Aiptasia revisited

[snorvich]

Ok, I have tried a variety of solution for this pest:

+ Joe's Juice (ok but not permanent)
+ Concentrated Pickling lime (which is similar to above)
+ Copperbanded Butterfly fish (and Muellers); some eat them, some do not and some are reef safe, others are not
+I did not try peppermint shrimp because they eat other stuff

and now, finally, Berghia nudibranchs.

Berghia nudibranchs eat only one thing: the dreaded aiptasia anemone, AKA glass or rock anemone. That’s all Berghia eat, nothing else, not one other thing. And, they are completely reef safe.

Now, this was not a super quick solution (in my 240 gallon tank it took about 3 months) but those little buggers did their job. I rarely saw them but somehow they mated and disposed of my Aiptasia. However, they are not inexpensive.

The only problem that I encountered was putting them into the aquarium. They do not easily grab onto things and tend to blow around. I solved this by putting them into a test tube and placed the test tube somewhere protected and they then crawled out. Any similar strategy would likely work as well or better. In retrospect, I would have divided them into three test tubes so they disbursed better initially. They will eventually disburse any way so it is not a problem.

So, for those who have this issue, this may be of interest.

[toonces]

Could you post more details about introducing them into the aquarium? I read that it is best to keep the adults in a small tank until they have bred a few times; putting the adults right into the tank rarely works. This is the part that has me put off because I'm not sure how to go about it.

Second, do you have anything that you'd be concerned with eating them in the tank? I have an orchid dottyback, and I'm not sure if it would eat a nudibranch or not.

[o.c.d.]

Peppermint eat other stuff ? I'm now worried! My tank is very mixed with corals, does anyone know what is more likely to be harmed?

[coralnut99]

Originally posted by o.c.d.
Peppermint eat other stuff ? I'm now worried! My tank is very mixed with corals, does anyone know what is more likely to be harmed?

I the smaller sizes that you usually see available, Peps are really quite docile and shy, and usually need to be protected from predatory fish. Like everything else, they can get to be quite large. I've seen some really jumbo Peps dining on Astrea snails. Also be aware that some stores sell Camel shrimp as Peps. These guys are not Aptaisia eaters and will dine on your soft corals.

[snorvich]

One has to be very careful not to get camel shrimp which are often sold as peppermint shrimp. No only do they NOT eat aiptasia but they eat a variety of other stuff. They are also highly susceptible to being eaten by a variety of fish.

I introduced the nudibranchs immediately into my tank. I rarely saw them except at night (perhaps they are nocturnal?). Apparently they do not taste good to fish. I have mostly fairy wrasses in that tank along with C. joculator, G. bellus, C. multicolor. I do not have dottybacks because they are mostly incompatible with fairy wrasses. In any case, after about three months, no aiptasia.

Just another data point for folks to consider. I am not pushing this solution; I simply got tired of the other "solutions".

[J. Montgomery]

IMO, you can't go wrong with the peppermint shrimp. I don't even think twice about adding zoa frags with aiptasia hiding amongst them. They don't last two days in the tank with my peppermint shrimp on the prowl. Granted, I've bought 5 over the past year, and only one is still alive . . . but I consider them an essential part of my clean up crew.

You consider a peppermint shrimp too risky, but a copperbanded butterfly is ok?

[coralnut99]

Originally posted by J. Montgomery
IMO, you can't go wrong with the peppermint shrimp. I don't even think twice about adding zoa frags with aiptasia hiding amongst them. They don't last two days in the tank with my peppermint shrimp on the prowl. Granted, I've bought 5 over the past year, and only one is still alive . . . but I consider them an essential part of my clean up crew.

You consider a peppermint shrimp too risky, but a copperbanded butterfly is ok?

My only prblem with Peps over the years is that quite simply, they become fish food. Anthias will nail them before the even hit the rocks. I tried Berghia too, but they also fall prey to lots of things we call beneficial in a reef tank. That was an expensive experiment. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to set up yet another tank (MAN! is my wife gonna love this!), that will house nothing more than peps, and will be large enough to be able to put infested rocks into systematically.

Camel shrimp sold as peps are risky. If you buy a copperband that doesn't do the job, that's as big an investment as Berghia and you've intorduced a fish that you may or may not have wanted in your reef to begin with. And you can kiss ANY worms in your tank goodbye.

[snorvich]

No copper banded butterfly fish are a 50/50 proposition. Half the time they eat aiptasia; half the time they do not. Half the time they are not reef safe (as is any butterfly).

