Atipsia problem

czinn · 03/25/2011, 07:22 PM

Well I have had my 28gallon Nano cube up for about a month and a half. It had new sand put in and 80% of the rock came from a tank I have had running for 2 years. Out of the few pieces of rock i got from a friend of mine it seems there is some Atipsia on 1 of the rocks but it is one of the base rocks it is small. I have pulled as much of it out that I can. Is there any thing i can put in to eat the Atipsia that will not hurt the rbta, 2 tomato clowns, or the Blue Spot Jaw Fish. In my big tank I have use a Copper Banded Butterfly to keep it clean. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

czinn

JoeRonda · 03/25/2011, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by czinn

Well I have had my 28gallon Nano cube up for about a month and a half. It had new sand put in and 80% of the rock came from a tank I have had running for 2 years. Out of the few pieces of rock i got from a friend of mine it seems there is some Atipsia on 1 of the rocks but it is one of the base rocks it is small. I have pulled as much of it out that I can. Is there any thing i can put in to eat the Atipsia that will not hurt the rbta, 2 tomato clowns, or the Blue Spot Jaw Fish. In my big tank I have use a Copper Banded Butterfly to keep it clean. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

czinn

Definitely throw in a couple of Peppermint Shrimp, in a tank that size I would put 2 of them in. Go to your LFS and ask them to see their Peppermint Shrimp, and ask them if they are the ones that usually have an appetite for the aptasia anemone. Some do not, so definitely ask. I have had great success with mine. Good Luck!

iap · 03/25/2011, 07:51 PM

Good luck with the pepp shrimp. My lfs had a bunch that at aptasia but being my lucky self the 5 that I grabbed haven't touched any aptasia..that I can tell

Bnortz · 03/25/2011, 08:08 PM

peppermint shrimp will do the job

ryano34 · 03/25/2011, 08:08 PM

I bought 4 peppermint shrimp for my 55. I think they 20 or so aiptasia were gone in 4 days.

Wet Dreamer · 03/25/2011, 08:11 PM

My peppermint shrimp never touch my aptasia, i used aptasia X, worked good for me!

shelbyville · 03/25/2011, 08:33 PM

lemon juice and an insulin needle. easy and nothing compares to the look on the pharmacists face when you say it's for your fish tank

JoeRonda · 03/26/2011, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelbyville

lemon juice and an insulin needle. easy and nothing compares to the look on the pharmacists face when you say it's for your fish tank

That would be quite humorous.

sporto0 · 03/26/2011, 10:06 PM

a copperband butterfly fish in my opinion does a better job than shrimp, peppermints tend to tear the aptaisa apart creating more little aptasia

fishcraze_1 · 03/27/2011, 05:32 AM

so copperbands work pretty good

Lynnmw1208 · 03/27/2011, 07:40 AM

I used zap-tasia which as worked and I haven't seen one since

Tank Time · 03/27/2011, 08:17 AM

Can't you just put that peice of rock in the tank with your butterfly and clean it up naturally... Just a thought. Otherwise I like lemon juice and a needle

reefinmo · 03/27/2011, 09:06 AM

I kept having a few little aptaisa pop up. My rocks were all easy to pull out at the time because I didn't have any corals, so I would blast them with a stick lighter like you use to light BBQ pits. It worked, but that got old, so I got an aptasia eating filefish (matted filefish) and I've never seen another one in my DT. My sump has a couple right now that I haven't dealt with because I'm getting ready to make some changes to my plumbing and will be making several improvements to the sump at the same time. But I like that little filefish. He looks funny when he swims and he's got a personality.

bazineta · 03/27/2011, 09:25 AM

Copperbands seem to graze on the aiptasia, but don't really get rid of it. Peppermint shrimp, in contrast, rip them out by the roots, burn the bodies, scatter the ashes, and salt the ground.

Manually, Aiptasia-X has worked for me, but it was an ongoing task that was ultimately a losing proposition, so a predation approach seems to me to be the way to go.

Tank Time · 03/27/2011, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazineta

Peppermint shrimp, in contrast, rip them out by the roots, burn the bodies, scatter the ashes, and salt the ground.

LOL

Mikei70 · 03/27/2011, 11:19 AM

Take out the rock and chip the piece off.

Sport507 · 03/27/2011, 11:28 AM

I would advise strongly that you do not get a copperbanded butterfly. Will it take care of the problem, no doubt it will and they are beautiful and it was my favorite fish. The problem with the CBB approach is that when it runs out of food it will die a slow death. GOT THE T-SHIRT! A very tiny % of them well ever except prepared foods in an aquarium. The LFS's wont tell you this part of the story. You will here stories of success (wished mine was one of them) of poeple keeping them but the % is tiny!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1957957

FishboyDave · 03/27/2011, 11:44 AM

+1 on the lemon juice. Then get 2 peppermint shrimp to keep it under control. Using lemon juice alone will not fix the problem if you have a lot of rock work. There will be tiny ones that you will not see which is the reason for the peppermint shrimp.

