Question about getting rid of Aptasia?

I apologize for posting so much in one day. I have had to travel a
lot and unfortunately kind of got behind with my fishtank. I am adding
one fish I lost hopefully as well as getting a new fish but first and
foremost I want to get rid of a Aptasia problem I have.

I have had aptasia in my tank for around 2 years now and they only
seem to get worse. Finally around 2 months ago I bought some Joe's
Juice. This works better than anything I have tried. In the past I
used vinegar. I shoot it into the aptasia and then they do seem to go
away but then in a couple weeks they all start coming back slowly so
it never seems to get rid of them but as well it at least knocks them
back for awhile so they don't get out of control. This is at least
better than what I had at first and as I said I used vinegar earlier.

Now my question, how can I finally get rid of them for good? Is there
any other type of solution or way of using Joe's Juice. I have heard
that another way is to add a certain type of fish or even add
Peppermint shrimp. Should I look at either of these two options? Are
there any side affects to using a certain type of fish (what type is
it?) or peppermint shrimp and after the problem is gone would I have
to get rid of the fish or shrimp?
I've had this tank about 4 years and for coral only have blue
mushrooms. I have a lot of live rock and for fish I have one false
Percula clownfish, a Royal Gramma, a sailfin tang, and a Yellow Tang.
Thanks for any help.

Peppermint shrimp, very good at the smaller Aiptasia. Might ignore them if
there is something more interesting to eat.

Copperband butterfly, Mine stripped the tank of Aiptasia within 36 hours of
adding him to the tank, BUT, some are very hard to get to feed.

Berghia verrucicornis Nudibranch. Could get eaten in the tank and are not
cheap.






"MarkW" wrote in message
...
I apologize for posting so much in one day. I have had to travel a
lot and unfortunately kind of got behind with my fishtank. I am adding
one fish I lost hopefully as well as getting a new fish but first and
foremost I want to get rid of a Aptasia problem I have.

I have had aptasia in my tank for around 2 years now and they only
seem to get worse. Finally around 2 months ago I bought some Joe's
Juice. This works better than anything I have tried. In the past I
used vinegar. I shoot it into the aptasia and then they do seem to go
away but then in a couple weeks they all start coming back slowly so
it never seems to get rid of them but as well it at least knocks them
back for awhile so they don't get out of control. This is at least
better than what I had at first and as I said I used vinegar earlier.

Now my question, how can I finally get rid of them for good? Is there
any other type of solution or way of using Joe's Juice. I have heard
that another way is to add a certain type of fish or even add
Peppermint shrimp. Should I look at either of these two options? Are
there any side affects to using a certain type of fish (what type is
it?) or peppermint shrimp and after the problem is gone would I have
to get rid of the fish or shrimp?
I've had this tank about 4 years and for coral only have blue
mushrooms. I have a lot of live rock and for fish I have one false
Percula clownfish, a Royal Gramma, a sailfin tang, and a Yellow Tang.
Thanks for any help.

Peppermint shrimp worked for me. Bill
"MarkW" wrote in message
...
I apologize for posting so much in one day. I have had to travel a
lot and unfortunately kind of got behind with my fishtank. I am adding
one fish I lost hopefully as well as getting a new fish but first and
foremost I want to get rid of a Aptasia problem I have.

I have had aptasia in my tank for around 2 years now and they only
seem to get worse. Finally around 2 months ago I bought some Joe's
Juice. This works better than anything I have tried. In the past I
used vinegar. I shoot it into the aptasia and then they do seem to go
away but then in a couple weeks they all start coming back slowly so
it never seems to get rid of them but as well it at least knocks them
back for awhile so they don't get out of control. This is at least
better than what I had at first and as I said I used vinegar earlier.

Now my question, how can I finally get rid of them for good? Is there
any other type of solution or way of using Joe's Juice. I have heard
that another way is to add a certain type of fish or even add
Peppermint shrimp. Should I look at either of these two options? Are
there any side affects to using a certain type of fish (what type is
it?) or peppermint shrimp and after the problem is gone would I have
to get rid of the fish or shrimp?
I've had this tank about 4 years and for coral only have blue
mushrooms. I have a lot of live rock and for fish I have one false
Percula clownfish, a Royal Gramma, a sailfin tang, and a Yellow Tang.
Thanks for any help.

Terry wrote:
Peppermint shrimp, very good at the smaller Aiptasia. Might ignore them if
there is something more interesting to eat.

Copperband butterfly, Mine stripped the tank of Aiptasia within 36 hours of
adding him to the tank, BUT, some are very hard to get to feed.

Same here. Amazing how fast he got it all but he refuses to eat
anything but frozen brine or mysis shrimp.

-K

I am considering getting either a Peppermint Shrimp or a Coral Banded
(I believe that is the name) Butterfly fish. The only downside I've
heard is down the line the butterfly fish is hard to feed. As well,
are there any long term side affects of keeping the shrimp or
butterfly fish or are they something I'd have to get rid of? I have
heard they can pick up coral and all I have are blue mushrooms.

