Aiptasia are getting to me argh!

[VietNR1]

My peppermint shrimp is doing a good job in my tank, have been aiptasia free for a while now. You just gotta make sure you get the right one as some peppermint shrimps sold aren't the aiptasia eating variety.

When I had way too many aiptasia's a Copperband Butterfly worked great! Super fast too. Problem was after all the aiptasia's were gone I couldn't get him to eat frozen food and it eventually died.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Yeah I have never been able to find peppermint shrimp that eat aptasia. I have a couple in my tank now but they don't appear to eat them.

 

[Thales]

To get peps to work, you need to not feed them. So, only feed the fish in the tank the minimum they need for a couple of weeks.

Mike, I have a bristle tail file fish if you want to give it a try.

 

[tuberider]

Anther trick with the peps is to find Aiptasia in your LFS and throw a couple in with the peps, then grab the ones that hop all over the pests.

 

[Sfork]

Also make sure they're peps and not camel shrimp

 

[GreshamH]

Easy to tell the difference (peppermint vs camel)

See the pronounced hump on the back and the really white markings?

Notice the much smaller hump and lack of white markings?

 

[Rick778]

Camel shrimp bad >)
Ate a bunch of my coral before I figured out what was doing it.

 

[GreshamH]

Camel shrimp are bad

 

[JAR]

peppermint shrimp ate my acans at night until I nuked em with intercepter. >)

 

[Crabby]

Thanks for this thread and I feel your pain! My 12G nano (home tank) is an aiptasia nightmare. The tank crashed in November and since being set up in December the aiptasia population has exploded (probably 200+ anemones). One of the aiptasia ate a clownfish last week (small male of a mated pair). The fish was healthy and had fed that morning but an hour or so later one of the aiptasia was much larger and it's gut was telltale orange.

Since there's really nothing in the tank left besides the larger female clownfish, a few snails and an abalone, I'm thinking of tearing the tank down and starting over. But, might be good opportunity to try different anemone eaters!

 

[bigdeeezy]

im pretty much having the same problems as you guys...starting to see some aiptasia multiplying so to get some your opinions...would you guys/gals rather purchase some berghia nudis or pep shrimp to handle this kind of problem for good?

 

[Tumbleweed]

I have given up on finding something to eat them. I just go in and kill them with Kalk paste every other/ every third day. Some times it takes 2 or 3 times to kill some of them, but I am starting to notice a difference.

 

[Vincerama2]

I'm with Tumbleweed. I've given up so I bought the big expensive bottle of aiptasia-X and I nuke them every once in a while. They'll grow back, and then I'll nuke them again. I'm hoping that eventually they won't have the energy left to grow back. That might be a pipe dream, but nothing else works short of starting over again. I had peps that worked quite well and then died, then the aiptasia came back. I ignore the ones I can't reach, even though I know they are aiptasia factories. I've spent HUNDREDS on berghias that just died without taking down a single anemone, I'll never try them again, they are way too delicate.

I think the key is to come up with a less annoying way to kill aiptasia on a regular basis. I use the syringe but it is hardly convenient to stick your arm in the tank with the syringe. My idea is to use something similar to the "syringe and tubing" spot feeding tool that many people us. Just hook a syringe to airline tubing, then attach the tip of the tubing to an acrylic rod and see if I can get one of the syringe tips to fit on the end of the tubing. That way I could kill them without getting my arms we and also while looking through the front of the tank.

They are bastards and we should kill them on site.

V

 

[Tumbleweed]

Saw this today. Might be worth a shot.

http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/271-I-won-t-lye-it-works-%28tentatively-speaking%29?bt=1432

 

[GreshamH]

Author must not be aware Red Devil and others stopped using pure lye due to an FDA & DEA request since it's used in the production of Meth. It's very hard to find pure Lye, just check all the soap forums that are up in arms over this issue.

 

[tuberider]

Go to your local Mexican market, I buy Lye there all the time to make real Dutch pretzels (they use it to slack maize to make masa)

 

[GreshamH]

Go while you can... before FDA and DEA find it out

Most recipes and most pre-made ones use good ol kalkwasser (lime) for that. In fact I have never heard of Lye being used

 

[Vincerama2]

I've been to a few Mexican groceries and can never find "Cal", which is the kalkwasser equivalent. What is the lye called there? And where might it be found? I had read about the lye aiptasia treatment but I couldn't find it. Meth cookers ruin everything, can't even get allergy medicine. Bastards.

V

 

[GreshamH]

Odd, I find Cal and Mrs Wages every time I go to "mexican" markets?

 

[tuberider]

I get mine at Mercado Mi Familia in HMB, I believe you can only purchase it in small quantities, other wise you need to go to lab grade and find it online. I pretty sure the FDA knows about it as there are several sources that they order from.

I can ask the owners about it since my g/fs sister is one

BTW, if you go there eat at the taqueria next door (Happy Taco) then grab some carnitas and La Mexicana tortillas and tortilla chips from the market, you will not be disappointed.