JoeRonda · 03/27/2011, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikei70

Take out the rock and chip the piece off.

Chipping a piece off is the poor man's approach. Just buy an appropriate number of Peppermint Shrimp for your size system and be done with it. After the aptasia are only a faint memory you will still have a good little group of scavengers instead of an empty bottle of aptasiaX, lemon juice(Yuk) ,a syringe that you will probably stick yourself with through the trash bag when you take it outside, or a hammer and a bunch of broken pieces of liverock.

Mikei70 · 03/27/2011, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRonda

Chipping a piece off is the poor man's approach. Just buy an appropriate number of Peppermint Shrimp for your size system and be done with it. After the aptasia are only a faint memory you will still have a good little group of scavengers instead of an empty bottle of aptasiaX, lemon juice(Yuk) ,a syringe that you will probably stick yourself with through the trash bag when you take it outside, or a hammer and a bunch of broken pieces of liverock.

So the better approach is to allow this one aptasia to spread and rely on peppermint shrimp to keep it in check instead of eliminating the problem altogether?

JoeRonda · 03/27/2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikei70

So the better approach is to allow this one aptasia to spread and rely on peppermint shrimp to keep it in check instead of eliminating the problem altogether?

I had an aptasia problem in my 29 gal liverock holding tank. I put ONE Peppermint Shrimp in there and waited. I was begining to wonder if this one had an appetite for the pesky anemone when one day I saw him going over to the ap. I watched and cheered him on as he ripped that mother out of the rock like he had a vendetta against it. No exaggeration, it literally reached in the hole and pulled the ap. out with it's long feelers that it has by its mouth. There was pieces of ap. floating away as he tore it apart, and I never saw any again, he must have found all the small pieces too because I have not seen any in the big tank that all that rock is in now. So in response to you, this is eliminating the problem altogether, just not wasting some of your possibly prized Live Rock. I know I have some great pieces of Tonga Branch Live Rock that I would'nt bust up for any reason.

Mikei70 · 03/27/2011, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRonda

I had an aptasia problem in my 29 gal liverock holding tank. I put ONE Peppermint Shrimp in there and waited. I was begining to wonder if this one had an appetite for the pesky anemone when one day I saw him going over to the ap. I watched and cheered him on as he ripped that mother out of the rock like he had a vendetta against it. No exaggeration, it literally reached in the hole and pulled the ap. out with it's long feelers that it has by its mouth. There was pieces of ap. floating away as he tore it apart, and I never saw any again, he must have found all the small pieces too because I have not seen any in the big tank that all that rock is in now. So in response to you, this is eliminating the problem altogether, just not wasting some of your possibly prized Live Rock. I know I have some great pieces of Tonga Branch Live Rock that I would'nt bust up for any reason.

He said it was base rock.

To each his own.

JoeRonda · 03/27/2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikei70

He said it was base rock.

To each his own.

We've all been talking about aptasia and ways to rid our tanks of them for so long I forgot that he said it WAS on a piece of small base rock, LOL. In that case I would take the small rock out that suspectedly houses the ap. and put it in my sump. Aptasia are said to be a great exporters of excess nutrients and in most respects a natural filter. I am kinda sorry my Pepp.Shrmp erradicated all my ap. I would like a natural exporter of fish food, detritus, decaying organisms, etc. I think the concept of housing an "aptasia farm" in your sump is a unique idea.

Mikei70 · 03/27/2011, 04:10 PM

I've been a bit leery of peppermint shrimp since one ripped apart a head of frogspawn. I had the shrimp for a while and they never bothered anything. Someone gave me a single head of frogspawn and as soon as I put it in the tank he went crazy on it. His arms were moving a hundred mph-- there was bits of FS and slime drifting in his wake. I stuck my scraper down there and kind of shoo'ed him away, put in some food and he left it alone after that. But I never trusted them again and I moved them down to my refug.

03/25/2011, 07:22 PM	#1
czinn Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: houston Posts: 55	Atipsia problem Well I have had my 28gallon Nano cube up for about a month and a half. It had new sand put in and 80% of the rock came from a tank I have had running for 2 years. Out of the few pieces of rock i got from a friend of mine it seems there is some Atipsia on 1 of the rocks but it is one of the base rocks it is small. I have pulled as much of it out that I can. Is there any thing i can put in to eat the Atipsia that will not hurt the rbta, 2 tomato clowns, or the Blue Spot Jaw Fish. In my big tank I have use a Copper Banded Butterfly to keep it clean. Any suggestions will be appreciated. czinn

03/25/2011, 07:51 PM	#3
iap BOSS Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 691	Good luck with the pepp shrimp. My lfs had a bunch that at aptasia but being my lucky self the 5 that I grabbed haven't touched any aptasia..that I can tell __________________ 110gcube/SPS/400wMH/reefoctopusskimmer/5xkoralia4 40b/sps/2x250wMH/vertexin80/mp20 Current Tank Info: 110g cube

