Aptasia control in large tanks?

[Ibwrasstaman]

My main tank is also 96x30x30, but I have a 12x12 overflow that runs the entire back of the tank. So I can relate to the problem of not being able to get at the aptasia easily. I introduced a few when I obtained some really killer LR. I knew the rock had them, but didn't care at the time, a mistake!
OK, here is my secret method. It takes some effort, but is better than throwing your rock out.
Get a big tub of saltwater. I just do a water change and fill a large rubbermaid container. Take the rock out of your tank and lay it about 1 layer deep in the container. Do not add heat as you want the water to cool down, usually overnight or less. Then you will see the aptasia hyper extend and they are slower than normal. I use a hemostat and just get as close to where the rock/aptasia stalk meet and rip them out. It feels great when you remove the whole aptasia in one fell swoop! If you leave any part of the aptasia, just go back and dig it out and remove it.
This method has worked for mein the past, but you do have to do some work to eventually remove all of your rock.
Good luck!
Wrassta

 

[Steve Atkins]

If you don't have clams a Lunare Wrasse will do the job. Unfurtunately they are rather fond of clams, but I have seen to clamless tanks where there wrasses took out the aiptasia population. They had no interest in LPS, SPS or softies.

Steve

 

[jgsensor]

Ibwrasstaman - Removing all the rock in tanks this size is major work, I commend you for your effort. I am not ready to do that again. I removed most of my rock about a year and a half ago and placed it in a large tub with hyposalinity and no heat for about 4-6 weeks. I thought I had killed all the aptasia, but I guess I was wrong. I am giving up on other methods yet.

I am giving my copperband and pearlscale butterflys a few more weeks to see what they do. My pearlscale is still quite small, but he does pick at the rock work constantly. I am not sure he is hunting aptasia or not, but he is hunting. I noticed tonight that after about two weeks of the pearlscale in the tank, my copperband is now sticking close to him and has gained an interest in hunting the rock work also. So I am hoping I may start seeing a decline in the aptasia population.

Michelle L - The only corals either one of these guys has bothered was my xenia. The pearlscale found them tastey.

 

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8189648#post8189648 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jgsensor
Michelle L - The only corals either one of these guys has bothered was my xenia. The pearlscale found them tastey.

Seems Xenia is on the menu for many, Foxface and my Flame Angel ate every bit of it...

 

[Michelle L]

Hmm, interesting. I love butterflys, but just assumed that they were off limits. While I realize that there are exceptions to all fishes, I'm just not sure I want to chance it.

I am just starting out, so I still have a fairly small population of corals, but I am a little attached to what I do have. I have a large maze brain, a large favia, a large pagoda rock, one large meat coral, a small population of zoos, one small ricordea, and a good sized open brain. I have a small bunch of xenia but judging by the speed at which it's grown over the past two weeks, I'm really not sure that I want to keep it and risk it taking over anyway. The rest are all tiny frags of various SPS.

My tank's rockwork is intricate so removing any fish I put in there would be tough. Would you guys take the chance if you were me?

 

[jgsensor]

I tend to like my fish more than my corals, but I do not want a fish only tank. I like the tank to look more like a slice of the ocean than a fish box. I added my butterflys out of neccessity to attempt to take care of an aptasia problem. I really didn't have any other options due to the size of my tank and the stock list in the tank. However, I have been lucky with mine that I have never had a fish be a terror in the tank with my corals or other tank mates. Now if I could only get them to eat the aptasia.

 

[jgsensor]

Well, I added some more help to the aptasia control team today. I added a 3" raccoon butterfly to the mix today to see if he could help the battle. My domino damsel doesn't like it, but he bugs all the new additions for the first day and then he settles down. The pearlscale was picking at the rock work quite a bit, but since I hadn't noticed any reduction in aptasia, I thought I'd add the raccoon. Granted there is a lot of aptasia in the tank, but I would think I would notice some missing after three weeks with the pearlscale and the copperband in the tank. So today I add the raccoon to the team and also went in and killed some aptasia with kalk paste and wounded others in hopes of enticing the butterflys to chow down. I will see how it goes.

 

[jnarowe]

I have tried vinegar, Joes Juice, lemon juice etc. Just when I think I have a death, a bunch more appear. It seems that any time I go on the offensive, I end up with more in the tank. I was pulling some macro out of my fuge that had baby aptaisia in it and I actually watched as one jettisoned several pieces into the powerhead. Freaky!!

I tried the peppermint shrimp too but I haven't seen any since the night I put them in the system. That's over a month ago. At this point I am seeing more and more aptaisia and am getting worried. Removing rock is not an option on a large scale. I have pulled rocks up and used the Joes Juice but it didn't seem to work. I experimented in a 10g with a rock that had about a dozen babies on it. I shot them all with Joes Juice and for about 2 days it looked like I had killed them all. And then POOF, a bunch more popped up. I ended up throwing the rock away.

My problem with introducing any of the fish mentioned is that they all have a downside. I like my tube worms and corals and want to keep them! I can't inject my aptaisia with garlic because many of them I cannot reach at all. My tank is 35" deep.

