Is this aipastia?
- Thread starter Gman83
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This is the right place. Your photo is a bit blurry, but it sure looks like one. Here’s a photo from one I recently dealt with in my tank for comparison.
NotoriousDMC
Active Member
Looks like it. Get peppermint shrimp—especially if you’re lucky like I am to have an LFS that feeds them aptasia.
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Gman83
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I tried to get a good photo, but right now its so small, my phone tries to focus on other stuff making it blurry.This is the right place. Your photo is a bit blurry, but it sure looks like one. Here’s a photo from one I recently dealt with in my tank for comparison.
NotoriousDMC
Active Member
Looks like it. Get peppermint shrimp—especially if you’re lucky like I am to have an LFS that feeds them aptasia
Sleeping Giant
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Gman83
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Petco, which is the closest store (next closest one is about an hour away, and I can't get there today) didn't have any peppermint shrimp. I'll order one or two online.
Would it be worth trying to manually remove, understanding it would likely come back to buy time for the shrimp to arrrive? I wouldn't do it in the display tank, but a bucket to try to minimize spread. Or will that be a waste of time?
Would it be worth trying to manually remove, understanding it would likely come back to buy time for the shrimp to arrrive? I wouldn't do it in the display tank, but a bucket to try to minimize spread. Or will that be a waste of time?
NotoriousDMC
Active Member
Just my $.02: if you can remove it in a bucket, go for it. In the tank is a closer call for me. I’ve used aptasia x many times and it will “melt” then IF you get it perfectly covered and before it has a chance to know what’s happening. And, regardless, they have always reappeared for me. Just try to find someone who will at least claim they “know” the ones they have eat aptiasia, I’ve had different batches of peppermints in the past and this is the best batch because my LFS feeds them ONLY aptasia in the store. Also, an aptasia eating file fish would work. I’ve tried 2 in mine and unfortunately when I’m not watching some bad citizen in the tank is killing them. Otherwise, I’d always have one of those.
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Gman83
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Well I got the rock out, put a knife between it and the torch and scrapped the aipastia away before it retracted. I quickly moved the rock to another bucket, and discarded the water from the first. Then to be sure, i put cyanoacrolyte gel over the area it was.
Victorious, once the glue set i put it back in the tank. Torch seems fine.
Took the family out to dinner, get home, feed the fish. I'm watching them when i notice some movement on the back side of my rocks.
There is another one. Under and on the backside, where I cant get it. Cant take this rock out.
I'm going to get a shrimp and some berhgia. I'm sure if there are two, there are more that i can't or dont see.
Victorious, once the glue set i put it back in the tank. Torch seems fine.
Took the family out to dinner, get home, feed the fish. I'm watching them when i notice some movement on the back side of my rocks.
There is another one. Under and on the backside, where I cant get it. Cant take this rock out.
I'm going to get a shrimp and some berhgia. I'm sure if there are two, there are more that i can't or dont see.
I do not suggest getting both peppermint shrimp and berghia at the same time. Peppermint shrimp are generally thought of as one of the more problematic berghia predators. Probably better to pick one or the other. Opinions vary on which is better, peppermint shrimp should persist in your tank but may either not eat the Aiptasia or possibly bother other corals. Berghia will starve once they eat all the Aiptasia, but they pose no risk to anything else in your tank. Many people have success and some failure with either option.
And yes if you see two Aiptasia, you probably have many more that are behind rocks, in crevices, or just too small to see currently.
And yes if you see two Aiptasia, you probably have many more that are behind rocks, in crevices, or just too small to see currently.
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I wouldnt suggest berghia or peppermint for a couple or few aptasia. Keep it simple. Using syringe, 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 will melt away
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If you do things right (like removing wrasses), just get the nudis.
Aptasia is all that those nudis eat. They will eat or starve.
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Gman83
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I went ahead and got three berghia, they were delivered last Wednesday (I think, I cant keep my days straight). After feeding my fish, I put them on the rock near the aipastia i fould, and could just barely see. They crawled away, to hide in the rocks. Hadn't seen them since, and no discernable change in the aipastia. Well this morning, i saw one of the berghia crawling around, and the aipastia doesnt look as full so maybe they are munching on it.
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Gman83
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I was getting discouraged, and then yesterday I noticed that a tiny aipastia next to a differnt frag was gone. This morning, I saw at least one of the berghia actively feeding on the larger aipastia that i couldnt get to. I tried to take picturrs unfortunately they are blury and pixilated. In the first photo the white circle in the center is the berghia.
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Gman83
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Well, berghia died off, and aipastia came back. I'd merely won the battle, but the war is far from over. Aipastia are up to 10. So this time I'm going with peppermint shrimp, specifically Lysmata wurdemanni. I think they are suppose to be the best. I got 3 that went into the tank just a little bit ago
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Gman83
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Update: For about two weeks after i got the Lysmata wurdemanni, they disappeared. Even in the middle of the night, no sign of them. I read through the forums and saw some similar experiences. All the while the two aipastia were growing bigger (or at least appeared to be). I searched around my tank to see if they ended up on the floor, nothing. Two more baby aipastia popped up. Then at about 2.5 weeks, one of the baby aipastias was gone, and i caught my first glimps of at least one of the peppermint shrimp. Then the other disappeared. I was happy because at least there would be no new ones popping up. Then wednesday, both the larger ones disappeared. So I'm happy to announce I'm free of visable aipastia, and the shrimp(s) will eat any others that pop up.