03/25/2011, 08:11 PM	#6
Wet Dreamer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Gibbons, Ab, Canada Posts: 62	My peppermint shrimp never touch my aptasia, i used aptasia X, worked good for me! __________________ 90 Gallon Mixed Reef w/ 110Lbs L/R and 30 Gallon Sump Yellow Tang, Six Line+Yellow Coris Wrasse, Lamarck's Angel, Diamond Watchman Goby, 3 Lyretail Anthias and 2 Percula Clownfish. Current Tank Info: 90 Gallon Reef mixed Reef

03/27/2011, 07:40 AM	#11
Lynnmw1208 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Brunswick, Ohio Posts: 3,306	I used zap-tasia which as worked and I haven't seen one since __________________ equipment: Eshopps psk-200 skimmer, Mag 12 pump, 30gal sump, 2x 300w Finnex heaters, glass-holes 1500gph overflow kit with 3/4" return kits, 72" 8x36w t-5 AquaticLife light, 66lbs of LR, 150lbs of tropic eden reeflakes, 2 Koralia Evo 1400, JBJ ATO, BRS dual GFO/carbon reactors, Hydor smartwave Current Tank Info: 125gallon

03/27/2011, 11:28 AM	#17
Sport507 ~Just a Farm Boy~ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central Indiana Posts: 1,651	I would advise strongly that you do not get a copperbanded butterfly. Will it take care of the problem, no doubt it will and they are beautiful and it was my favorite fish. The problem with the CBB approach is that when it runs out of food it will die a slow death. GOT THE T-SHIRT! A very tiny % of them well ever except prepared foods in an aquarium. The LFS's wont tell you this part of the story. You will here stories of success (wished mine was one of them) of poeple keeping them but the % is tiny! http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1957957 __________________ Sport If you do not test for it, DON'T dose it. Indiana INDMAS Member

03/25/2011, 08:08 PM	#4
Bnortz Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bay Village, Ohio Posts: 825	peppermint shrimp will do the job

03/25/2011, 08:08 PM	#5
ryano34 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 35	I bought 4 peppermint shrimp for my 55. I think they 20 or so aiptasia were gone in 4 days.

03/25/2011, 08:33 PM	#7
shelbyville Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 210	lemon juice and an insulin needle. easy and nothing compares to the look on the pharmacists face when you say it's for your fish tank

03/26/2011, 10:06 PM	#9
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	a copperband butterfly fish in my opinion does a better job than shrimp, peppermints tend to tear the aptaisa apart creating more little aptasia

03/27/2011, 05:32 AM	#10
fishcraze_1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 284	so copperbands work pretty good

03/27/2011, 08:17 AM	#12
Tank Time Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 27	Can't you just put that peice of rock in the tank with your butterfly and clean it up naturally... Just a thought. Otherwise I like lemon juice and a needle

03/27/2011, 09:06 AM	#13
reefinmo Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 45	I kept having a few little aptaisa pop up. My rocks were all easy to pull out at the time because I didn't have any corals, so I would blast them with a stick lighter like you use to light BBQ pits. It worked, but that got old, so I got an aptasia eating filefish (matted filefish) and I've never seen another one in my DT. My sump has a couple right now that I haven't dealt with because I'm getting ready to make some changes to my plumbing and will be making several improvements to the sump at the same time. But I like that little filefish. He looks funny when he swims and he's got a personality.

03/27/2011, 09:25 AM	#14
bazineta Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Jose, CA, USA Posts: 458	Copperbands seem to graze on the aiptasia, but don't really get rid of it. Peppermint shrimp, in contrast, rip them out by the roots, burn the bodies, scatter the ashes, and salt the ground. Manually, Aiptasia-X has worked for me, but it was an ongoing task that was ultimately a losing proposition, so a predation approach seems to me to be the way to go.

03/27/2011, 11:19 AM	#16
Mikei70 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 35	Take out the rock and chip the piece off.

03/27/2011, 11:44 AM	#18
FishboyDave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: nc Posts: 96	+1 on the lemon juice. Then get 2 peppermint shrimp to keep it under control. Using lemon juice alone will not fix the problem if you have a lot of rock work. There will be tiny ones that you will not see which is the reason for the peppermint shrimp. __________________ 150 gal w/ 55 gal sump/refugium I have no clue what Im doing in this world, but my tank looks cool. Current Tank Info: 120 sps reef

03/27/2011, 04:10 PM	#24
Mikei70 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 35	I've been a bit leery of peppermint shrimp since one ripped apart a head of frogspawn. I had the shrimp for a while and they never bothered anything. Someone gave me a single head of frogspawn and as soon as I put it in the tank he went crazy on it. His arms were moving a hundred mph-- there was bits of FS and slime drifting in his wake. I stuck my scraper down there and kind of shoo'ed him away, put in some food and he left it alone after that. But I never trusted them again and I moved them down to my refug.

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