Aiptasia HELP!
- Thread starter Liam's tank
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bakbay
Valuable Member
Well, I've tried everything else and this was literally my last attempt.
bakbay
Valuable Member
Yup - tried them, no luck. They didn't last long in my tank with 6 tangs, 1 damsel, and 2 shrimps. I suspect either the damsel or shrimps killed the nudibranchs!
Aiptasia HELP!
Agree on leather matted that is also hard to trust and if a few aptasia- Keep it simple. . . Using a syringe or pipette, inject either lemon juice or better yet. . kalkwasser powder mixed with tank water into a paste the consistency of toothpaste and inject into the very center core and it...
www.reef2reef.com
bakbay
Valuable Member
I'm going to find a CB but lessons learned -- going to put him in a frag tank with a piece of rock with aiptasias! It's easy to catch & rehome him if he can actually eat aiptasia (and normal food)....ha
thecitadel
Community Member
The problem is everyone always suggests nudis. GO GET 30... but then you learn the Peppermints you got at step 1 eat them. Got a Wrasse? He'll eat them. Got a hawkfish? You guessed it. Hermits have been seen to even get them. So you go and spend $300 and it ends up being really expensive food for someone. They take so long to reproduce so they don't end up getting there in time. So yes, while they are the best bet, they are also a meal for a lot of fish and inverts that are in a lot of peoples tank.
Unfortunate about the kleini. So far, mine has been a model citizen and is putting in work still on only aiptasia. Hasn't touched my zoas, paly, acro, Xenia or Cespitularia. Time will tell but I'm enjoying him and my tangs have accepted him after 1 full week of the mirror trick. It's pretty cool to see the 3 of them going at it on the rocks. He almost fits in lol
Unfortunate about the kleini. So far, mine has been a model citizen and is putting in work still on only aiptasia. Hasn't touched my zoas, paly, acro, Xenia or Cespitularia. Time will tell but I'm enjoying him and my tangs have accepted him after 1 full week of the mirror trick. It's pretty cool to see the 3 of them going at it on the rocks. He almost fits in lol
MnFish1
10K Club member
You're correct - the problem is that people buy everything else but Berghii. Thats not a fault on the predator... You're also correct the people probably are not buying enough berghii for their tank size. IMHO - the best solution - is berghii. They are most active at night - contrary to what you're implying - most fish, etc - are not that active at night. Inverts might be another story
Biggest risk to Berghia is probably night-active predators such as shrimp.
There are successes and failures with every option-Copperband, Kleini, Filefish, Berghia.
The only constant is that Berghia are the only biological option that is not a risk to your corals. Berghia don't work for some people for whatever reason, but you will never be trying to catch them because they are eating your corals.
There are successes and failures with every option-Copperband, Kleini, Filefish, Berghia.
The only constant is that Berghia are the only biological option that is not a risk to your corals. Berghia don't work for some people for whatever reason, but you will never be trying to catch them because they are eating your corals.
thecitadel
Community Member
Well they buy them because they like them or like Peppermint, they are apart of the cuc, so you get them, without the thought of aiptasia until you see it and go oh let me get these. That's what my point is lol. And while I understand they aren't active during the day doesn't mean they don't get picked off. Again, someone has a Wrasse or a hawkfish, that had 0 to do with aiptasia control, and despite what your implying, they will not populate as fast as they are eaten.
You get 30 for say a 29 gallon sure it will work.
You get 30 for a 220 and have any of those fish or inverter, it will not. You get 60 you'll be lucky. That's about $600.
thecitadel
Community Member
To me the odds are the same as any other. Especially when you factor in price. I'd rather a kleini nip at a coral and get pulled, which is just draining the tank and refilling it than spending hundreds in something that may get picked. All in odds. Just like some file fish work, some don't. Some nip at coral, some don't. Copperbands always work, but success for most isn't high. All odds. Mine have gone well so far with the kleini. Didn't work with berghia, Peppermint, file fish and aiptasia x but now, since getting the kleini, I'm seeing progress. Who knows, Berghia could still be in there and I just haven't seen them and they are finally doing work. I just know I've visibly have seen both the kleini and file fish now eating them, and almost all day. Everyone's tank is different.
If I was all new again, id have started with Berghia 100%.
Buying a lot of berghia is expensive, but it is easy to breed them up. If you have a tank with rocks covered in Aiptasia, take one out, put it in a bucket of saltwater with an airstone, add 5-10 Berghia. They will breed like crazy in a setup like this as long as you provide them with enough Aiptasia. Then in a couple of months when you have 10X as many Berghia, add them to your tank. They don't need a heater or anything, assuming house temp is in the upper 60's or higher they will breed fine just a little slower. Note you will need more Aiptasia than you think.
paparoof
Active Member
I've been removing rock flower anemones from my main display in preparation for getting a couple peppermints.
