Help save Acros

[ptrusk]

The only pepermints I found to work were Lysmanta Boggessi from ORA/Saltwateraquarium.com. They were small when I got them but grew quickly. As mentioned, keep them hungry. They don't seem interested in the large aiptasis, so kill them with kalk paste.

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/captive-bred-peppermint-shrimp-6-lot-lysmata-sp-ora-chicago/

I also have a Kukhenthal's from pacific east aquaculture. He is an absolute machine for eating aiptasia. Decent size and after maybe 6 months looks like a crayfish! Does not bother anything else.

https://pacificeastaquaculture.com/collections/inverts/products/kukenthals-cleaner-shrimp

I have a locally purchased filefish too who wiped out the aiptasia in about a week, but he is a coral muncher.

I feel your pain. I tried manual removal, kalk paste, joes juice, F aiptasia for probably 2 years and as soon as you let up, they come back en masse.

I still see them in the rocks occasionally when I move things but the sand bed in all 3 tanks is clear. Not sure you can ever completely eliminate them but mine are being controlled.

Good luck what ever you try. Don't let them beat you.


EDIT:

Seeing your pics, looks like you only have SPS. My filefish does not touch my SPS, loves softies and I caught him munching a hammer. Your mileage may vary, but that may just do it. Plus they are very easy to catch if they misbehave.

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[Mwatts12]

When it comes to cleaning rocks one at a time. I placed a piece of dry rock in the tank. Within a week it was covered. If i started at one end of the tank, by the time i got to the end. I would be back where I was.

Im sorry I am not trying to be negative at all. I am really trying to express the lengths I have gone to for fresh ideas.

 

[Mwatts12]

@ptrusk Thank you! I just posted regarding why the berghias are not surviving.

Next was going to be why peps not working. I also ordered one month ago, 15 XL ora peps from saltwateraqurium. Most disappeared / about 5 hide behind a powerhead in the corner.

They were good sized too? just dont know

 

[harrylarry]

For such a large infestation and tank. You really need to add about 40 at once and even then it’ll take a few months for them to make consistent progress

 

[Mwatts12]

@JCOLE

i purchased 3 ora filefish from saltwateraquarium. I sumped them with an infested rock.

They did not touch the rock lol

I figured sumped with the rock only would force them to only eat aptasia / i did this with CBB also

the filefish disappeared. They were smaller and had a nice 20 gallon section of the sump/ it was lit at night for reverse cycle.

The CBB is in the display tank. He eats off the rocks most of the day, but does not touch aptasia

 

[ptrusk]

Are you sure you got the captive bred ones? The one I received were tiny, like1/2" which makes sense for captive bred. They also sell XL live caught but they are wurdemanni , not Boggessi. I tried those several times from several sources and like you said, did nothing and eventually disappeared.

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[ptrusk]

Strange about the file fish. I have a story on them too. The first one I bought was mail order and he came in bad shape. Very thin. Wound up dying I assume from malnutrition. Maybe see if you can find one local that is healthy and eating. I fees my tank 3 times a day and he still ate aiptasia. Again, your mileage may vary.

 

[Mwatts12]

@ptrusk yeah, I did a mix order and also bough ones from salty bottom reef cleaners.

My thought process was to just hammer them with the peps.


And again thank you everyone. I have been reading for the last year for ideas. I did not want to post another aptasia thread however this is last resort.

I keyword aptasia on here and read post after post after post

 

[ptrusk]

And yeah, you will need an army of peppermints. I don't know about 40 but I would try like 20.

 

[Mwatts12]

A file fish is posted for sale a couple hours away from me. Its a good sized and cleaned out the gentlemen's tank.

Its the first I have seen locally for sale ....ever

would one file fish be enough?

 

[ptrusk]

Yes and I am not sure you can keep more than one.

 

[Acros]

I really think that you are feeding too much frozen food. Peppermints/apitasia eating filefish/butterfly fish are not obligatory apitasia eaters. They will go for the easiest meal.

If you do not have any sensitive fish, feed only pellets in moderation. That should persuade some of your shrimp to eat apitasia.

Can you setup a 40 breeder to hold all your frags? If not, put them on a frag rack and treat all rock at once. That will knock back the population. However, you will still have apitasia in your plumbing. Unless you strike a balance when in comes to biological apitasia control, they are going to come back in full force.

I have never used bergia, so I can’t comment on it. Peppermints have always worked for me.

 

[Mwatts12]

haha I added 30 peps at one time, so right in the middle. This was last week tho. this was the second time I did this in the last month and both times it was a mixed order and they disappeared into the rock work.

so actually, 60 this month. Yes excessive but running out options

 

[ptrusk]

I really think that you are feeding too much frozen food. Peppermints/apitasia eating filefish/butterfly fish are not obligatory apitasia eaters. They will go for the easiest meal.

If you do not have any sensitive fish, feed only pellets in moderation. That should persuade some of your shrimp to eat apitasia.

Can you setup a 40 breeder to hold all your frags? If not, put them on a frag rack and treat all rock at once. That will knock back the population. However, you will still have apitasia in your plumbing. Unless you strike a balance when in comes to biological apitasia control, they are going to come back in full force.

I have never used bergia, so I can’t comment on it. Peppermints have always worked for me.

This should certainly be part of the solution.

 

[Mwatts12]

I have been thinking that due to the size of the aptasia and the fact there so close together. It was not allowing its predators to get into the hurd of them and make a dent.


@Acros Ok, I will cut back on frozen and rely on pellets and seaweed.

 

[Troylee]

I’d set up a reactor with a bunch of carbon and mix up a bunch of fresh salt water and when ready take a paint scraper to them rocks while siphoning them out durning a water change.. I’d guess you could put a good dent in the population that way and then look to natural predators..

 

[ptrusk]

Hemostats work well to, but painstakingly slow.

 

[Mwatts12]

I really think that you are feeding too much frozen food. Peppermints/apitasia eating filefish/butterfly fish are not obligatory apitasia eaters. They will go for the easiest meal.

If you do not have any sensitive fish, feed only pellets in moderation. That should persuade some of your shrimp to eat apitasia.

Can you setup a 40 breeder to hold all your frags? If not, put them on a frag rack and treat all rock at once. That will knock back the population. However, you will still have apitasia in your plumbing. Unless you strike a balance when in comes to biological apitasia control, they are going to come back in full force.

I have never used bergia, so I can’t comment on it. Peppermints have always worked for me.

thats a good idea about the 40 breeder, I have though about this.

I have about 60 pounds of sand in the sump, I was going to put some of the sand in the breeder and put all the frags on tiles?

 

[Mwatts12]

I’d set up a reactor with a bunch of carbon and mix up a bunch of fresh salt water and when ready take a paint scraper to them rocks while siphoning them out durning a water change.. I’d guess you could put a good dent in the population that way and then look to natural predators..

haha I have been thinking of something like that but could not even imagine the amount of work. But it is looking more and more realistic

 

[Mwatts12]

thats a good idea about the 40 breeder, I have though about this.

I have about 60 pounds of sand in the sump, I was going to put some of the sand in the breeder and put all the frags on tiles?

I could put small fish in there also, would it need a sump? or would a spin wheel HOB work for a few months?