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  #1  
Old 09/09/2005, 09:44 PM
kristopher L Zmurk kristopher L Zmurk is offline
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Angry #@!& damn aptasia

I have a total outbreak of aptasia in a 55 gallon tank. I'm talking hundreds if not thousands popped up since vacation. Now this is where it sucks....... after half a dozen peppermint shrimp and Joe's juice. The @#!#'$ bastards seem to be thriving even better, this time growing on the crabs back. I am running a cpr bakpak skimmer and do routine water changes. Anyone out there know of doing something other than starting over with new rock?????? 150 lbs of new rock would kill me right now
Can I soak each piece in something to kill these pesky sons-o-!@#$@#? I have tried almost everything but the coppperbanded butterfly fish, but why kill another expensive fish? Someone please let me know (Bertonis info was great but it didn't help me in this case) Or it's back to freshwater
  #2  
Old 09/09/2005, 09:49 PM
Kamko Kamko is offline
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I've heard that there's that kind of a sea cucumber or nudibranch that thrives on aiptasia, but I can't remember its name... You could also try using calcium hydroxide or hot water instead of Joe's Juice...
  #3  
Old 09/09/2005, 09:55 PM
Mrs.kbmdale Mrs.kbmdale is offline
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Well, just a suggestion (might not be a pleasing one though)

1-get a firm/hard bristled LARGE as you can find
2-make up at least 10gallons of new sw in two seperate 5g buckets.(match accordingly so as not to shock and kill whats good)
3-remove rock one by one, place in the 5g bucket designated for scrubbing, and start brushing the rock, then swish around.
4-remove from bucket and swish around in the other bucket, then place back in tank.
Do this with every rock that's "infested". You should at least be able to reduce the size of the aiptasia, while removing some. What's left the peppermint shrimp(lysmata?) should be able over time to take care of the rest, while keeping it from spreading.
Also, cut back the amount of food you're feeding by at least a 1/4 and try VERY hard to feed in a spot where as little of the food as possible reaches the aiptasia.


Just a suggestion, might not be worth it to you. I would at least try it if all else has failed before giving up. GOOD LUCK!!

FWIW,
Brianna
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  #4  
Old 09/09/2005, 09:56 PM
Mrs.kbmdale Mrs.kbmdale is offline
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DO NOT GET THE CUCUMBER/NUDIBRANCH, it will only starve once it has eaten all the aiptasia.
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  #5  
Old 09/09/2005, 10:03 PM
Kamko Kamko is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Mrs.kbmdale
DO NOT GET THE CUCUMBER/NUDIBRANCH, it will only starve once it has eaten all the aiptasia.
So you just bring it back to the LFS after the mission is accomplished
  #6  
Old 09/09/2005, 10:15 PM
Mrs.kbmdale Mrs.kbmdale is offline
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I'm not even gonna touch that...........
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  #7  
Old 09/09/2005, 10:28 PM
Randall_James Randall_James is offline
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Scrubbing the rock could have the opposite effect. Any pieces left behind or redeposting could in fact sprout even more of the stuff.

I getting rid of the stuff manually is going to be a pain but possible. I would remove 1 rock at a time and start whacking each anemone with a spot of kalk paste. Put this rock(s) in a seperate tank(qt) and monitor for more infestation. After you are sure the rock is clean you can move on to the next one.

A pain yep...... And now you need to deal with the original problem, to much nutrient in the water and a failed quarantine system of adding new stuff to tank
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  #8  
Old 09/09/2005, 10:55 PM
Mrs.kbmdale Mrs.kbmdale is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Randall_James
Scrubbing the rock could have the opposite effect. Any pieces left behind or redeposting could in fact sprout even more of the stuff......
Yes Randall, but isnt that the purpose of scrubbing in one bucket and then rinsing/swishing in another bucket, then putting back in the tank? To keep as much of the peices off as possible, maybe add a third bucket. What LITTLE pieces ARE left, with 6 peppermint shrimp in there, I'm pretty sure it would be a feesible(sp) option.

Brianna
  #9  
Old 09/10/2005, 12:59 AM
UnderwaterExotic UnderwaterExotic is offline
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A raccoon butterfly just worked for me!
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  #10  
Old 09/10/2005, 01:10 AM
jthornley jthornley is offline
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People have success with different things.

You can always get a berghia nudibranch who ONLY eats the aptasia, downside is that they ONLY eat aptasia. You can always pass him around for free to your reef club.

You can always get peppermint shrimp, they will ONLY east small aptasia unless starved. You can always joes juice the large ones and let them feast on the little ones. I have two and they cleaned my 50 gallon in two weeks or less.

You can always try the scrubbing method... but be warned, any little piece left has the potential to become a new one. I would suggest not doing this as you can easily get small chunks of these guys caught in porous rock and they will soon overtake you again.

Other people have had success with copper banded butterfly fish, never tried one but they are pretty.
  #11  
Old 09/10/2005, 01:17 AM
JxMetal JxMetal is offline
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I had success using a soldering gun....... Just pull out your rock and point the tip of the gun at it and push it in there. Do this in a well vented area as whatever you touch with the gun WILL die and it stinks.
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  #12  
Old 09/10/2005, 01:57 AM
zoosalert zoosalert is offline
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Look at this....

Seagrass Filefish

Although this link is frm SG,maybe u could look for this fish in your local LFS
  #13  
Old 09/10/2005, 07:14 AM
Hoop Hoop is offline
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I had hundreds of them at one point too (55 gallon). I ended up buying about 10 peppermint shrimps. This worked, but over a period of time (about a month or so). They cleaned out everything. I kept 2 or 3 of these soldiers and sold the rest back to the LFS. Using Joes Juice on the bigger ones is a good idea too.
  #14  
Old 09/10/2005, 09:31 AM
ghotiFL ghotiFL is offline
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I had a couple hundred in a 200L. I "cooked" my rock for two weeks in stages, a couple pieces at a time. With out light, they will detach. I also changed the water at least 3 times. The very stubborn ones that did not become floaters, I covered over their hidey holes with very thick kalk paste. Once I was sure I had gotten most of them I rinsed each rock off, and placed in new batch of water for a couple more days to let the alkalinty equalize. There were only a few left, so I bought 2 peppermint shrimp, and they are almost done cleaning up.

Nothing good happens fast, it may take you a couple months to clean them up completely. I still have about 5 my shrimp haven't gotten to, but I am not seeeing any new ones.
  #15  
Old 09/10/2005, 12:15 PM
jthornley jthornley is offline
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If those 5 are large... the peppermints may never eat them. Unless they are starving they will not make an effort to eat the whole thing, and aptasia seem to come back from near death 2x stronger each time.
  #16  
Old 09/11/2005, 09:18 PM
Randall_James Randall_James is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Mrs.kbmdale
Yes Randall, but isnt that the purpose of scrubbing in one bucket and then rinsing/swishing in another bucket, then putting back in the tank? To keep as much of the peices off as possible, maybe add a third bucket. What LITTLE pieces ARE left, with 6 peppermint shrimp in there, I'm pretty sure it would be a feesible(sp) option.

Brianna
Scrubbing the stuff does not get the bits that are embedded in the rock IME. You really need to kill it where it lies because any bit left after scrubbing will come back if there is nutrient in the tank. (why it is flourishing in the first place) Also by the time you finish blasting the rock well enough to remove any traces, I would think you could cause harm to the good guys in the rock.
Just have seen enough failures with the scrub job to be very wary of it myself
 

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