Surfacer
New member
What did you use to electrocute them in the video? I could see this working well against any that are on a flat surface but does it work well for the ones in the live rock?
is the best way to rid aiptasia a natural way?
- Thread starter palmer373
- Start date
What did you use to electrocute them in the video? I could see this working well against any that are on a flat surface but does it work well for the ones in the live rock?
Wolverine
Premium Member
We would see ours about twice a year during the day.
psykokid
New member
I had tried almost everything in my DT - peps, kalk, bhergias, joes juice, aiptaxia x, aiptasia exit, boiling water, lemon juice, vinegar, etc.. Nothing really knocked them out. I went and got some new rock and re-aquascaped pulling all the infested rock out of the dt and putting it into a bin. There were a few stragglers on some frags that i had to keep kalk pasting in a separate container. I couldnt use peps in my main DT anymore having added a leaf fish and a flame hawk.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago and i set up a nanocube for my son. Turns out the rock that i used for that had a bunch of tiny babies on it.. So i figured i would head down to the lfs and get some peps and give it a shot since there was nothing in there that would make expensive snack out of them. Worked like a charm. Within a week every appie in the tank was gone. I started moving frags from the main DT that had stragglers into the nanocube and usually within two days the peps would find them and clean off the frags too. I have two more pieces i need to move from the dt to cube and i will finally be appie free..
Fast forward to a couple of months ago and i set up a nanocube for my son. Turns out the rock that i used for that had a bunch of tiny babies on it.. So i figured i would head down to the lfs and get some peps and give it a shot since there was nothing in there that would make expensive snack out of them. Worked like a charm. Within a week every appie in the tank was gone. I started moving frags from the main DT that had stragglers into the nanocube and usually within two days the peps would find them and clean off the frags too. I have two more pieces i need to move from the dt to cube and i will finally be appie free..
I have a tool (actually two of them since I have one tank that is relatively tall). The tool was built by one of the folks on RC but the instructions for making them are on RC in a thread originated by Paul B. It is a very interesting tool as even the slightest amount paralyzes the mojano or aiptasia (works on mushrooms too) and then continued usage turns them to snot. There is a video of it working when the aiptasia is on rock as well. http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/?action=view¤t=MVI_0487.flv There are downsides to all of the other "more natural" solutions. Aiptasia-X works but they come back and I lost two sensitive fish after processing aiptasia. CBB may or may not process aiptasia and are not necessarily reef safe. Peppermint shrimp have some drawbacks with regards to some corals, Berghia nudibranchs work but are not 100% and they are somewhat expensive. I have tried all of these. Now, with no corals, there are many aiptasia eaters. However I am using this tool in reef tanks with success. There is also a somewhat perverse pleasure in seeing them literally disintegrate.
iamwrasseman
New member
i have been lucky with my CBB and file fish as they really are workhorses in respect to aptasia . i also have the convenience of having all my tanks plumbed together with a common sump so there is no acclimation or stress moving them around from tank to tank when necessary . i catch them after midnight and they are very easy to catch as they are so groggy they just dont even know what happened to them and i guess they just figure that they are in a new part of the ocean .
CBB can work if you get lucky. But it is definitely a roll of the dice. Better is C. marginalis but they are not often available.
Mark Elliott
New member
I've tried Peppermint Shrimps but the solution that really worked was the double saddled butterfly fish Chaetodon ulietensis. Mine didn't touch the corals either (but getting any fish out of a reef tank is a big issue).
Yes, the Kliens will work but they are definitely NOT reef safe. If you are going in the not reef safe direction, the absolute best is a raccoon butterfly.
There is a Margined Coralfish (Chelmon marginalis) on Diver Den right now. With a price tag of $179.99 they are not the cheapest option.
