aptasia anemones

hi there its been ages since iv posted. the tank is doing really well but for one thing these aptasia anemones, they are spreading everywere in the tank on rocks on coarl by marine place told me to get a orange butterfly fish they eat them. iv only got soft corals in the tank and tangs any ideas on any thing elsa ill post pics later thanks

 

i know not of any FISH that eat apitasia.

here is how i keep mine under control. (have about 3 or 4 in my DT and has been so this way for a solid 3 months.)

i have 3 peppermint shrimps in my 47 gallon and though i have not had the pleasure of seeing them munch on my apitasia im sure they help. when i was thinking of buying some i went to my LFS and saw a small live rock FULL of apitasia in the tank the shrimps were sold, the next few days the apitasias were gone.

do some research before you go out and buy these shrimps as some less honest shop keepers will sell you "peppermints" when they are not really. what you want is lysmata wundermanii and nothing else. make sure you can tell the differences from similar looking species.

if like me at times there is that one strange apitasia that just HAS to pop up in the middle of my zoas or corals what i do is i take the frag out and inject the sucker with concentrated lemon juice that you can buy at any supermarket. works really well on small apitasia take care not to slip and harm the coral though and make sure to inject really at the base of the frag to avoid the leaking juice to run along the coral and harm it.

 

+1 to Peppermint Shrimp

I have an aipstasia problem too and my peppermint keeps most of them in check. Occasionally I have to get out the Aipstasia-X, but it is pretty rare.

 

thank you i read about the shrimps but when i ask him he was like no no you need a butterfly fish which made me worried cause am reading up on it now and the 2 he sugusted are not reef safe iv got 25 aptasia that i can see they just came out of no where

 

Well, if you see 25 of them now I would get them shrimp. If you use a something like aiptasia x and get rid of the ones you see more then likely you will have 75 or more pop up. But, IME peppermint shrimp will only eat aiptasia as a last resort. So, you may have to feed your fish very little amounts to in sure the shrimp don't get much food.

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+1 to the above didn't mention that, also you might want to considering sending your shop keeper to hell. butterflies are A) crazy more expensive than a shrimp and B) most need very large tanks, (how big is yours?) C) are a little more delicate than other fish.

GIAD dishonest shop keepers piss me off, filling their pockets at the expense of animal lives.

 

ok phone my reef place and they have them in stock how many do you think i should get iv got 200liters and 1 fire shimp he hides in the rock only comes out 4 food will there be ok 2gether

 

3 and you should be good. make sure your PH is in order (if your fire is doing fine it should be all good) you might want to get another fire as well. shrimps are part of your CUC and are always good to have a LITTLE more than less. in my 180 l i have 3 pepper, 2 skunks and 2 fire. they all seem to get along.

also drip acclimate them for at least 1h, in fact drip acclimate anything to your tank. its the least stressful and most gentle way of accustoming your livestock to your system.

here is how you do it.....

Acclimating Saltwater Fish the Drip Line Way - The Pros and Cons - Instructions and Tips

 

I had a copperband butterfly that ate all aptaisia in my tank and also would eat frozen mysis from my hand I guess i got lucky because these guys have a reputation for being picky eaters and also for being delicatecompared to other fish, the only down fall was that he also ate all my feather dusters and my coco worm, dang thing wouldnt touch mojanos though or any other frozen foods. Also aptasia x works well, ust squirt enough on the aptasia to cover the oral disc and it kinda glues them closed therefore killing them, gotta be careful not to get it on corals though as it will kill them too.

 

lemon juice is way safer IMO