So, I am interested to see if this thread comes to any kind of a conclusion. Does anyone know if peppermint shrimp will breed within the system? If so, I could populate my fuge and let them overflow into the display.

Where do you get Berghia verrucicornis?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I have heard stories of some non-typical consumers- like coral banded shrimps or emerald crabs-that really hammer down aiptasia. It may be worth a shot.

 

[jnarowe]

my emerald (mythrax) crabs have done nothing. They haven't even dented the valonia and a couple times I have seen dorsal gashes that span both sides of the dorsal area on fish that I am sure came from the mythrax. Coral anded shrimp are cool but i think they prey on other ornamental shrimp like cleaner shrimp.

 

[slumpysix]

Well I spent $50 on a copperband last Wed. Today he is dead. I have a feeling that the coral beauty was the hitman. I asked in the reef disscussion bout it on Wed. since the cb was being mr nasty against him. So I will try agan another time.

I have 2 emeralds in my tank and never seen them eat the pests. They do love the Spectrum Thera pellets I put in tho. I had an outbreak of bubble algae a few months back and now it is pretty much non-existant.

I am starting a 29 nano in Oct so I think I will wait to purchase any more fish. I think I might have to extract the cb from the tank but most likely will have to pull all the rock to get his a**.

I'm just angry right now but I'll get over it.


Ok next suggestion please!!!!
Jeff

 

[Steve Atkins]

Whenever I find a bit of SPS predatory damage in my tank, the normal culprit is quite obvious since only one fish has a jaw the size of the bite mark. That fish is a 10 year old blue tang that is about twice the size of the second biggest fish. About once every three or four weeks it takes a bite of something, however the corals recover soon enough and they are growing too big anyway. Such is life.

I have had coral banded shrimps and cleaner shrimps together as long as I have kept a reef tank and have never had an instance of the coral banded shrimp bothering cleaners. Currently I have 4 cleaners and 1 banded shrimp and you can see when they get close that the cleaners don’t think they have any reason to be worried.

I would still be very cautions about most butterflies but it would be good to know which ones can be kept if you had a large enough tank for growth to keep up with the occasional nibble. Since I have an adult (and very greedy) Auriga butterfly in my fish tank I am considering adding better lighting to it so I can experiment with some corals in with this fish.

Steve

 

[Psyire]

I have a large infestation in my 180g tank. I had an overflow full of huge aiptasia that went un-noticed for months and it populated the main tank and sump nicely. (cough) I've berghia, peppermints, copperband (sailfin didn't like), and finally today I added a Auriga butterfly. He's only been in the tank an hour or so but I've seen him bite at an aiptasia.. so things are looking up. However he's also bite a few zoa's and gsp's. I'll report back as things progress.

Anyone with any recent luck with the Auriga's?

 

[saltyunderground]

As a general rule, anything that might eat aiptasia may also eat berghia. So if you are mixing butterfly fish or peppermint shrimp with berghia, you might be unintentionally hurting your chances of the berghia working. It's best to try one natural solution at a time and be patient.

It can take the right number of berghia (roughly 1 berghia for every 10 aiptasia) to do the job assuming there are no predators. It can take several weeks before you see a difference in the aip population depending upon the number of aiptasia you have.

Butterfly fish can take a couple of months before they start eating aiptasia once acclimated. Like peppermint shrimp, they would much rather eat the food you are feeding the tank than the aiptasia.

If you have added a natural solution to your tank like fish or shrimp and see instant results you are VERY lucky. It's rare that the aips disappear overnight with any of the natural solutions.

 

[jnarowe]

where do people buy the berghia?

Edit: NEVERMIND! :lol:

 

[Psyire]

My problem with the berghia was probably not having enough. I got 8 and put 4 in my sump and 4 in my tank... however with my aiptasia numbering over 100 I probably needed more.

In large tanks though berghia are a very expensive choice at roughly $12- 15 ea.

 

[jnarowe]

well I have a 1000g display and by their calculator I would need 80! Ouch. Breeding is a possibility.

 

[saltyunderground]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8225610#post8225610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
well I have a 1000g display and by their calculator I would need 80! Ouch. Breeding is a possibility.

Your tank is tough for berghia cause it's so big. You may only have 100 aiptasia but it's so spread out it's tough for the berghia to find all of the anemones. The only reason you would need 80 berghia is if you have 800 aiptasia. Ouch is right.

 

[jnarowe]

Yeah, and every time I kill one, another 10 pop up...plus the tank is 35" deep so administering kalk, vinegar, lemon juice, etc. is very difficult. I just really don't know what to do.

It seems the berghia will reproduce well, but I also don't want to get into the constant cycle of having to replenish and having the aptaisia come back a while later. Maybe a CBB would be the best bet, but I don't like the downside to those either.

Maybe if I ignore them with intent, they'll go away?? :lol:

 

[saltyunderground]

In our expereince, using chemicals on the aiptasia will more often than not make the aiptasia population increase.

The butterfly fish options will most likely eat your soft corals. They are not guaranteed to eat aiptasia. I have heard hit and miss stories on CBB, Kleins and raccoon butterflys. CBB can be hard to acclimate. I don't know much about the others. I have also heard that some fo them will eat majanos too.