a new treatment people are trying....."Red Bugs". Red bugs are a type of parasite (happens to be a species of pod) that infects Acropora sp., and are a yellowish color with a red spot on one end of their bodies. For some reason, however, they have not been found to effect A. yongei or other SPS. There are so many different varieties of Acropora it is hard to say which colonies can handle the infestation and continue to grow, or which colonies would be destroyed by the infestation. It is also unclear as to how these bugs parasitize. Are they eating the flesh of the coral, or are they eating something else that is parasitizing the coral? What hobbyists first notice is a loss of color to their coral, eventually the coral becomes very pale, and some die.
If you happen to have red bugs it is important to not "share the wealth" when frag trading, or if you do trade frags - inform the other hobbyists of your infestation. Inspect all incoming frags for the red bugs.
Some methods of treatment - removal of the infected colony, placement in a separate container, and blowing the coral with a powerhead to dislodge the parasite. Another mode of treatment would be to remove all Acropora sp from the system ----> then any new colonies introduced to the aquarium potentially would have a parasite free environment. There of course are various dips to try, as well. The last mode of treatment I'll mention is getting the attention......the use of Interceptor (heartworm preventative for dogs). The drug has been shown to be effective for killing off the red bugs, however, it will also kill off pods and nematodes in the system, as well (unless all Acropora corals can be removed to quarantine for treatment). The long term/residual effects of this treatment have also not been noted.
For more reading on this topic: An Aquarist's Experiences with a Species of Acropora Parasites by Greg Hiller
The next pest has been getting a lot of attention lately because of a new treatment people are trying....."Red Bugs". Red bugs are a type of parasite (happens to be a species of pod) that infects Acropora sp., and are a yellowish color with a red spot on one end of their bodies. For some reason, however, they have not been found to effect A. yongei or other SPS. There are so many different varieties of Acropora it is hard to say which colonies can handle the infestation and continue to grow, or which colonies would be destroyed by the infestation. It is also unclear as to how these bugs parasitize. Are they eating the flesh of the coral, or are they eating something else that is parasitizing the coral? What hobbyists first notice is a loss of color to their coral, eventually the coral becomes very pale, and some die.
If you happen to have red bugs it is important to not "share the wealth" when frag trading, or if you do trade frags - inform the other hobbyists of your infestation. Inspect all incoming frags for the red bugs.
Some methods of treatment - removal of the infected colony, placement in a separate container, and blowing the coral with a powerhead to dislodge the parasite. Another mode of treatment would be to remove all Acropora sp from the system ----> then any new colonies introduced to the aquarium potentially would have a parasite free environment. There of course are various dips to try, as well. The last mode of treatment I'll mention is getting the attention......the use of Interceptor (heartworm preventative for dogs). The drug has been shown to be effective for killing off the red bugs, however, it will also kill off pods and nematodes in the system, as well (unless all Acropora corals can be removed to quarantine for treatment). The long term/residual effects of this treatment have also not been noted.
For more reading on this topic: An Aquarist's Experiences with a Species of Acropora Parasites by Greg Hiller
Curtswearing
Mantisfreak
Actually it is Wit who has the wificus infection and not me. I thought it was pretty funny too and wanted to give credit where credit is due.
Strictly special order here in St. Louis...I don't know about Washington. In other words, you pay through your nose for them. I would go other (cheaper) routes first and then do a special order through your LFS as a last resort.
If you do decide to do a special order, remember this quote from one of my earlier posts on this thread and get a guarantee on species......"a lot of species of flatworms are nudibranch mimics and what you buy might not be a nudibranch at all but one of the mimics".
Crows Ridge said:
Strictly special order here in St. Louis...I don't know about Washington. In other words, you pay through your nose for them. I would go other (cheaper) routes first and then do a special order through your LFS as a last resort.
If you do decide to do a special order, remember this quote from one of my earlier posts on this thread and get a guarantee on species......"a lot of species of flatworms are nudibranch mimics and what you buy might not be a nudibranch at all but one of the mimics".
Curtswearing
Mantisfreak
The cycle will generate such high ammonia that I wouldn't worry about it. There's typically no reason for fear.
However, if all of your LFS's are swarming with flatworms....yes, it might be a good idea.
However, if all of your LFS's are swarming with flatworms....yes, it might be a good idea.