You mean "pick on coral" :-)

Yep they can, sometimes, and yes the butterfly is often
difficult to get to feed. The peppermint shrimp will only
eat the small aiptasia, and the butterfly will eat all
that he can see.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



MarkW wrote on 10/21/2006 7:30 PM:
I am considering getting either a Peppermint Shrimp or a Coral Banded
(I believe that is the name) Butterfly fish. The only downside I've
heard is down the line the butterfly fish is hard to feed. As well,
are there any long term side affects of keeping the shrimp or
butterfly fish or are they something I'd have to get rid of? I have
heard they can pick up coral and all I have are blue mushrooms.

On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:41:27 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

You mean "pick on coral" :-)

Yep they can, sometimes, and yes the butterfly is often
difficult to get to feed. The peppermint shrimp will only
eat the small aiptasia, and the butterfly will eat all
that he can see.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



MarkW wrote on 10/21/2006 7:30 PM:
I am considering getting either a Peppermint Shrimp or a Coral Banded
(I believe that is the name) Butterfly fish. The only downside I've
heard is down the line the butterfly fish is hard to feed. As well,
are there any long term side affects of keeping the shrimp or
butterfly fish or are they something I'd have to get rid of? I have
heard they can pick up coral and all I have are blue mushrooms.
Yeah, I mean 'pick on coral' I have a lot of aiptasia, some fairly
large. For a 120 gallon tank how many Peppermint shrimp would I need?
I have a fish store I deal with often so I will check with them to see
if I could return a Butterfly fish to them. I'm not sure if that's
something that is done often.

That's what a lot of people do, is rent out the copper
banded butterfly fish.

I myself don't stock the butterfly fish because they are
hard to keep, and I don't like selling something that
can't be kept. But a lot of stores sell them, and will
rent them out to you.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



MarkW wrote on 10/21/2006 7:48 PM:
On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:41:27 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

You mean "pick on coral" :-)

Yep they can, sometimes, and yes the butterfly is often
difficult to get to feed. The peppermint shrimp will only
eat the small aiptasia, and the butterfly will eat all
that he can see.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



MarkW wrote on 10/21/2006 7:30 PM:
I am considering getting either a Peppermint Shrimp or a Coral Banded
(I believe that is the name) Butterfly fish. The only downside I've
heard is down the line the butterfly fish is hard to feed. As well,
are there any long term side affects of keeping the shrimp or
butterfly fish or are they something I'd have to get rid of? I have
heard they can pick up coral and all I have are blue mushrooms.
Yeah, I mean 'pick on coral' I have a lot of aiptasia, some fairly
large. For a 120 gallon tank how many Peppermint shrimp would I need?
I have a fish store I deal with often so I will check with them to see
if I could return a Butterfly fish to them. I'm not sure if that's
something that is done often.

MarkW wrote:
For a 120 gallon tank how many Peppermint shrimp would I need?

I would also be interested in an answer to this question, just in case. I think
I don't have any aiptasia yet, but I've had to deal with it in the past and
don't want to use a butterfly again.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

First, Terry you were right on with your answer. Those three, plus
Joe's Juice, are the best options.

Caution with the Copperband, it is hard (read-almost impossible) to get
this fish to feed on manufactured or cultivated non-living food.
Please don't use this fish unless you have the matured and lightly fish
loaded reef tank with refugium to support it. Most people don't.
Course, correct me if I'm wrong and there is a good way to feed this
butterfly.

The nudibranch
(http://www.seaslugforum.net/factshee...ase=bergverraq) Terry
mentioned is awesome! Except it won't eat the largest aiptasia and
will eat it's food source completely if given the chance. That being
said, I used it in a 54 corner so maybe with the larger tank you may
have a sustainable aiptasia crop. But that's what you're trying to
avoid right?


The peppermint shrimp. (Note the website at the end that will keep you
out of future trouble by making sure you know what this one looks like
and not the phony.) This is your best option. (I'm going to assume you
have only mushrooms, the afforementioned fish and approximately 1-1.5
lbs of liverock per gallon, also all the normal operating equipment)

First use Joe's Juice to knock all the aiptasia that you can see.

Now you want to limit the organics in your aquarium. This is going to
help the peppermint shrimp decide to eat your aiptasia. So, after a
few days blast your live rock with a powerhead or turkey baster to
suspend any detritus. Immediately perform a fairly significant water
change (30%-50%). (However with a water volume change like this you
must ensure that your replacement water matches the tank water (temp,
ph, sp. gravity)).

24 Hours or so later you're ready to introduce your peppermint shrimp
(remember to SLOWLY acclimate them to the water conditions). As far as
a number, I'm not sure there is an accepted answer, however you have
some nice advantages with these shrimp. They work well in colonies.
They are easy to feed. And they do a fairly good job of keeping the
live rock detritus free. I'm not going to give you a number. But I'll
tell you that I had 3 in my 54 corner and did the above process, the
aiptasia is now gone.

That being said... Aiptasia are very effective at pulling nutrients
from the water and are even used in filtration systems similar to an
algae scrubber...

Best of luck...

Russ

PS. Make sure you get the right shrimp...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/in...epshrpfaqs.htm





On Oct 21, 8:33 pm, George Patterson wrote:
MarkW wrote:
For a 120 gallon tank how many Peppermint shrimp would I need?I would also be interested in an answer to this question, just in case. I think
I don't have any aiptasia yet, but I've had to deal with it in the past and
don't want to use a butterfly again.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.