Aptasia control methods?

thecichlidpleco

New member
Sadly, as I was looking at my tank during the night i noticed some of the unholy anemone, My tank is in the last stages of cycling and I hoped to add the cleanup crew by the weekend, but what can I do about ridding it? I have a 40 gallon long with LR and nothing else, so a small amount of chemicals should be fine according to the thread. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
kalk paste works good, Joe's Juice also works. Zap them before you get too many.
 
Heck, if ur gettin ur clean up crew this weekend, then just add a peppermint shrimp to the mix. I got some on a zoo colony and got a peppermint shrimp........bam, gone! Just don't mix him up with a camel shrimp....peppermint would be the cheapest way to do it.
 
I hear that shrimp are a bit more touch and go when it comes to a system. Like since my tank isnt that established yet, or even fully cycled, should I really add peppermint shrimp with the crew?
 
My auriga butterfly made short work of 100's of them. Problem is he made short work of most of the other life on the rocks too. Aiptasia still grows on the rocks in my 'fuge, but I put them in the display and he eats them pretty quickly.
 
I noticed the Aptasia in my 36 gal bowfront recently and did a bunch of research decided to go with the pepermint shrimp as I wanted something that would continue to control it ... Waaaa LAAAA all the pieces of aptasia that I could see are gone ...
I really like a natural control and balance myself rather than putting extra stuff in the tank :-)
 
I added 5 peppermint shrimp to my system with about 120lbs of mild to moderately infested rock about 3 months ago. It took less than 1 week to completely rid my tank of Aiptasia. Now that the aiptasia is long gone, they scavange just like any other shrimp would. They are happy (I think), healthy, and all scurry around at evening feeding time.
 
i agree with everyonne- natural is better if possible. it was always my luck to get the peppermints that don't care for it and sometime you don't have room for more fish. so in that case something like Joe's is the only option.
 
I threw a Peppermint in my nano and within 48 hours all Aptasia was gone. They could be hit or miss but they're cheap enough to at least give a try.
 
Not sure I would waste money on Joe's Juice was talking to the people at Reef Systems and they use it and the aiptasia just keeps regrowing in the same spot after it appears to be dead .. Also from what I have read most people seem to think Joe's juice is nothing more than Kalkwasser ..

If you want to try another method , suggested to me by a CORA member is get some kalwasser and make a paste then shoot it right onto the aiptasia so it blankets it . I am guessing this method pretty much smoothers it .. Haven't tried it but is an option ...

I have since posting noticed a couple new very small pieces of aiptasia in the tank , not sure if the peppermint is eating other things now rather than the aiptasia but am thinking of adding another to see what happens ...

Peppermints are fun to watch , though most of the time you don't see them as they hide really good .. Mine does appear when I feed the fish and I have watched him climb up on the rock work and leap off to catch some mysis shrimp floating by .. If nothing else they make a good addition to your clean up crew ..
 
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