Flatworms-
I noticed flatworms on my old 120g tank in 3 areas of the tank. I seemed to have quite a few, but when looking at pictures of other ppls infestations I really didnt have that maybe. My strong current kept the located in 3 areas of the tank. I removed them with a turkey baster everyday while researching a permanent removal. I ended up getting the salifert flatworm exit. I was hesitant to do this, but I had read up that it was very safe and the only problems ppl have is with the actual dead flatworms.
Flatworm Exit Dosing-
So on the day I was going to administer FWE I made sure i had 40g of water ready and carbon on hand. Also that I had the entire day to dedicate to my tank. So here are my steps:
First I sucked up every single flatworm I could see in the tank. I came back in 20 minutes and sucked up anymore new ones I could see. My tank was bare of flatworms. THIS IS THE KEY! You need to get rid of as many flatworms as possible. You will want to be meticilous about this.
I then dosed my tank with flatworm exit. I did a 2x strength dosage for my tank. Within 2 minutes I saw some flatworms curling up and starting to float in the water column. I had my brine shrimp net handy and I netted every single flatworm that was floating around in the tank. You need to do this too! It is important that you dont leave any of these suckers and their toxins in the tank. I ended up netting only about 20 or so. I had done a good job sucking up every single one.
I dont remember exactly how long I left the FWE in, but it was about 3x the recomended length. I then did my waterchange, and put carbon in for 24 hours.
Over the next week I spent about 1hour each day looking at my tank for flatworms. The second day I found one, he didnt look to healthy but he was moving. I sucked him up. About the 4th day after I saw another one that didnt look healthy and sucked him up too. I was worried that I may have to treat again, but after those two I never saw another one again! It was good of me to study my tank for the week, because I could have got another population bloom if I didnt get those two.
Recovery-
My tank recovered absolutely fine from the FWE. My starfish(large brittle star, and mini-brittlestars) had a hard time with it. They curled up and didnt look well. About 3 hours after the waterchange and carbon was in there they recovered and looked fine.
Anyone that has a horror story about this product, is probably because they didnt take precautions to remove the flatworms. The flatworm toxin is deadly to your tank, not the FWE. My tank was full of SPS, Zoos, Rics and everything was fine during, and after the treatment
I noticed flatworms on my old 120g tank in 3 areas of the tank. I seemed to have quite a few, but when looking at pictures of other ppls infestations I really didnt have that maybe. My strong current kept the located in 3 areas of the tank. I removed them with a turkey baster everyday while researching a permanent removal. I ended up getting the salifert flatworm exit. I was hesitant to do this, but I had read up that it was very safe and the only problems ppl have is with the actual dead flatworms.
Flatworm Exit Dosing-
So on the day I was going to administer FWE I made sure i had 40g of water ready and carbon on hand. Also that I had the entire day to dedicate to my tank. So here are my steps:
First I sucked up every single flatworm I could see in the tank. I came back in 20 minutes and sucked up anymore new ones I could see. My tank was bare of flatworms. THIS IS THE KEY! You need to get rid of as many flatworms as possible. You will want to be meticilous about this.
I then dosed my tank with flatworm exit. I did a 2x strength dosage for my tank. Within 2 minutes I saw some flatworms curling up and starting to float in the water column. I had my brine shrimp net handy and I netted every single flatworm that was floating around in the tank. You need to do this too! It is important that you dont leave any of these suckers and their toxins in the tank. I ended up netting only about 20 or so. I had done a good job sucking up every single one.
I dont remember exactly how long I left the FWE in, but it was about 3x the recomended length. I then did my waterchange, and put carbon in for 24 hours.
Over the next week I spent about 1hour each day looking at my tank for flatworms. The second day I found one, he didnt look to healthy but he was moving. I sucked him up. About the 4th day after I saw another one that didnt look healthy and sucked him up too. I was worried that I may have to treat again, but after those two I never saw another one again! It was good of me to study my tank for the week, because I could have got another population bloom if I didnt get those two.
Recovery-
My tank recovered absolutely fine from the FWE. My starfish(large brittle star, and mini-brittlestars) had a hard time with it. They curled up and didnt look well. About 3 hours after the waterchange and carbon was in there they recovered and looked fine.
