aptasia

[reefcrazy]

i notice in a few tanks of my lfs that they keep a few large aptasias, they are about one inch and a half to two inches long. this is not on one lfs is like in five of them but never bother asking them. now is there any benefits as to keeping any large pieces in the tank. i seen a guy that works at the lfs feeding one that was 2 inches long.

 

[kimf]

from what I've seen and read no one wants these in their tanks. They are like weeds in your yard. They multiply incredably fast.

 

[deuce_bigalo]

How do you get ride of them I have 6 of them?

 

[ratbattey]

Peppermint shirmp are good bet to control aptasia and some suggest a copper banded butterfly.

 

[biggdriver]

I second that a copperband can do wonders on them ..They can multipy really fast and take over the tank..

 

[kelly]

Reefcrazy,
What you saw at your lfs may not have been an aiptasia anenome at all. If you are familiar with anenomies, you may be aware of one called a CURLIQUE which looks like a large aipstasia. If fed well, their tenticles will not be as long, and a little more stout.

 

[wamp]

Kill all apstasia!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate those little boogers!!!!

 

[chevron tang]

I agree kill aptasia. Ive gotten rid of it in my tank by filling a syringe with scalding hot water and shooting it in their mouths. Peppermint shrimps are also a good idea. Ive also heard of using habanero sauce. (shooting that in their mouths too) I would probably die if I had that shot in my mouth. Incredibly hot stuff.

 

[sleepy]

I agree, the copper bandit is the way to go. I had aptasia growing like a weed in my tank until I purchased the bandit. Soultions are ok, but you can never get them all. Best solution is to find something thats eats them.

 

[miner]

OK,
I have read a lot on what is suppose to get rid of them, but,does anyone know, what causes them?? I have read Live rock has them just naturally, but I have had my rock for a long time, never had them til about 3 Mo.ago. I have had 2 or 3 since October.
I read here that the Butterfly will get rid of them, but won't they pick on Polyps too?? I had 2 that nibbled a lot on mine. They went back to the LFS.
Really does anyone know what causes them??
Thanks for the help

 

[volitan]

A friend of mine had an aptasia outbreak and bought 20 peppermints. Three days after dropping them into the tank, the aptasia problem was history. In the process, he also lost a cluster of feather dusters. I have since read that peppermints will eat featherdusters as wel as aptasia. I have never heard of a peppermint eating anything else though.

 

[fender]

I have no aiptasia, my peppermint (singular) ate them all from my 90 gallon tank. 20 shrimp are gonna get hungry and that is why they probably hit the feather dusters. I have tons of small feather dusters all over my rock and my peppermint shrimp doesn't touch em. This is the 3rd pep I have owned (the others became meals to a SFE that decided he prefered them to frozen food) and I have had no problems with them.
Aiptasia can harm corals and fish when they get bigger (2+ inches) so I would recommend getting rid of them. A pep might avoid the larger ones so I would recommend the solutions to kill them.
Aiptasia have a way of popping up on LR even after you think they are all gone. I have had some pop up months after I thot they were all gone and the shrimps had been eaten . Keeping one around (pep) has insured they (aiptasia) do not return - and they are cool to watch when they come out of hiding.

 

[q]

I have 3 peppermint shrimp and got my copperband butterfly yesterday.
So far I still have aptasia's in the tank.
The livestock is fairly new so I am waiting to see if they will start eating them after things settle down.
When I ordered the fish I also ordered some under water epoxy. If things don't start to happen soon I am going to cover them in epoxy.
Any method I have tried that involves injecting them with something has only caused them to spread. For every one that was killed two pop up right next to it.

 

[fender]

Give the peps some time. They just got dumped into a new possibly hostile environment. Like everything in this hobby slow changes are best.

 

[q]

Just got back from sking for the weekend and saw that I am missing a couple of aptsias
Bad news is that my feather dusters are gone because the copperband is eating them and my hopes for a mandarine are also in jepordy becaues he is also eating my pods as well.

 

[sinner's girl]

Peppermint shirmp work great to get ride of them! in two days out tank was aptasia free.

 

[gabbys125reef]

My LFS said that there is a fish called a File fish that will get rid of them quick! Their show tank had a ton of the aptasia in it and the following weekend I went there and the aptasia was almost gone. They are amazing! I currently have 1 aptasia so am not too worried about it but if I get any more I will get a file fish!
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/reeftank125" target="_blank">www.geocities.com/reeftank125</a>

 

[starfishjackedme]

I got hit with these hard, so I am about to call out the BRUTE SQUAD AND TERMINATE THEM.

 

[saltydog]

Copperbands are the way to go. Not only do they enjoy the aptasia, but they are a beautiful fish. I've had mine for over 1 year and it has not bothered any corals and has cleaned up all but one corner of my tank.( my tomato clowns won't let him in that particular corner)
They can be difficult to keep. But if they acclimate and decide to eat they are a wonderful addition.