HELP!!! Aptasia Problem

[kalani]

Hey guys. Its been a while since ive been on. Here's the situation. I have a 20L with live rocks and 3BTA along with 2 Clowns. I have a sudden bloom of aptasia growing crazy all over my LR. How do I rid the pests without harming the BTA's? Ur help is greatly appreciated. TIA

 

[cmor1701d]

Get some Joes Juice at the lfs or online. Peppermint shrimp may also mow them down if they're not too big.

 

[quarryshark]

Yup, peps did it for my system. As long as they are glass aptaisa (the small ones).

 

[seafan]

Peps killed my duster. But they are very cool looking. Mine are nocturnal, is there any way to make them diurnal?

 

[loganj]

You can get them (pep shrimp) used to being fed during the day, but they will soon decide that they much prefer you feeding them to chewing up aiptasias. I would get some Joes Juice and kill all the aips I could see, then add a few peps as a control mechanism. Total eradication of aips is very difficult if not impossible, but they really aren't a problem as long as their numbers are controlled.

 

[kalani]

Whats weird is that I live all the way out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and none of my LFS ever carried peppermint shrimps. That sucks! None of them heard of Joes Juice either. Ive researched it and found their website. Looks good. I'll try that. But for sure it wont harm my BTA's right? Thanks guys.

 

[quarryshark]

Kalk slurry will also work. Just mix it with a little water to a thick consistency and inject them with it. be careful not to put too much of it at once in your system though.
HTH

 

[Kiko]

Your Raccoon Butterfly does not eat your aptasias? Mine solved my aptasia problem very quickly.

I live on Maui and have never seen a peppermint shrimp for sale either.

 

[kalani]

I have a raccoon butterfly in my 55g. Wouldve loved to put him in my 20L to mow down the aptasia's but my BTA's would probably get eaten also. hahaha

 

[saltymarine]

Consider me sick, but... I put my aip killing as a monthly control measure. Let'em grow a little and then seek and destroy. I feel the little nuisance serves some sort purpose in my aquarium, if not to grab some left over floating food.

 

[grimlock3000]

I have had an ongoing Aiptasia problem in one spot. I keep Kalking the Aip, keeps coming back, only spot in the whole tank I have this problem. This thread inspired me to go Kalk it again, so I got out my syringes. After injecting it once, I followed it into the hole with the needle. Imagine my surprise when the needle went over a full inch directly into the rock! I could feel some hollow space in there, so I spread the Kalk mix into the hole as I pulled out the needle, that should clear up the problem for good