Aiptasia update and HELP!

[brett559]

I've posted here about my aiptasia control before. A few months back I had probably 100 aiptasias in my tank. I purchased 8 or 9 peppermint shrimp and they really made progress. The number went from like 100 to a few dozen. They ate big ones, little ones, etc. My hope was to always keep some peppermints to keep new aips from spreading. The pepps were usually hard to find, but if we'd look we could usually find a few - we knew their hiding places. About a month ago, I added a melanarus wrasse. I love this fish - it might be my favorite. I was aware that they could go after small shrimp. We started noticing that some new little aiptasias were growing, and we had a tough time finding the shrimp. Yesterday we knew we still had one pepp left. It was a big one. This morning I saw it just sitting on the top of one of my rocks. A few minutes later, it's on the sand getting picked at by numerous fish, including the melanarus.

Now, it seems to me like the wrasse is the culprit, but there are some factors that make me question that. We never saw him go after them or eat them (the wrasse completely disappears every night from about 8 pm to 8 am). We've been having some water issues (ph and calcium - again, we're new) and I know shrimp are sensitive to water with poor parameters - so the shrimp may have died. I've also heard pepps can start going after each other - maybe I bought too many. Plus, I've been told they don't live all that long.

SOOOOO....where do I go from here. I really want to lick this problem. I loved having a natural solution (pepps) that would do it for me.

Berghia
I don't know if Berghias will work because I've read that their predators include brittle starfish, hawkfish and wrasses, all of which I have. Many report they get sucked right up into returns and sumps and they never see them again. But many have had success with them. They are pricey, but worth it to me if they work. I'm worried about the wrasses and my hawkfish, though.

More shrimp
Another thought is to try a few more pepps, only 4 or 5 this time. I'm tempted to try this again because it WAS working. I would add them at night (while my wrass is out of the picture) - my hawk is a long-nose who has not shown any interest in pepps thus far. That's a lot cheaper than berghias and maybe only 4-5 wouldn't eat each other. Of course, if it IS my wrasse, that's a pricey snack.

Aiptasia X
We've also tried Aiptasia X and I'm not sure how well it works. We've nailed a few that were flush on the rock with nowhere to hide. I've also read that X just causes more to replace the one you are trying to kill. Part of me thinks that's what happened with us. Many times we've tried it and the aip just hides deep in the rock. We picked up some marine epoxy to plug up the holes. Have any of you tried that method?

Filefish
Again, I love the natural approach, but I've read these are 50/50 on whether they'll eat aips and they are likely to eat corals. My LFS has a filefish in his store right now that someone brought in to him after it ate his torch coral. If he can eat a torch, can't he eat anything?! Not too keen on this idea.

Tear down rockwork
This will be the last option. For some reason, the thought of tearing everything down and replacing rock slowly seems like a major bummer to me. Maybe I'm lazy. That's probably it.

So in conclusion, I've decided to try a few more pepps and do the X and epoxy combo. I don't mind a few aips here and there, I just don't want it to overtake the tank. In hindsight the melanarus may be the culprit, but again, I love that fish.

What do you all think about this course of action? Any other ideas?

 

[Crusinjimbo]

"X" and I couldn't keep up with the spread of Aptasia. Tried for months and months. Seemed as though their infestation got worse the more I killed. Didn't fool with a file fish but introduced six Berghias and in three-four months the Aptasia were gone and none, not a one, has reappeared in the 9 months hence. Of course, the Berghia made the supreme sacrifice and likewise have become locally extinct. Now if I only had something that ate cyano!

 

[CuzzA]

I too own a Melanaurus and he most likely is your small shrimp killer and he will likely kill the Berghia. But he may not show any interest in the nudibranch, there's only one way to find out.

Unfortunately, there is some information missing from the Aptasia X instructions. First get yourself a sharp hypodermic needle. You want to inject the product into the (insert expletive here)'s mouth and penetrate tissue. Cursing at it while doing this may help. Next and equally as important you must siphon/suck up with a turkey baster out the anemone remains and Aptasia X. Don't just let it sit there and spread in your tank. Wait about 10 minutes before removing. Of course you don't want any flow in the tank while you do this.

Another decent option is to epoxy or super glue them. But you want to make sure you have a good seal on the rock so they don't find their way out.

 

[SnoopyDaPimp]

As far as the berghia go my filefish and chocolate chip sea star never touched them. I had one aiptasia on one of my returns and the berghia had no problem taking it out. That was my experience though and the investment was worth it for me. I haven't seen any new aiptasia in a few months.

The initial investment is pricey but they reproduce in your tank and die off when they are finished. When I was done with them I gave them away to other forum members that needed them.