Help quickly

**DUNGNMATR** · 01-19-2010, 01:47 PM

Please help I have been very busy and the anenome aptisia has taken control of my reef tank
water quality is very good ,think this is why they mutiplied so rapidly. there a a zillion of these guy I put in belghian nudibranch slugs a breeded pair and I saw some spots that were cleaned out but there everywhere on the sand ( and I read they won't set up shop in the sand) on my heater and power jets all over I know there is a remedy for them but it takes a single dose to each one
is there a way to wipe them collectively from the tank without harming the reef lost most of my coral except for the star polops they have the left area of the reef and they don't give them an inch
they are in the refugium also ,in the overflow box all over
HELP dont want to tear down the reef any suggestions will be helpful

**Phurst** · 01-19-2010, 02:18 PM

Unfortunately, there is no "whole tank" cure for aptasia. Bhergias are very effective, but can take a very long time to clear a tank. Peppermint shrimp sometimes eat them as well, but usually only the smaller ones. Joes Juice, Red Sea Aptasia-X and a host of other treatments require treating each one individually, and IME tend to just spread the little buggers around. Several butterfly fish eat them as well, and are pretty effective, but have their own set of drawbacks. Copperband butterflies are very delicate, and have very poor survival rates in captivity. Klein's butterflies are much hardier, but aren't exactly reef safe. if the infestation is truly that bad, you may have no choice but to tear it down and start over.

**CarmieJo** · 01-19-2010, 07:52 PM

The berghias will multiply and aiptasia is the only thing on their menu. Once the aiptasia are gone you will need to either culture more to feed the nudis or sell the nudis to someone else with aiptasia. The aiptasia in the overflow and sump are not all bad, they are effective filters.

**THEJRC** · 01-22-2010, 01:13 PM

he he I love aptasia in my overflows and sumps personally, they keep the water nice and clean.

Being as that I run a very high nutrient system aptasia is a constant battle for myself. While I havent gone so far as to go the Berghia route I plan to soon for a few tank sections. This route of course means either eventual death to the berghia or culturing aptasia, I am fine with the latter as culturing aptasia is not that hard.

What I have done, which gave me a signifigant benefit with my main tank was to add a few (three) peppermint shrimp, heres the trick! I used Mrs. Wages Pickling lime to mix up a nice thick kalk paste and blasted all of the aptasia I could see in the main display. Phurst is right in that using chemical means typically will cause the aptasia to release more polyps compounding the problem. the benefit here is that the new polyps released were small enough for the peppermint shrimp to munch on. Since adding the shrimp and blasting the aptasia in the display I have not seen any return (which doesnt mean they're not there, I'll get to that in a minute).

My other tanks on this system are used for various studies and broodstock, all tanks and sumps have aptasia (some en masse) with exception of the display. In fact I have a recently added hang on back refugium thats hanging off the supposed "aptasia free" display that I started with fresh sand and it contains no live rock. Within two months sure enough I spotted a baby aptasia, which means they are still spreading throughout the system (including the main display!). However, the peppermints are efficient enough at keeping them in control within the main display so that I dont see them.

If any of that makes sense... much like cyano and algaes, this is all part of the hobby they will always be somewhere! My next step is to introduce berghia only to the tanks that I want to rid of aptasia, as Carmie stated they are great for filtration and cleanup and I am happy to use them, so long as I can control where they are! Other means of keeping them in check are going to be in your reef keeping style, aptasia thrive in environments where excess foods float by for them to feed on, much like any other anemone or coral they need food! Many have found that simply cutting back on feeding and using carbon filtration to remove excess nutrients will often help keep the aptasia in check. For me, cutting back on feeding is simply not an option, and I appreciate the aptasias value in removing the excess uneaten food particles from my system before it causes a more dire problem. simply put, they are another part of my cleanup crew!

**boyesreef** · 01-22-2010, 04:51 PM

well put thejrc, they are only pests because they spread quickly and choke out the more attractive corals we want. they do however preform well as filters, and im all up for free filtration. id say if you get a couple peppermint shrimp to the display to clean things up, then just let them go wild in your fuge and overflow (as long as they don't block flow) and enjoy a bunch of free mini skimmers!

V · 01-22-2010, 07:44 PM

No fashion expert here, but why couldn't they have be some weird exotic colour (logical Zoo. excluded for a min), instead of the drib drab brown. Might make us more incline to keeping them & switching mentalities. But untill that day, regardless of great capturing abilities or not, when they are left unchecked, its a nightmare that definitely joins the top ten world invasive species list.

I....... regardless, will never permit them in again, especially through laziness. If that means spraying with vinegar & sun nuking every piece of rock from the beginning, or making my own rock to avoid it completely, quarantining alittle longer any piece that comes in just to be sure, keeping all tanks visually lit & sparse for access & visibility, or keeping the natral means to control any spred, then so be-it!!!!!

**boyesreef** · 01-22-2010, 08:21 PM

or just keep a dry tank with pictures of fish.

V · 01-22-2010, 08:37 PM

That will work.

I even found the listing to get you started

**DUNGNMATR** · 01-23-2010, 08:01 PM

What I have done, which gave me a signifigant benefit with my main tank was to add a few (three) peppermint shrimp, heres the trick! I used Mrs. Wages Pickling lime to mix up a nice thick kalk paste and blasted all of the aptasia I could see in the main display. Phurst is right in that using chemical means typically will cause the aptasia to release more polyps compounding the problem. the benefit here is that the new polyps released were small enough for the peppermint shrimp to munch on. Since adding the shrimp and blasting the aptasia in the display I have not seen any return (which doesnt mean they're not there, I'll get to that in a minute).

Ok what is Mrs. Wages pickling lime and blasting them how? Only two years in so I'm a Newbie for sure
I have cut down the overfeeding and I will except them in the refugium,overflow and such but they are a little
over abundant in the main tank I have three pepermint shrimp but I think there are to many large ones for them
so how do I use this paste should I add more shrimp and slugs I like them in the reef because they are a natrual
part of it just want to contain them to a better level and also don't want to kill the slugs either
Also I thought carbon wasn't good for the reef?
Thanks for all the good advice from all
one more question does lighting have an effect on them as far as them growing
I have a 460 watt with 12000 k white and 6500 blue lights

**CarmieJo** · 01-23-2010, 09:15 PM

Mrs. Wages® Pickling Lime 16 oz. (454g) AKA kalk or kalkwasser. A 1/2 t. or so is used in a couple liters of water for those of us who drip kalk. Here is why What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com. To use Mrs. Wages to nuke aiptasia you mix it up in a thick paste and use a syringe to put it over the aiptasia. They will retract and go into their holes so I would kind of cover the hole where they went. You have to be really careful to not get it on any corals because it is high in pH and will burn them. I would not do too many at once to avoid raising the pH in your tank.

**THEJRC** · 01-24-2010, 12:15 PM

ah thanks for getting to that one for me Carmie!! While I dont drip Kalk I do have a tendancy to keep Mrs. Wages on hand all the time (along with vinegar) for emergency PH or alkalinity adjustment. Vinegar can be thought of as the opposite of the Lime as it will lower your PH. So if something causes a PH drop in my system I can raise it with the lime (and naturally investigate what caused the drop which is usually lack of aeration and excess Co2). Vice versa with the vinegar, though anytime I've ever experienced a PH spike it's almost always been attributed to good ole me doing something goofball.