[rynon]

The Berghia worked for me as well!!! In my case I did put the Berghia, 3 of them, in a ten gallon tank with some aiptasia covered rocks. I let them clean the rocks, soon found eggs and just kept adding rocks for months. I eventually figured they were dead. I then acclimated the rocks to the tank, just in case. I really didn't pay all that much attention to the aiptasia population until I was talking to someone about it.....I had about 20 left out of 100+. I did take a long time, probably six months but nothing else worked for me. I ended up catching 30 in my overflow filter sock, some I sold, some I gave away. Long story short....they work. As far as the dottyback goes, I had a blue flavivertex Pseudochromis that I expected to eat the nudis but it apparently had no interest. It also helps that the Berghia are nocturnal.....Like Snorvich I saw them only once after putting them in my tank...until I started catching them left and right. I did not catch any until all the aiptasia were gone. IMO this is the one nearly certain cure to aiptasia. FYI my tank is a 92 gallon with a 30 gallon sump.

[Alphabet]

I have heard Berghias' are the way to go but how do you acquire them?? Many of the lfs do not have them? It also seems to be hit or miss with the online stores as well??

[coralnut99]

Originally posted by Alphabet
I have heard Berghias' are the way to go but how do you acquire them?? Many of the lfs do not have them? It also seems to be hit or miss with the online stores as well??

There is / was a RC member propogating them and selling them. I can't remember the name off the top of my head, hopefully someone will chime in here, or just try the search engine. I've only seen them for sale at a lfs twice in the past 5 years or so, and they sell fast. If you have a lot of potential predators in your reef, you may want to think carefully about the investment. A lot of folks have reported success by establishing a separate, temporary tank to house them and infested rock until the aptasia are gone. You could do the same with peppermints at a fraction of the cost.

[Wolverine]

The other problem with peppermints is that they often leave larger aiptasia alone. The only really go after the tiny ones.

The problem with the berghia is similar to the problems with the flatworm-eating nudibranchs. Once the population of aiptasia has gotten to small, they struggle to find food, and then starve. Once that happens, those few rare aiptasia start to mulitply again. Some people end up setting up an aiptasia-growing tank (separate from the main aquarium) to keep them alive when there aren't enough aiptasia in the main system.

Dave

[snorvich]

Peppermints will only eat smaller aiptasia and they also eat copepods. This might be a problem if you have fish which eat copepods as their primary diet. I had good luck with the nudibranchs; I found them through google. If you can't find them, I can try and find the link where I purchased them.

[rynon]

I had 3 aiptasia that I found after the berghia died, that was at least 3-4 months ago and I have not seen another.......I actually broke the rocks where the 3 aiptasia were.....I do NOT want them back.

[jnc914]

Snorvich- Thanks for the info. I have just finished taking out about 40 aiptasia with Mrs. Wages Picling Lime. I think i will finally breakdown and buy some nudis. They are pretty pricey, as i have been researching for a couple of weeks. For adults $15-20, juveniles are $10-15 each. If you have the link where you purcased them, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Tonz of Fun]

I have had great success with Joes Juice. The issue is you have to hit it more then once if its large. But I get rid of mine everytime. If its really big and I hit it with Joes juice it splits to two smaller ones. Then I hit the smaller ones and there gone...

[plancton]

they came inside my LR, I didn't have many aiptasia and they ate it all, it was a couple, then they dissapeared, maybe the lack of further aiptasia starved them to death.

I also want to know if they can be sucked by powerheads or eaten by popeye crabs.

[rynon]

You THINK you've taken 40 of them out. They will be back. Here's a great site IMO. http://www.saltyunderground.com/ I may start breeding these guys again. You'll be happy if you follow my advice. Breeding them first ensures a better chance of all your aiptasia being eaten. I just wish I had some I could send you. I did experience some water quality problems when they disappeared....they are great water filters. My nitrates went from 0 to 15, but after a while dropped back to 0. Good luck.

[patej]

peppermint shrimp all the way,,,,,

[Voxboy]

I bought some live rock from the LFS a few months ago. After a couple days I noticed 2 aptsaisia the size of a dime maybe smaller. I should have done something right there a then but didn't. Fast forward a few weeks later now I had about 10 -12...went to the LFS and bought a couple small peppermints. Acclimated them and put them in the 120 display...never to see them again. Fast forward to a few days ago....not one single aptaisia in the tank. Still can't see the shrimp though.

[coralnut99]

You won't normally see Peps out in the open. They are fish food on the reef. But if you don't have anything in the tank that will make a snack out of them, they will eventually become more bold. Especially at feeding time.

[Blugobi]

Try here for Nudi's...I got mine here, great customer service!!

http://www.berghia.net/

Geo