Aiptasia control

Wayne Sallee wrote:
The way to get coper-bands to start eating the
aiptasia, is to harass the aiptasia.

I am unclear on the concept of "harassing" an anemone in order to
get something to eat it.

Once the coper-band starts eating them, it won't
stop until it can't find any more.

That's what it does with flake food.

Mike

wrote in message ...
Wayne Sallee wrote:
The way to get coper-bands to start eating the
aiptasia, is to harass the aiptasia.

I am unclear on the concept of "harassing" an anemone
in order to get something to eat it.

Fully grown aiptasia is too big for shrimp or fish
to attack - they are affraid their stinging tentacles.
When you harass anemone the way it retracts or you
injure it causing it to stay retracted/deflated for
couple of days than you give the shrimps a chance
to eat it with no fear of being stung. This does
not apply to small, baby aiptasia - shrimps are able
to cause these to retract with sticking their
legs into the anemone body...

Also, consider the size of shrimp stomache...
If you have 2 small peppermints and 200 fully grown
aiptasias in a 200 gallon reef tank than do not
expect that shrimps will make a bid dent on the
population - you never allow aiptasia to take over
the tank - you need to act when first polyps are found.

Tell us more about your tank - do you have a pictures?
How big is the tank? Is it a reef tank or fish only?
How much live rock is there? How many aiptasia polyps?

Once the coper-band starts eating them, it won't
stop until it can't find any more.

That's what it does with flake food.

Then stop overfeeding the tank!
And switch from flake food to pellets.
Make sure every pellet is picked up by fish
and does not float into Aiptasia tentacles.

Pszemol wrote on 10/30/2007 12:34 PM:
wrote in message
...
Wayne Sallee wrote:
The way to get coper-bands to start eating the aiptasia, is to harass
the aiptasia.

I am unclear on the concept of "harassing" an anemone
in order to get something to eat it.

Fully grown aiptasia is too big for shrimp or fish
to attack - they are affraid their stinging tentacles.
When you harass anemone the way it retracts or you
injure it causing it to stay retracted/deflated for
couple of days than you give the shrimps a chance
to eat it with no fear of being stung. This does
not apply to small, baby aiptasia - shrimps are able
to cause these to retract with sticking their
legs into the anemone body...

Yep, and also when the aiptasia start sending out
the digestive threads, the coper-banded will smell
it, and that will wet it's appetite for the aiptasia.

Wayne Sallee

Pszemol wrote:
wrote in message ...
Wayne Sallee wrote:
The way to get coper-bands to start eating the
aiptasia, is to harass the aiptasia.

I am unclear on the concept of "harassing" an anemone
in order to get something to eat it.

Fully grown aiptasia is too big for shrimp or fish
to attack - they are affraid their stinging tentacles.
When you harass anemone the way it retracts or you
injure it causing it to stay retracted/deflated for
couple of days than you give the shrimps a chance
to eat it with no fear of being stung.

When retracted, they are no longer interesting to the butterfly
fish, which typically begins eating the tentacles.

Mike

Not true. The only reason that they eat the
tentacles is to keep from getting stung. They would
much rather eat the body.

Wayne Sallee


wrote on 10/30/2007 7:45 PM:

When retracted, they are no longer interesting to the butterfly
fish, which typically begins eating the tentacles.

Mike

Wayne Sallee wrote:
Not true. The only reason that they eat the
tentacles is to keep from getting stung. They would
much rather eat the body.

Which isn't what I said; I said they begin eating at the tentacles.

Mike
Wayne Sallee


wrote on 10/30/2007 7:45 PM:

When retracted, they are no longer interesting to the butterfly
fish, which typically begins eating the tentacles.

Mike

"Pszemol" wrote on Tue, 30 Oct 2007:
If you have 2 small peppermints and 200 fully grown aiptasias in a 200
gallon reef tank than do not expect that shrimps will make a bid dent on
the population - you never allow aiptasia to take over the tank

Hey! That sounds like my tank!

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
I drink to make other people interesting.

"Don Geddis" wrote in message ...
"Pszemol" wrote on Tue, 30 Oct 2007:
If you have 2 small peppermints and 200 fully grown aiptasias in a 200
gallon reef tank than do not expect that shrimps will make a bid dent on
the population - you never allow aiptasia to take over the tank

Hey! That sounds like my tank!

Than we know now why shrimps did not work for you :-)