Aptasia

[Salmonking]

I have been finding a few of these a day and shoot them with joe juice.Will this eradicate them or am I fighting a losing battle.Dont really want to put peppermint shrimp in tank.Any opinion appeciated

[liferuiner055]

why dont you want to use peppermint shrimp?

is it FO or reef.

[snorvich]

Peppermint shrimp, even the right kind, are not totally reef safe. While they do have some value in eradication, they only work on the little ones.

[Frick-n-Frags]

plus, to guarantee eradication you should put a "pepp squad" in, not just one. They are kind of chicken alone, but in a pack, they will get every last Aip, regardless of size. more argument for chasing them by hand if you only have a few. if you are swamped, just get the pepps.

also, when you spook aiptasias, they all get about the same size anyway

[IceWish]

i had lots of problems with these, i used really hot RO water and spray them , this usually did the trick.......untill they come back the following month....

[Salmonking]

I have been shying away from peppermint shrimp because I have heard that once the aiptasia is gone they might attack coral or zoos.I would like to find out

[ycnibrc]

peppermint don't attack corals they might try to grap food from corals....usually if you feed your fish enough food through out the day the shrimp will have enough food to eat and they will not come out and take food from corals. BTW they only feed at night.

[liferuiner055]

the only thing that ive heard that peppermint shrimp will sometimes pick at are clams. also, a klein angel is suppose to be reef safe and eat aiptasia.

[jimlas]

I used the Joe juice as well. this worked some and when I ran out the aptasia started to thrive again. I then got a siringe from the pharmacy and tried to inject lemon juice into the base. Ha, I couldn't get to the base of them before they would close up. maybe a couple.
So now I mix up kalk with water, just enough to make a semi paste and inject that into their mouths. Beside it being a lot of fun it keeps them in check for the most part. There are still a couple here or there but not a big concern anymore.

[tcmfish]

^^^ its a klein butterflyfish but i don't know if they are reefsafe but copperband wouldnt be a bad idea either

[jimlas]

That's a hit or miss as well though

[liferuiner055]

oh yeah my bad butterflyfish. but i read in a reef magazine that they are suppose to be really good with eating aiptasia and also reef safe. i dont know just a suggestion.