Hey folks hope you have all been well! TGIF :wave:
So i know many of us reefers have had an issue with aiptasia. Myself included. I didnt have any aiptasia until buying another reefers live rock (knowingly) that have the pesky little pests. I got a sweet deal on very aged live rock approximately 10 years in a beautiful system with all kinds of goodies, sponges, little star fish, all kinds of colors of coralline, several colonies of button polyps and corals. I wanted to keep the good stuff alive when entering my tank. My fish were already put in QT back in august for suspected ich which was dealt with, with no losses using cupramine. So putting the liverock in with a little expected die off wasnt an issue for me. The benefits outweighed the cons especially when you score an entire setup of korialia pumps, sump, tank, overflows all for the price of the rock at less than $2 /lb! :bounce1:
So come wednesday I put in 3 peppermint shrimp to deal with the aips. On that day i counted 41 aiptasia in my tank! :worried:
Without fish in the tank and only my hermits and snails in i have not fed any food hoping the pepps would go after my intended target. The pepps didnt seem to do anything the first day, as i have hardly even seen them. The last day or so i have seen them start emerging from the rocks doing their little sway dance from side to side. Still 41 aiptasia and i have noticed they do in fact move around. I saw a large aip all of a sudden on a rock that i did not purchase which then was gone the next day. I was beginning to doubt my purchase and was thinking of lemon juice treatment or purchasing a Copper Banded Butterfly fish to deal with the pests. Last night i come home from work and take a quick look at the tank. I see 2 pepps eating away, and could only count 25 aips. I turn the lights off and cheer my little shrimps on as i go to bed. Now this morning turn on the lights and im down to 21 little buggers!
The aiptasia have congregated in 2 sections in the tank now 1 group in the top left of the tank and another on the lower right hand side hoping their numbers will keep them safe. But my pepps are persistent and lack any kind of fear. Their taste for anemones grows stronger.
I will update with photos and an aip count later tonight.
Go Pepps go! :bounce1:
So i know many of us reefers have had an issue with aiptasia. Myself included. I didnt have any aiptasia until buying another reefers live rock (knowingly) that have the pesky little pests. I got a sweet deal on very aged live rock approximately 10 years in a beautiful system with all kinds of goodies, sponges, little star fish, all kinds of colors of coralline, several colonies of button polyps and corals. I wanted to keep the good stuff alive when entering my tank. My fish were already put in QT back in august for suspected ich which was dealt with, with no losses using cupramine. So putting the liverock in with a little expected die off wasnt an issue for me. The benefits outweighed the cons especially when you score an entire setup of korialia pumps, sump, tank, overflows all for the price of the rock at less than $2 /lb! :bounce1:
So come wednesday I put in 3 peppermint shrimp to deal with the aips. On that day i counted 41 aiptasia in my tank! :worried:
Without fish in the tank and only my hermits and snails in i have not fed any food hoping the pepps would go after my intended target. The pepps didnt seem to do anything the first day, as i have hardly even seen them. The last day or so i have seen them start emerging from the rocks doing their little sway dance from side to side. Still 41 aiptasia and i have noticed they do in fact move around. I saw a large aip all of a sudden on a rock that i did not purchase which then was gone the next day. I was beginning to doubt my purchase and was thinking of lemon juice treatment or purchasing a Copper Banded Butterfly fish to deal with the pests. Last night i come home from work and take a quick look at the tank. I see 2 pepps eating away, and could only count 25 aips. I turn the lights off and cheer my little shrimps on as i go to bed. Now this morning turn on the lights and im down to 21 little buggers!
The aiptasia have congregated in 2 sections in the tank now 1 group in the top left of the tank and another on the lower right hand side hoping their numbers will keep them safe. But my pepps are persistent and lack any kind of fear. Their taste for anemones grows stronger.
I will update with photos and an aip count later tonight.
Go Pepps go! :bounce1:
