Help out a Newbie with some Aiptasia killers?

[mrs.som]

Hi all!
I bought a secondhand 29gal biocube from craigslist that has some wonderful fish and corals AND aiptasia :(
We just moved to East Lansing and I spent more than our budget for the tank, but really need to get some sort of livestock to rid the tank of these pests! I have $6 in cash if anyone can help me out with some red claw crabs, peppermint shrimp or whatever you have that eats aiptasia. I know there are chemical methods for controlling them but as a newbie, I am not confident enough to venture into that.
I am willing to travel 30min in any direction :)

Thanks so much!

~Bonnie

[mrs.som]

Oh, and I might consider trading some of my red mushrooms (small, on chunks of live rock) for shrimp/crabs etc. Thanks!

[BK's Reef]

if you are getting alot of aiptasia it is probably due to bad water chemistry. Aiptasia multiply fast if you are high in nitrates in other words overfeeding or not enough water changes. How big are they? if they are medium to large sized the only thing that will really eat it are few fish. Peppermint shrimp only eat small aiptasia. Things that will eat it are peppermint shrimp(small aiptasia), silver scat(brackish fish), filefish and some butterflies but the butterflies will be too large for the tank. Best way to get rid of aiptasia in my experience is to either chip off the rock around the aiptasia. Another way you can get rid of them but you will only be able to do a few small rocks to 1 rock at a time is to boil water and put the rock in. But there is a danger of some popping in the rock if the heat cant escape.
cheers

[mrs.som]

Thanks!
I've only had the tank a few days but yes, I'm guessing water quality might be an issue. The guy I bought it from didn't seem too knowledgeable. I have not done a water change yet as we are still unpacking but probably can do one tomorrow. Should I do 10 or 20 percent?
The aiptasia are still fairly small, the largest is about a half inch in diameter.

Thanks again~

[Chelle's Ocean]

Not sure what types of LFS you have around you....but what about berghia?
http://www.berghia.net/marketprice.html
Maybe you could trade something in to your LFS for a berghia....even if you ask them to rent it to you for the $6 you have in your aqua-budget.
We have a club member trying to raise them. He will either trade out a mushroom or two, or a frag of something, in exchnage for a rock with aiptasia to feed his berghia.
It may be worth asking around your neck o' the woods ;)

[adalius]

Peppermint shrimp only eat small aiptasia.

That's only kinda true. A lot of people get their peppermints from a LFS which has 1-2 in a tank or from online and who knows how they have them stored there, and they get them and they'll only pick at the small aiptasia. In that instance, you're spot on, they'll only eat small ones.

However, they appear to be able to learn to eat the large aiptasia and some sellers have started using 15-20 in a single clear bottom tank to clean up their live rock before they sell it. Once one of them figures out that it can tap the aiptasia to make it close up, then the others seem to pick up on it and start going to town. If you can find someone who does this with their live rock and buy one of those peppermint shrimp off them, odds are good that they'll continue to eat all sizes of aiptasia afterwards.

My last tank I did this and had a massive aiptasia (bigger than the one in my photo album on here) and it walked right up, tapped it a couple times so it sucked into it's hole, and then it evicerated it. My current tank I just bought two peppermints from Live Aquaria and they won't touch the big or even the medium ones in my tank.

So long story short, they can and will eat even massive aiptasia but you have to either find one that learned how in a community tank or get really lucky.

[jimsflies]

The peppermint shrimp that preuss carries have always eaten aptaisa for me. you only will need one in your tank to take care of them. I believe they are around $10.

[Sir Patrick]

I like to buy the pepermints in small groups. Improves the odds of getting one thay really love to eat aptasia.

[taziam10797]

Preuss also have Scats (fish) that eat aptasia like crazy. As your from E. Lansing Preuss is pretty close.

[cg5071]

Sweet, I didnt know about scats. Also If you dont have fish, there isnt a need to feed it. The shrimp will get hungry sometime.
If the tank hasnt been cared for and no livestock I would do like a 40-50% waterchange. Supposedly 50 is about as much as you want to do at once.

[jay13]

ummmm, nitrates = aptasia? since when? . water changes will not solve your aptasia problem, over feeding will increase them but they can survive like any other anemone with photosynthesis. peppermint shrimp or scats work. scats need some room though. shrimp looks like the way to go. i have 4 in my 180 and after some manual removal they never came back, the shrimp handle them very well.

[jimsflies]

I personally don't like to have too many peppermints in the system. They will pick on other corals when they get hungry and always take food out of the corals "mouths" before they can suck it in.

In a 29 I would only have one. It may take it a few weeks to get on top of the existing aptasia but at least you won't have too many in your system after the aptasia are gone.

[adalius]

It may take it a few weeks to get on top of the existing aptasia but at least you won't have too many in your system after the aptasia are gone.

I think that's the biggest thing people need to realize, Jim. Anytime you use biological means to get rid of a pest, it's rarely an immediate fix. Cleaning a 29g of all aiptasia using 1-2 peppermint shrimp can take several months to get them all, even longer if you overfeed and they're supplementing their diet with whatever you put in the tank. I usually rest easy knowing I'm doing it the right way rather than the quick and easy way.

[BK's Reef]

ummmm, nitrates = aptasia? since when? . water changes will not solve your aptasia problem, over feeding will increase them but they can survive like any other anemone with photosynthesis. peppermint shrimp or scats work. scats need some room though. shrimp looks like the way to go. i have 4 in my 180 and after some manual removal they never came back, the shrimp handle them very well.

i was just saying if they have nitrates it may be to overfeeding which will help the aiptasia produce more. but they do multiply faster in bad water chemistry compared to good.

[MizTanks]

Preuss also have Scats (fish) that eat aptasia like crazy. As your from E. Lansing Preuss is pretty close.

Wouldn't a Scat get to big for a 29g?

[adalius]

And don't you have to acclimate Scat over a lengthy period because they're brackish? Or do they sell them pre-acclimated to full saltwater?

[MizTanks]

And don't you have to acclimate Scat over a lengthy period because they're brackish? Or do they sell them pre-acclimated to full saltwater?

I've seen them fully acclimated to SW-but they do get big! To big for a 29 IMO.

[reefermadness]

Go with a dozen or so peppermint shrimp...Then cut back feedings for a few weeks.

[jay13]

i was just saying if they have nitrates it may be to overfeeding which will help the aiptasia produce more. but they do multiply faster in bad water chemistry compared to good.

gotcha! i was just trying to alleviate a future post on nitrates being down but aptasia still being present. and yes what you said makes perfect sense about food and high nitrates.

[mrs.som]

Wow! I did not expect to get this many replies. It seems peppermint shrimp are the answer. My husband said we'll get one within a month. In the meantime, I'll keep up with the water changes and try not to overfeed. Thanks for all the info!

[LGer]

Do a search on Rooto Drain Cleaner sold by Ace Hardware. Works like a charm for me but be carefull. I just did a Google search - rooto aiptasia - and the info that you need will come up. I just KO'd 5-6 of them today with the stuff.

Leon

Sorry - Should learn to read..... Missed that you didn't want to go chemical! My bad!

[igot2gats]

FWIW, Joe's Juice has helped me in the past.

[mrs.som]

Just thought I'd update this thread.
I got some advice from the live chat here that peppermint shrimp had a good chance of getting decimated by the wrasse, so I decided to go with the safest chemical option, Aiptasia X.
I had to order it and was finally able use it tonight. It worked like a charm and even my hubby got in on the hunting and killing action :) Will watch it though to see if actually worked.