button and zooanthid control in mixed reef with camelback shrimps?

[homegrowncichli]

I've got massive palythoa and button polyp colonies which are taking over the tank, plus I'm tired of trimming down my green hairy mushrooms every month. I've been cutting palythoas and plucking button polyps for years now and have decided to remove all soft corals Permanently with EXTREME prejudice.

Looking for biological controls, I do keep other zooanthids, sponges, SPS and LPS in there, but they can be moved out, fragged and reintroduced.

I've heard matted filefish were helpful, but I'm looking for something less permanent, like a non-reef safe camel back shrimp? Thinking of throwing in 4 or 6 of them in, with the goal of them eating everything up within a few months or year. Even if they just keep the polyps in check is helpful.

Shrimps are also easy for me to remove with a fish trap.
Perhaps a 2 prong approach using both a matted filefish and camelback shrimps?

 

[marinemanohio]

The thing is with most natural predators, you will be a little hit or miss. There are plenty of butterfly species that will pick at them - sometimes. Filefish will pick at them - sometimes. Various crabs and shrimp will pick at them - sometimes. You just never know.

A more surefire way might be kalk paste. Just watch out for alk spikes if you do large qtys at once. Another option is to surround them with thin sheets of epoxy mud that can be broken off and tossed or sold/traded when they spread out of line. Small pieces of rock can serve the same purpose.

I've taken a liking to the epoxy method. Just don't push it onto the rock real hard so it is easier to remove. Works like a charm!

 

[homegrowncichli]

I'm asking specifically about camelback shrimps and if one doesn't do the job, its OK as I'll have 4 or 6 of them. I can train them to eat the target species I guess in a separate tank, before introducing them into the main tank. Toss in a palyzoa covered rock into the QT tank, and force them to eat it. Hmm, that will be the way to experiment with this idea.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[650-IS350]

Camelbacks will eat your corals so if that's your goal you can use them. Just be hard to see what they will go after and prefer.

Same thing with File fish... after they took out my aiptasia issue. They went after some palys, then went after ALL protopalythoas then some zoanthids. Some nice ones they didn't touch while some they ate it all to the bare rock.