Any clues on what these are?

[Steve_lee]

Hi,

My rocks are being taken over by these - translucent brownish 'things' whose tendrils take anything that floats on by.

Have to say I'm not a fan of them, but they're tough to remove as they retract as soon as you get near them. And I'm sure they have a bit of a sting to them.

Any clues on what they are, whether they're a good or a bad thing and what I could do to get shot of them would be gratefully received.

Cheers


Steve

 

[Greenmaster]

LOL those are nasty... They are called aptasia... what size tank do you have?

 

[Greenmaster]

I would probably buy a couple/few of these for a problem that bad, depending on the size of your tank... Berghia Nudiranch.

 

[Maya]

Aiptasia are a nuisance rock anemone You have several choices. You can get a syringe and needle and inject them with chemicals like lemon juice or aiptasia x. I've heard some people use vinegar. With all of the chemical means you need to be very careful because it can change the ph of your tank and harm other creatures living in it.
Nudibranches are definitely one option but I have been told that they won't eat much else and generally die off after they eat the aiptasia. I have used peppermint shrimp in my tank with a great deal of success. I had some really large aiptasia at one point and the shrimp ate every one of them. We started with 5 (we are now down to 3 thanks to our dottyback who went on a murderous rampage before she got the boot). The aiptasia are gone, they ate them over the course of 2 weeks after a slow start and the shrimp now clean under the rocks and occasionally clean my yellow tang.

 

[Greenmaster]

That Nudibranch will only eat aptasia like stated above but if you only get a couple of the Nudibranch they may be able to survive and continue to roam the system in search of aptasia. The one problem with peppermint shrimp is that some times they don't get the desire to eat the aptasia, if you find that they are not eating it you could try to stave your tank for 2 days and see if they start to eat it, if they do then they will continue to eat the aptasia even if you are feeding the tank.

 

[Steve_lee]

Really helpful replies. The tank's only a 125 litre, but I'm upping to a 300 litre as we speak. The mrs is tiring of me giving it 'off with their heads' every weekend so any support gratefully received.

Is one option to remove the rock and scrub? I'll go with whatever you suggest.

Thanks again.


Strve

 

[Maya]

The aiptasia will withdraw down into the rock which is why you can't really just pluck them out. What's worse is they spread that way. Pieces regenerate. And taking out the rock will kill everything else on it. The whole purpose of live rock is all the "living" critters on it. It is an option and there are folks who remove their rock and boil it, etc. But everything on the rock dies and you start over cycling and seeding rock. So there is a possibility that you could basically sterilize the rock and the stuff will just show up again. According to some people red legged hermits also eat the stuff. Our hermits never bothered but there are folks who say the peppermints wont touch aiptasia and outs obliterated an entire colony in no time flat. Like everything about this hobby, roll the dice and you might get a winner.

 

[Feelthereefer]

Pep shrimp should do the trick..no chemicals see if the shrimp do it first if not get some joes juice...

 

[Steve_lee]

Right then. Shrimp me up! Then we'll go for plan b, c and d... I've got me scuba gear in the loft so that's plan e!

 

[Maya]

Here's a pic of one of our peeping out from behind the rock he's cleaning. Lol

Word of advice that I wish someone had mentioned to us... They are shy little guys and so they tend to hide at first. We were absolutely convinced that none of them survived the first night. It took about a month for us to figure out where they hang out during the day. They do their dirty work at night but ours are finally roaming about during the day.

 

[Feelthereefer]

Lol....you have a lfs that has the pep shrimp available

 

[Greenmaster]

Ya I would go to your local pet store and buy 4+ peppermint shrimp. They should be around $7-$10 each.

 

[Feelthereefer]

Let us know its cool how quick they eat the aiptasia its like they smell.it or something I dunno but they find it and its gone good luck with the fight let us know we love pictures

 

[tdob141]

Don't be surprised if your peppermint shrimp molt within the first couple of days... I picked one up a few weeks ago to help with my c.u.c. and within the first two to three days he molted.

 

[Emelinda76]

Aiptasia are a nuisance rock anemone You have several choices. You can get a syringe and needle and inject them with chemicals like lemon juice or aiptasia x. I've heard some people use vinegar. With all of the chemical means you need to be very careful because it can change the ph of your tank and harm other creatures living in it.
Nudibranches are definitely one option but I have been told that they won't eat much else and generally die off after they eat the aiptasia. I have used peppermint shrimp in my tank with a great deal of success. I had some really large aiptasia at one point and the shrimp ate every one of them. We started with 5 (we are now down to 3 thanks to our dottyback who went on a murderous rampage before she got the boot). The aiptasia are gone, they ate them over the course of 2 weeks after a slow start and the shrimp now clean under the rocks and occasionally clean my yellow tang.

Can I mix cleaner shrimps, red fire shrimps with peppermint shrimps in 220 gallon? I think I have seen 2 aiptasia sticking out of my Xenia rock

 

[Maya]

I'm not familiar with the red fire shrimp, we don't have any, but in a tank that size you would probably be okay. Our peppermints have coexisted with a coral banded shrimp 3 times their size and been fine. They are pretty much bottom dwellers who spend most of the day hanging out on the substrate under our live rock. Our CBS spends his days higher up in a cave, which I believe is also where the cleaners set up. If you have plenty of live rock to go around, I think you'd be fine. The peppermints won't really challenge anything, they are hilariously shy. Our tang will try to squeeze herself under their rocks at the very bottom of the tank to get them to clean her. Whenever they do venture out, they pretty much keep to themselves and stay out of everyone else's way while cleaning the substrate and the undersides of rocks.

 

[Greenmaster]

Red fire shrimp are like a skunk they are cleaners not aptasia eaters.

 

[Maya]

They aren't going to be fighting over a food source. I just didn't know if there are territory issues. The peppermints aren't aggressive at all. My cleaner (skunk) wasn't aggressive. Heck my CBS isn't even aggressive. But I just can't personally vouch for the temperament of the fire shrimp If it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to add the peppermint.

 

[Greenmaster]

I have seen Fire and Peppermint in the same tank together a few times.

 

[Maya]

Wonderful! The OP should be able to add some of those little critters to her tank then! I personally enjoy watching our shrimp more than some of our fish. (unless they are caught in our overflow... You'd think they'd figure that out after a while!) They are hilarious to watch with their swaying and their obsessive tendencies. Big personalities in little bodies! Lol