aptasia problem..... still
- Thread starter jabel
- Start date
Yinger
Premium Member
oh yeh, berghia... wetfish is giving them away free on this forum.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=861084
TrojanScott
Active member
Berghia work, but they're expensive and it could take MONTHS for them to clean out your aiptasia. Joe's Juice works best, I think.
MonkeeFish
New member
Joe Juice works but it alwayz come back....I wanted one of those nudibranch but to far to go grab one...
TrojanScott
Active member
you can order nudibranches online. They DO work, but again, it's a very slow process. Depending on tank size, you can order quite a few to speed up the process, but at $15 per, it can get expensive really quick.
pledosophy
Active member
I use Joe's juice or kalk water for removal and peppermint shrimp for prevention. 
Jeff, Hawk72 said it best.
Give your Copperband some time. One day you will start noticing the small ones gone, then one day they will all be gone. Back when I had a problem, it took a little over a month for my CCB to start eating the little pests.
How big is your Copperband?
Give your Copperband some time. One day you will start noticing the small ones gone, then one day they will all be gone. Back when I had a problem, it took a little over a month for my CCB to start eating the little pests.
How big is your Copperband?
We had the same experience in our 180gal as Wetfish. We raised well over a hundred Berghia from a start of 3 & have passed them all out after they ate all of our aiptasias. We got them in March, and by mid-May, there was not a single aiptasia left.
Joe's Juice does not work at all - it kills the target anemone, but in the process, it forces it to clone, leaving you with 5-10 little tiny ones that then grow up to be big ones. I did some experiments where I nuked aiptasias that were growing on the side of my tank where I could see them, and sure enough, nuking them with Joe's Juice just made them all clone. Bad stuff.
The bergies are the way to go. The only thing you should do is catch them when they've eaten all your aiptasias & pass them along so they don't starve - they only eat aiptasias and nothing else. If wetfish has given away all of his, you can order them online from Inland Aquatics, which is where we got our original 3. They were very responsible, and they shipped just fine. The company only deals in captive propagated marine life, so they're a good business to support. We didn't need 3, though - 1 or 2 would have worked just fine. The key is to keep them in a small tank - a 10 gal QT would work great. Then rotate your aiptasia-covered rocks thru. Berghia are nocturnal, so you've got a much better chance of seeing them come out to feed in a small tank. Plus, this way they're safer from power heads. They are really fascinating to watch & totally cool looking! Given that there's basically no other species of nudibranch that you can keep in captivity without killing, they're really fun to have. I highly recommend them, and if we ever have an aiptasia problem again, I'll order another one from Inland. I actually miss the little guys!
Joe's Juice does not work at all - it kills the target anemone, but in the process, it forces it to clone, leaving you with 5-10 little tiny ones that then grow up to be big ones. I did some experiments where I nuked aiptasias that were growing on the side of my tank where I could see them, and sure enough, nuking them with Joe's Juice just made them all clone. Bad stuff.
The bergies are the way to go. The only thing you should do is catch them when they've eaten all your aiptasias & pass them along so they don't starve - they only eat aiptasias and nothing else. If wetfish has given away all of his, you can order them online from Inland Aquatics, which is where we got our original 3. They were very responsible, and they shipped just fine. The company only deals in captive propagated marine life, so they're a good business to support. We didn't need 3, though - 1 or 2 would have worked just fine. The key is to keep them in a small tank - a 10 gal QT would work great. Then rotate your aiptasia-covered rocks thru. Berghia are nocturnal, so you've got a much better chance of seeing them come out to feed in a small tank. Plus, this way they're safer from power heads. They are really fascinating to watch & totally cool looking! Given that there's basically no other species of nudibranch that you can keep in captivity without killing, they're really fun to have. I highly recommend them, and if we ever have an aiptasia problem again, I'll order another one from Inland. I actually miss the little guys!
Thanks for all of the responses. My Copperband is 3 inches for nose to tail and I've only had him for a few weeks. He does pick at the rocks but I don't notive anything diminishing. So maybe time..... Right now I could probably count over 60 aptasia with some big ones in my 120 gal tank. The Bergia would be great I just haven't been able to locate one at a local store and the only people offering them are a long drive away. I've never ordered livestock online so I'm a little hesitant. Hopefully the Copperband will start to eat them and give me a little time to locate the Bergia.
Jeff
Jeff
MonkeeFish
New member
Anyone local. Located in Orange county that wants to give away one or sell one? I just checked on Inland and it's 25 + shipping for one.