It says they are reef safe (with caution) just as the Orange Butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleini). I guess i got lucky with my Chaetodon kleini he seemed pretty reef safe to me.
palmer373
New member
well my tank will have 2 triggers (babys, moving out when big enough) so filefish are out for sure but a butterflyfish will work? so it sounds like the racoons are the best (its a FOWLR) but C. Kleini's work also? so essentually all butterflyfish will eat aiptasia it sounds like? just some more than others?
psychostieg
New member
I have had a queen angle in my tank for years...?they eat several species of jellies in the wild. My queen completely mows down any aptasia it can reach..... And for eating it will only accept spectrum food pellets.... She is an adult queen and is ~8-9" long..... I really lucked out.... She has never touched any acro or other corals..... Very respectful to my reef, and an absolutely beautiful fish!
palmer373
New member
alright so im comming back to this thread so i dont create another. restarted my 75g tank as a SPS/LPs/softy combo (for now, prob SPS dom later) but i dont feel that comfortable with all the aips in the tank with my corals so i got to figure out a solution. klak paste=was working for me, vinegar=rarely works for me, shrimp=didnt work in past but might try again. i am hoping i can find a solution.
so far it looks like A. Tomentosus works the best but i hear they are iffy on reef tanks, whatever i put in i doubt ill be able to recatch without a tank tear down. it sounds like the A. Tomentosus will eat anything from aips to shrimp to zoas/LPS, dont want to risk it but might be my best bet.
i know i was talking about butterfly fish previously in this thread but are they all reef safe and compatible for a 75? i know the raccoons and klienis were the main talk but are they reef safe? i hear CBB are really good if they are a hit, big hit-or-miss from what i read and they are iffy on servivability.
id be willing to try peppermint shrimp again but they are around $20 here locally i beleive and i dont want to have to buy multiples of them.
i had a cleaner shrimp (undy ate him :'( ) so i plan on getting another, any fish/invert that would work for the aips? chemicals havent worked for me that well.
thanks
so far it looks like A. Tomentosus works the best but i hear they are iffy on reef tanks, whatever i put in i doubt ill be able to recatch without a tank tear down. it sounds like the A. Tomentosus will eat anything from aips to shrimp to zoas/LPS, dont want to risk it but might be my best bet.
i know i was talking about butterfly fish previously in this thread but are they all reef safe and compatible for a 75? i know the raccoons and klienis were the main talk but are they reef safe? i hear CBB are really good if they are a hit, big hit-or-miss from what i read and they are iffy on servivability.
id be willing to try peppermint shrimp again but they are around $20 here locally i beleive and i dont want to have to buy multiples of them.
i had a cleaner shrimp (undy ate him :'( ) so i plan on getting another, any fish/invert that would work for the aips? chemicals havent worked for me that well.
thanks
Mark Elliott
New member
Aips
Aips
Here's how I see it.
Shrimps - expensive and potentially a food source for your undy.
CBB - fragile. I've had three, but only one was introduced and survived properly (if you've got a load of 'pods and competition for food the CBB will switch back to a "natural diet" and once he's eaten all the pods and aips will starve). you need to introduce a CBB in an environment where he sticks to whatever you plan to feed and supplements that with aips, that;s tricky.
Raccoon - I reckon they are reef safe (ish) and a lot tougher than a CBB but if you need to get them out, well....
I could post how to get a fish out of a reef tank without tearing it apart or damaging the fish excessivey, but I'd be crucified. Suffice to say it involves a size 26 barbless fish hook.
Aips
Here's how I see it.
Shrimps - expensive and potentially a food source for your undy.
CBB - fragile. I've had three, but only one was introduced and survived properly (if you've got a load of 'pods and competition for food the CBB will switch back to a "natural diet" and once he's eaten all the pods and aips will starve). you need to introduce a CBB in an environment where he sticks to whatever you plan to feed and supplements that with aips, that;s tricky.
Raccoon - I reckon they are reef safe (ish) and a lot tougher than a CBB but if you need to get them out, well....
I could post how to get a fish out of a reef tank without tearing it apart or damaging the fish excessivey, but I'd be crucified. Suffice to say it involves a size 26 barbless fish hook.