'nuther negative about berghias is that they're not terribly strong. if you have even moderate flow, you're bound to find berghias adrift, at the mercy of the current. I've found them being devoured by corals, I've found loads of them in filter socks.
oh and bristleworms and some types of pods (I forget which) will eat berghia eggs too.
so yeah - in order for berghias to work, you need an army. you can build your own army in a dedicated aiptasia farm tank. it's cheaper than just buying several dozen berghias, but it takes time. it's right around two months from egg laying till those eggs have hatched and the juveniles mature enough to lay their own eggs. that's when you'll begin to realize you don't have anywhere close to enough aiptasia in your farm tank to actually raise this army. it's amazing how much aiptasia a full grown berghia adult (say over 1") will eat in a day. so before you even purchase the adult berghias to start laying eggs, make sure you have thousands of aiptasias in your farm tank.
on the overall topic of aiptasia management, the way they self-propagate when stressed, I don't think it's likely that any of the methods discussed here are going to provide true eradication. whatever you do to them is going to stress them and they're gonna poop out pedal lacerates that drift around the tank and land in a crevice and you won't notice them till they've been growing for three months. So I think ya just gotta pick a management system that works for you and your tank. Copperband, peppermint, berghia, screwdriver, kalk/f-aiptasia...
'nuther negative about berghias is that they're not terribly strong. if you have even moderate flow, you're bound to find berghias adrift, at the mercy of the current. I've found them being devoured by corals, I've found loads of them in filter socks.
oh and bristleworms and some types of pods (I forget which) will eat berghia eggs too.
so yeah - in order for berghias to work, you need an army. you can build your own army in a dedicated aiptasia farm tank. it's cheaper than just buying several dozen berghias, but it takes time. it's right around two months from egg laying till those eggs have hatched and the juveniles mature enough to lay their own eggs. that's when you'll begin to realize you don't have anywhere close to enough aiptasia in your farm tank to actually raise this army. it's amazing how much aiptasia a full grown berghia adult (say over 1") will eat in a day. so before you even purchase the adult berghias to start laying eggs, make sure you have thousands of aiptasias in your farm tank.
on the overall topic of aiptasia management, the way they self-propagate when stressed, I don't think it's likely that any of the methods discussed here are going to provide true eradication. whatever you do to them is going to stress them and they're gonna poop out pedal lacerates that drift around the tank and land in a crevice and you won't notice them till they've been growing for three months. So I think ya just gotta pick a management system that works for you and your tank. Copperband, peppermint, berghia, screwdriver, kalk/f-aiptasia...
bakbay
Valuable Member
My personal problem - I've tried peppermint shrimps and you've guessed it, all died except two. Well, like @thecitadel mentioned, the peppermint's dinner is more expensive than dinner with my wife! I do like the CB as well but it's also a hit & miss, but I don't believe CB will eat corals. However, I've heard that eating normal food will be a challenge, leading potentially to its demise. It's been very frustrating but not a new problem -- I'm confident that others are still "suffering" in silence. I've tried to do something about it like the OP. After awhile (like many years now) I've just learned to live with aiptasias and just nuke them with kalk every few months....
thecitadel
Community Member
My lfs does a crazy quarantine process and show that the cbb eat. That's all I'd be sure of. Ask when they got it, watch it, ask them to feed it regular food. If he eats, you should be okay.
bakbay
Valuable Member
@vetteguy53081 well — you are a life saver! After 2 weeks, I woke up this morning and half the aiptasias are GONE! Seems like the Kleini took care of them overnight. Still got some stragglers but the bulk of them disappeared!
He’s still nipping at the WWC Yellow Tips and chalices BUT I can always move them to my other tanks.
SUCCESS! (With a little concern for other corals)
Thanks again.
He’s still nipping at the WWC Yellow Tips and chalices BUT I can always move them to my other tanks.
SUCCESS! (With a little concern for other corals)
Thanks again.
bakbay
Valuable Member
Just an update — almost all aiptasias are gone! There are some hard to reach crevices where the butterfly couldn’t reach. Overall, I’m super happy — tried everything else but this $26 fish did the trick and she’s beautiful! Definitely recommend, with caution. For me, it’s worth it!
Thanks again @vetteguy53081
Thanks again @vetteguy53081
