Rescue Clam

But they do go after clams? If so, not an option for me then :mad:

I may just give the bergia nudi's a try then. I'm getting reallllllllly tired of keeping them at bay by hand.
 
Copperbandeds usually do not go for clams. But , nothing is 100%. I have a 5-6 inch Maxima in the tank he is in right now. So far he has been picking on some mojo/atipshia and red slime algae- weird huh. HE seems comfortable and colors are great. I am going to bring some brine/mysis from home to stimulate him eating.Maybe pick up some garlic.
 
Had a chance to watch this guy between patients a few times- Cool stuff- he "hunts" or "stalks" the atipsia - very strange - it is not like they are going run away- but I guess they can " hide". Anyhow- has picked off 2 a tips off the clams shell while it was open. So, a great beginning- I will keep interested parties informed of the progress. I have enough atips and mojos ( if he eats these as well) for months. I will worry about trading him to someone who needs his services after that or transition him to mysis, butterfly food/pellets.
 
I was thinking about getting one of the copperbands but did not know to much about them. Got to start reading....

I have a sixline, clowns, and yellow tang. Would they get along?

Do they eat any coral? Zoa?...


What size tank do you have him in acer?
 
I have mine with 2 yellows and a purple tang in a 220. The purple chased him slightly the first night but they all get along now.
 
I don't believe they eat clams but as someone mentioned nothing is 100% safe. That said you are going to want to have a plan for either getting the guy out of your tank or training him onto frozen. I love the CBB but its not an easy fish to take care of once the nasties are out of the tank I am afraid. I ended up having to give up on mine and get him out because I could only get him to eat live brine not frozen mysid and that was not something I was willing to do. Fortunately he went to a good home and is now fat and happy as a, no pun intended, clam. (yes I visited him)
 
Tank = 65 hex with three chromis, and 2 false percs , and one Cardinal. I can always move him to my 90 at home- I know the 65 is a bit small for long term housing. But, he is going to get fat for a while as the atip/mojo problem is out of hand. Yes, CB are known to eat Zoas and LPS, but clams, SPS, and softies are reported to not be on the menu.
 
I am purposefully not putting in anything but pellets for the other fish- I want him to be hungry and eat the Mojo/atips- he has zoa, LPS, etc to eat also- so I am not worried about him starving- my tank is a smorgasbord for him.
 
acer said:
I am purposefully not putting in anything but pellets for the other fish- I want him to be hungry and eat the Mojo/atips- he has zoa, LPS, etc to eat also- so I am not worried about him starving- my tank is a smorgasbord for him.
Click to expand...

Ahh...yeah he ate all my aptasia the first night. I'm working on pellets still for him.
 
So far he is picking at the Aptasia only- I have so much Aptasia that I cant tell how much he has eaten so far. But, NO obvious damage to any corals or the clam. It is neat when he "hangs" upside down staring at the rock looking for the Aptasia to open.
 
update- Copperbanded is doing well - but not making much progress on the Atipsia farm. So now what - Nudi's??
 
True peppermint shrimp will eat them hit or miss. It really depends on the size of the aiptasia...If you can remove the rock boil some hot water and hit the aiptasia with it via syringe.
 
Removing and/or treating the rock is difficult as the tank is in my waiting room = not like home where sinks, etc are available. Plus the tall hex tank with a childproof canopy make even reaching the rock difficult- these are the reasons that the atipsia/mojo's got sooo bad in the first place. So, maybe adding nudi's and a few peppermints with begin to take a toll on "the farm". I think I will have to supplement and feed something other than pellets or the copperbanded will not stay healthy.
 
acer said:
Removing and/or treating the rock is difficult as the tank is in my waiting room = not like home where sinks, etc are available. Plus the tall hex tank with a childproof canopy make even reaching the rock difficult- these are the reasons that the atipsia/mojo's got sooo bad in the first place. So, maybe adding nudi's and a few peppermints with begin to take a toll on "the farm". I think I will have to supplement and feed something other than pellets or the copperbanded will not stay healthy.
Click to expand...

Peppermint shrimp will chow down on the nudibranches, but the nudis you want only eat aptasia, bringing up a certain level of ethical questions since you're basically putting an animal in a closed system with a food source you are attempting to eradicate. Eventually, the animal will starve to death.
 
Hmm... yep that is a question - however, I don't think the nudi's are on the endangered species list and they are all bred/grown for that specific reason of being sold to enthusiasts to control other species - once their job is done..they will die. Kind of like buying a certain insect species for your garden to control aphids,etc. after they do there job - they die. But, I would rather a farmer/gardener do this than use chemicals to control the bad insects- don't you??!?! - food for thought.
 
It is a good point, and one that certainly carries with it a very high level of validity. After all, I don't begrudge the beef farmer for giving me my steaks.

Back to the peppermint shrimp, they will have to come out of the system (something that I think will be difficult without copper dosing, after which there's no point in continuing to worry about the aptasia since they'll be the only interesting living critter still in the tank at that point.) I guess an interceptor dose to the tank may also accomplish the killing of the peppermint shrimp...but again ethics may come into play here (or may not depending on how you look at it.)
 
Don't have any peppermints yet- trying to choose which to do. I appreciate the info on the fact that the peppermints will eat the nudi's I did not know that- had a thought of doing both before your post. I think I will also begin taking out a rock or 2 out and "cleaning" off the mojo's and atips. In spite of the major pain of the setup (tall acryllic tank, childproofed canopy,etc. )- the patients really enjoy it and all commented on how they like the copperbanded fish. So, I guess I will put a little more time /effort into it. I never used peppermints before in the tank to control atips, because the other shrimp that I had until recently would kill the peppermints ( cant remember the name of the other shrimp= makes a hole in the sand and allows the fish to "move in" with him). But, he must have died as I do not see him or any hole/burrow and the fish is out and looking very lonely. I think I will do both= nudis in the sump/refugium and peppermints/copperbanded in the display. I will rotate rocks between the two places to expose the bad guys. Optinions on this plan are welcome.
 
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