Clibanarus crabs, Paguristes crabs, stars and Aiptasia

[Apoplexic]

Hello. I have a 10-gal with a number of Cilbanarus hermits, 4 Paguristes cadenati (Scarlet Reef) crabs, what started as three Asterina stars and one species of Brittle Star.

I then discover through the forums here that I have Aiptasia on one of my live rocks. As I purchased these pieces largely because of the amount of macroalgae on them, I'm loathe to throw it out/let it dry to kill the "pest." I also have no coral or plans for anything else but hermits (and the stars to fit in the cracks the hermits can't get to).

Can I keep the aiptasia, or will it eventually start killing my crabs?

 

[badbreath]

Your crabs with be fine.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Apoplexic]

I feed the crabs primarily mysis shrimp dropped in front of the scarlets with a dropper, a larger squirt in the area where the red/blue tips are gathered, and "slow-sinking" veggie pellet food. Do I need to specifically feed the aiptasia with the dropper; and related, will they eat "food" or do I need a liquid for them?

 

[badbreath]

I feed the crabs primarily mysis shrimp dropped in front of the scarlets with a dropper, a larger squirt in the area where the red/blue tips are gathered, and "slow-sinking" veggie pellet food. Do I need to specifically feed the aiptasia with the dropper; and related, will they eat "food" or do I need a liquid for them?

They'll eat all of that...if you want more of them.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[badbreath]

They'll eat all of that...if you want more of them.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

But I wouldn't bother targeting them


Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Apoplexic]

Gotcha on the targeting.

I don't mind the looks of them, and I wouldn't necessarily mind a colony on my rock/s. If they don't add much to my tiny available bioload, it'd save me the delicacy of corals while giving something more than just rocks, algae and crabs.

The "pest" quality, much like the Asterina stars, seems to come from eating/damaging sensitive coral, same as I'd have with these crabs. Is that really the only reason they're shunned: not as pretty and dangerous to the pretty?

 

[ReefNomad]

They're consummate survivors, without many natural predators. That's what turns a few into an infestation.
Aiptasia can photosynthesize in the presence of light, can snare live prey, and can filter organics from the water. They can survive extremes in temperature, pH, kH, and salinity that kill most other aquarium inhabitants. They can reproduce multiple ways, and can regrow from small cuttings.
The threat from aiptasia is that once it starts claiming space, there's not much else that can compete in that space, and you spend a lot of time controlling the spread so your tank doesn't become just a forest of aiptasia.

 

[badbreath]

I used to have hundreds of aiptasia in my 90 gallon. I got lucky with a copperband that nearly wiped them out. A couple more popped up when it died and I got lucky again with a peppermint shrimp. The shrimp has passed on and no sign of the aiptasia for about a year.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Apoplexic]

My LFS owner was nice enough to tell me if I wanted to get rid of them, I can just pull out the rock they're on and burn it with a lighter. I think I'll let these two chill for a while, get a few more to pop up (-most- of my rocks are not live any more, so it'd probably confine itself to there for the start (most comfortable/optimal spot for something ocean-y to "root" on).

If it decides to spread outside of where I want it, and provided my brittle star isn't compressed against said rock somewhere, I'll probably just try to spot remove them with my propane torch. Not having coral in the way should make this far less a process than in a genuine reef tank.

Thank you all.