Anyone that has a horror story about this product, is probably because they didnt take precautions to remove the flatworms. The flatworm toxin is deadly to your tank, not the FWE. My tank was full of SPS, Zoos, Rics and everything was fine during, and after the treatment
Maxx
Staff Housemonkey
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- Messages
- 2,935
Idgy,
If your going to be starting a fowlr, you wont really need to worry about flatworms in the tank. Flatworms are problematic because they can smother corals, and prevent them from getting light.
In a Fish Only With Live Rock, you're not really gonna have corals in the tank anyway....
I hadnt previously been aware that flatworms are photosynthetic, (thanks for the info Nikki!), so another way you will be keeping their numbers in check is the lighting you will be using over your tank. For a FOWLR, intense lighting isnt necessary, so most people just use the strip NO lighting that comes w/ most tanks. I dont think that would be suffient to sustain large populations of flatworms in the tank.
HTH,
Nick
If your going to be starting a fowlr, you wont really need to worry about flatworms in the tank. Flatworms are problematic because they can smother corals, and prevent them from getting light.
In a Fish Only With Live Rock, you're not really gonna have corals in the tank anyway....
I hadnt previously been aware that flatworms are photosynthetic, (thanks for the info Nikki!), so another way you will be keeping their numbers in check is the lighting you will be using over your tank. For a FOWLR, intense lighting isnt necessary, so most people just use the strip NO lighting that comes w/ most tanks. I dont think that would be suffient to sustain large populations of flatworms in the tank.
HTH,
Nick
Red Bugs-
So yea, I had redbugs too in my 120g. I got it from a coral purchase and told they werent harmful. For the first few weeks they didnt do much. After that, I noticed that the corals they were on had horrible polyp extension and didnt look very healthy. It was time to remove them! They had spread to a couple of my prize corals, and were wreaking havoc.
Luckily Dustin at ORA came up with a weird, but great, method of erradicating these pests. Here is a link of the thread I went off, of.Red Bugs
Getting Medication-
A lot of people have complained that this product isnt readily available over the internet anymore, and that they dont think their vet will give them the medication. Well I went straight to my vet with a printout of my problem and the treatment. I have a small dog, and this requires large dog medication. They made sure I knew not to give it to my dog. I had no problem getting it from my vet. So ask your vet, dont be a wuss!
I never got mine measured out though. They couldnt do it at the vet and I didnt want to take it to the pharmacy. Because of my special situation I just Eyed it.
Dosing Interceptor Heartworm Pill-
Since this was in my 120g, and my 180g was ready and waiting for my stuff, I didnt take as many precautions as you guys should. I was going to throw my water out and start with brand new water, so I didnt have to worry about any longterm affects, any pods, etc. I didnt have any shrimp or crabs in the tank at the time either, which this medicaiton may affect. I had fish and SPS.
If you read the link it will talk about procedures. I left my skimmer on, but unhooked the air valve. I left everything else running as normal.
So I eyed my measurement, and then ground it up in a mortar. I mixed it up in some water and placed it in a high flow area. I ended up leaving it in for about 8 or 9 hours and by then all the redbugs were gone. I put in my carbon for 24hours and all was good. The redbugs were gone, and everything was fine in the tank.
In two weeks I didnt notice anything. Just to be sure, I did one more dosage the day before I moved stuff over to my new tank. It has been a month now or so and no red bugs. It took a couple weeks to see the corals get really healthy again after the redbugs.
I have no idea what longterm effects may be of dosing this stuff. I feel fortunate that I dont have to deal with the thought of that, cause personally it scares me.
So yea, I had redbugs too in my 120g. I got it from a coral purchase and told they werent harmful. For the first few weeks they didnt do much. After that, I noticed that the corals they were on had horrible polyp extension and didnt look very healthy. It was time to remove them! They had spread to a couple of my prize corals, and were wreaking havoc.
Luckily Dustin at ORA came up with a weird, but great, method of erradicating these pests. Here is a link of the thread I went off, of.Red Bugs
Getting Medication-
A lot of people have complained that this product isnt readily available over the internet anymore, and that they dont think their vet will give them the medication. Well I went straight to my vet with a printout of my problem and the treatment. I have a small dog, and this requires large dog medication. They made sure I knew not to give it to my dog. I had no problem getting it from my vet. So ask your vet, dont be a wuss!
