Aptasia

[stl_rock_guy]

I have some growing in the polyps of some of my zoa frags and need to know a good way to kill them off without harming my zoas. I normally use pickling lime but I can't get to them

 

[Reg100]

Get youself a couple of peppermint shrimps. Worked for me.

 

[stl_rock_guy]

That's what I've been thinking. But I've had a problem with them eating frogspawn in the past. I didn't know if there was something I could dip them in that would kill aptasia but not zoas

 

[Joe G]

I got the same problem .
I have a nice colony of Jason fox daisy dukes with like. 10 aptasia growing all around my polyps
Peppermint shrimp will eat them but they will also eat my. 80 dollar rock nem .

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I got the same problem .
I have a nice colony of Jason fox daisy dukes with like. 10 aptasia growing all around my polyps
Peppermint shrimp will eat them but they will also eat my. 80 dollar rock nem .

I've never heard of peppermints eating rock nems. My problem has been that I buy peppermints and they do...nothing.

 

[stl_rock_guy]

I've dipped them in this but it doesn't phase the aptasia

 

[SCMatt]

You can't get to them even with like syringe? I've had no trouble using Joe's Juice with a syringe, easy to target even in tight spots.

 

[stl_rock_guy]

When the zoas close up the aptasia closes up also. They hide their mouths really well

 

[mrcoffee2]

Peppermint shrimp will prey on LPS if they have the chance. Get them small and monitor frequently and you can have some success. Once the aiptasia is gone id 86 the shrimp as fast as I could.

Personally if you didn't mind spending a little $$$ I would go with the berghia nudi. They target only aiptasia and have an extremely short life span meaning they will take care of the problem and leave. There is a company you can google (not sure if I can post it, PM if your interested) That will talk to you and help you ID the aiptasia and figure out the correct amount of Nudis to send.

My .02

 

[stl_rock_guy]

I Pm'd you mrcoffee

 

[jt17]

Have you tried a peroxide dip. I had an algae problem and dipped mine and it cleaned everything off.

 

[stl_rock_guy]

No I have not jt. I've known about it takung care of algae but didn't think about anything else. I'm reading up in the nudibranches, I've been having a aptasia problem lately. They have been spreading faster then I can kill them

 

[ethridge78]

gets some berghia nudibranches they will get them

 

[stl_rock_guy]

I'm looking into that right now Ethridge

 

[ethridge78]

I got 10 the other day and they already cleaned 3 big rocks full and breeding like crazy they are expensive but they will do the job just make sure you have somebody that wants to buy them before all your aptasia is gone because they will die but somebody always wants some and thats all they do is eat aptasia .

 

[stl_rock_guy]

My only problem I'm seeing are my fish. I have a neon dottieback and a lyretail hawkfish

 

[flynhawaiianz28]

Peppermint shrimp are probably your beset bet imo. The nudibranches are next but you need to have a place for them to go else they will just die if they don't have a food source lined up. I tried aiptasia-x and joe's juice in the past to no avail. A while back on another forum a member point out another method. Yes more expensive but if I would have known about it I would have invested in it to begin with because aiptasia spread like wildfire. The laser method seems pretty sweet and with a somewhat accurate hand you can kill 'em with pinpoint accuracy.

Laser Aiptasia Removal - YouTube

 

[stl_rock_guy]

I'm not a fan of peppermint shrimp. I've had problems with them in the past.

 

[ethridge78]

My only problem I'm seeing are my fish. I have a neon dottieback and a lyretail hawkfish

They should be fine they only come out at night and during the day they hide in the rockwork.

 

[stl_rock_guy]

I was reading that some dottiebacks and hawkfish eat them. I know my hawkfish demolished my stomatella snail population