Berghia for the reduction of Aiptasia

[bulldog12]

hey guys,

what do most of you think of this is a method of aiptasia removal? They are a type of sea slug. I was wondering if anyone had ever used them?

 

[reefrunner69]

I have never used them, but you should keep in mind, when you run out of aips...they run out of food and starve to death.

 

[bulldog12]

Well from what i have read so far it would take about 4 of those guys a few months to take care of it for me. I found a place in CA that breeds them for about 25 a piece. I have to tell you being a 140 gallon aquarium that looks like this all over I would just about pay for them even if they bite the dust once the aip was gone.

I think there are a few thousand all together of those things and this is a very deep aquarium.

 

[bulldog12]

Also just wanted to say I really appreciate all the help I have received so far tonight. This is the best aquarium site I have ever seen.

Thanks again.

 

[reefrunner69]

I have to tell you being a 140 gallon aquarium that looks like this all over I would just about pay for them even if they bite the dust once the aip was gone.

If it takes them months...I'm sure you can find someone that has a problem and is in need of them once your done with them

 

[tpaparazzo]

Well..I once bought a piece of liverock from a lfs and didnt see the bit of aiptasia on this huge piece. Within a few weeks all my liverock had aiptaisia, and filter holes, etc etc...I heard about the copperband butterfly fish and decide to go to the lfs to see if they had one. They did. My wife and I thought this was a beautiful fish and we picked him up(despite the feeding horror stories). In a week he completely cleared the tank of any aiptasia(but beware of the featherdusters)(he left my spaghetti worms alone)..He eats along with all my other fish. He also has become one of my favorites in the tank. Very personable, and a good liverock scavenger. I dont have any corals yet so I dont know how hed do with it..Just my 2 cents

 

[loganj]

Or, you could put in a small tank or even a raceway under your main tank. Use it to actually culture aiptasias. Before you start throwing rotten fruit at me, aiptasias are useful as filter feeders if they are kept in the right places. Put them in the first section of the sump or in a raceway above the sump. All the water going down will pass through all those tentacles which will remove lots of waste particles from it. This not only increases the efficiency of your filter, but will provide a food source for your berghia. Once the main tank is cleared of them, you can pull a small rock out of the sump with some aiptasias on it and put it back in the main tank for the berghias to eat. Since they will be muching on them, there is little danger of the aiptasias spreading out of control. Just a thought.

 

[bulldog12]

Hey Logan.... so does that mean you have acutally used the berghias for aiptasia control before? What kind of experience have you had with them

 

[loganj]

No, I haven't ever used them. I do have one small tank with some aiptasias and I've thought about trying a berghia in there. If you have ever read Anthony Calfo's book on coral propagation, he shows plans for an aiptasia raceway and says they are good for filtration as long as they are contained. My thought was that you might set up something similar. It would provide some extra filtration and keep a food supply for the berghias available. That way, you could keep them as long as you wanted to.