aptasia problem

[jguerin88]

ok so i have probably 60-70 aptasia in my sump and 10 or so in the dt . i have a **** ton of lps and high end mushrooms some sps . tons of wrasses .... aptasia x won’t be able to get all of them , considering berghia nudibranchs but i’m concerned my wrasses will eat them and it will be a waste of money . i’ve read peppermint shrimp and aptasia eating file fish ... looking for some experts to chime in

 

[Kryptonian]

Peppermint shrimp all day, enlist an army!

 

[jguerin88]

how many do you think i’d need my dt is 80 gallons and sump is 40

Peppermint shrimp all day, enlist an army!

 

[Pistondog]

Peppermint shrimp all day, enlist an army!

Not an expert, but 1 filefish worked for me. After a couple of weeks.

 

[jguerin88]

i’m nervous about having a file fish with thousands and thousands in coral

 

[Pistondog]

Not an expert, but 1 filefish worked for me. After a couple of weeks.

Then get shrimp or nudis or a laser.

 

[Rjukan]

Imo you should be just as nervous about a peppermint shrimp. They are nasty buggers ime

 

[Kryptonian]

how many do you think i’d need my dt is 80 gallons and sump is 40

Enlist an army was a joke wouldn’t get more than 1 or 2 and let them go to work...
Might be an option to let them do clean up then return to lfs.

 

[Tired]

Peppermint shrimp are very hit-or-miss, depending on if you get the right species, and even the aiptasia-eating ones will potentially go after corals.

I don't know if wrasse actually eat berghias. They'd have a hard time finding any, for one thing.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

In my experience, Wrasse don't go after the nudi. They may get one taste of them and never do it again as they taste like Aptasia and they spit them out. The good news, hunters are good learners.

Nudibranch are the safest and best way to remove these pests; I worry more about flow than Wrasse. Do NOT run filter socks for 6 months while these guys go to work or get used to fishing them out daily. I decided one day to check my socks because it had been months since I saw them and fished like 8 of them out. These things are terrible at hanging on to rocks.

 

[ichthyogeek]

So this always confuses me. Berghia are aeolid nudibranchs. Aeolids are known to use the stinging cells that they ingest for self-defence. Why in the world would fish want to go after something that stung it, when there are far tastier things to eat?

I'd go for the nudibranch rather than the filefish or peppermint shrimp.

 

[jguerin88]

thanks for the input guys