I never got mine measured out though. They couldnt do it at the vet and I didnt want to take it to the pharmacy. Because of my special situation I just Eyed it.
Dosing Interceptor Heartworm Pill-
Since this was in my 120g, and my 180g was ready and waiting for my stuff, I didnt take as many precautions as you guys should. I was going to throw my water out and start with brand new water, so I didnt have to worry about any longterm affects, any pods, etc. I didnt have any shrimp or crabs in the tank at the time either, which this medicaiton may affect. I had fish and SPS.
If you read the link it will talk about procedures. I left my skimmer on, but unhooked the air valve. I left everything else running as normal.
So I eyed my measurement, and then ground it up in a mortar. I mixed it up in some water and placed it in a high flow area. I ended up leaving it in for about 8 or 9 hours and by then all the redbugs were gone. I put in my carbon for 24hours and all was good. The redbugs were gone, and everything was fine in the tank.
In two weeks I didnt notice anything. Just to be sure, I did one more dosage the day before I moved stuff over to my new tank. It has been a month now or so and no red bugs. It took a couple weeks to see the corals get really healthy again after the redbugs.
I have no idea what longterm effects may be of dosing this stuff. I feel fortunate that I dont have to deal with the thought of that, cause personally it scares me.
maxx said:
If you are planning to kill them off by starving them in light, or letting them be, you better be CAREFUL! If you get a mass die-off for some reason(wether you try to starve them on purpose with light, or if you just let them be and they die on their own) you will be in trouble! Get as many of those guys out of there before you do anything, and get them out as they are dying. Those toxins will be harmful to any livestock in the tank.
NaH2O
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- Jan 25, 2004
- Messages
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Bad snails, Bad!
There are some snails that you don't want to find in your tank.
The Heliacus snail is commonly found predating on zoanthid colonies at night. This is one snail that you will want to remove when you see it. If zoo colonies aren't looking very healthy - check for this critter. If you see one, then be sure to check for others. (Photos from Hitchhiker FAQ)
Another group of predating snails is Pyramidellidae. These snails are tiny white snails that prey upon Tridacnid clams and sometimes can be found on snails (also read feather dusters, too). If not kept in check they can grow in population and wipe out clams. Manual removal seems to be the best method, however, I read that sixline wrasses can be helpful. Anyone have experience with Pyram. snails and how you erradicated them? (photo from Ron Shimek's Website)
There are some snails that you don't want to find in your tank.
The Heliacus snail is commonly found predating on zoanthid colonies at night. This is one snail that you will want to remove when you see it. If zoo colonies aren't looking very healthy - check for this critter. If you see one, then be sure to check for others. (Photos from Hitchhiker FAQ)
Another group of predating snails is Pyramidellidae. These snails are tiny white snails that prey upon Tridacnid clams and sometimes can be found on snails (also read feather dusters, too). If not kept in check they can grow in population and wipe out clams. Manual removal seems to be the best method, however, I read that sixline wrasses can be helpful. Anyone have experience with Pyram. snails and how you erradicated them? (photo from Ron Shimek's Website)
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NaH2O
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Thanks, Nick!
I found this link and thought it might be an aid to those that don't know what Aiptasia looks like: Aiptasia
Here is a little more information on Bristleworms
I've already mentioned a zoanthid eating snail....so, lets move on to the zoanthid eating nudibranch. When new colonies of zoos are brought in, it would be a good idea to inspect for these critters. Often times, they resemble the zoo they are predating upon, so may go unnoticed. According to "Book of Coral Propagation" by Anthony Calfo:
As with the Heliacus snail, if you have a zoanthid colony that is having some difficulty, check for the nudibranchs. Here's a picture of one: (from Ron Shimek's Site)
I found this link and thought it might be an aid to those that don't know what Aiptasia looks like: Aiptasia
Here is a little more information on Bristleworms
I've already mentioned a zoanthid eating snail....so, lets move on to the zoanthid eating nudibranch. When new colonies of zoos are brought in, it would be a good idea to inspect for these critters. Often times, they resemble the zoo they are predating upon, so may go unnoticed. According to "Book of Coral Propagation" by Anthony Calfo:
As with the Heliacus snail, if you have a zoanthid colony that is having some difficulty, check for the nudibranchs. Here's a picture of one: (from Ron Shimek's Site)
