Aiptasia sucks.

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#22
haha.. i wouldn't even care if it worked. that'd just be awesome to play with
I actually got this: http://www.lazerpoint.com/p-1000mw-405nm-adjustable-focus-waterproof-violet-purple-laser_1816850

I chose the EMS delivery option and received it in less than 5 days.

Does it work? Absolutely! It roasts the crap out of almost anything -- translucent things are obviously a little more difficult. I realize that most aiptasia are in fact, translucent. But if you aim it at the mouth like in the above video you will get pretty much the exact same results. HOWEVER, if the pest is rooted relatively deep w/in the rock, IT WILL COME BACK. But it is extremely fun to use, so I personally don't mind this since it takes a while for them grow back.

That said, I personally didn't buy it for aiptasia since I have relatively few. The remaining ones are in places I cannot get an easy angle on w/ the laser and also cannot accurately aim a syringe at (under rock ledges and such). I bought it to take care of my digitate hydroid population, and for that it works quite well. Just aim the laser at the base and it's toast (pun intended).

I do feel obligated to also post that these are NOT TOYS. A direct hit in the eye with one of these can/will permanently blind you and it will take far less than a second of exposure in most cases. When the light reflects off the glass in such a way that it hits my bare skin, I can feel it. If you do decide to purchase one, do yourself a favor and read up a bit on them AND GET GOGGLES. I personally only use it when I'm the only person in the room.
 
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#23
I actually got this: http://www.lazerpoint.com/p-1000mw-405nm-adjustable-focus-waterproof-violet-purple-laser_1816850

I chose the EMS delivery option and received it in less than 5 days.

Does it work? Absolutely! It roasts the crap out of almost anything -- translucent things are obviously a little more difficult. I realize that most aiptasia are in fact, translucent. But if you aim it at the mouth like in the above video you will get pretty much the exact same results. HOWEVER, if the pest is rooted relatively deep w/in the rock, IT WILL COME BACK. But it is extremely fun to use, so I personally don't mind this since it takes a while for them grow back.

That said, I personally didn't buy it for aiptasia since I have relatively few. The remaining ones are in places I cannot get an easy angle on w/ the laser and also cannot accurately aim a syringe at (under rock ledges and such). I bought it to take care of my digitate hydroid population, and for that it works quite well. Just aim the laser at the base and it's toast (pun intended).

I do feel obligated to also post that these are NOT TOYS. A direct hit in the eye with one of these can/will permanently blind you and it will take far less than a second of exposure in most cases. When the light reflects off the glass in such a way that it hits my bare skin, I can feel it. If you do decide to purchase one, do yourself a favor and read up a bit on them AND GET GOGGLES. I personally only use it when I'm the only person in the room.
Man that looks fun. I'll even take calls and go roast aiptasia throughout OC if I get that
 

reefes pieces

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#24
Well maybe some shrimp got caught slipping but hopefully some survived. Took two weeks for my shrimp to eat the aip. Thought it was dead but all of a sudden aip started to disappear overnight
 
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#25
For the shrimp to work they need darkness as they are nocturnal. As long as they have darkness and are truly pepermints then they will work. If theres too much light then they dont feel safe enough to come out. Also if possible put them in the tank when its dark as well. File fish are great as long as they are proven.not all of them will ear aptasia not to mention they dont eat them right away, once the filefish feels safe and is setteld in is when they start eating the aptasia. Usually a week or so. Down side as people already mentiond is sometimes they will eat fleshy coral but them again so will pepermints. Either way i know what your going thru and i wish you the best of luck.
 

JOSE CASAS

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#26
This is the main reason that when i stock my tank i make sure that I am able to put peppermints with out any problems. To me the peppermints are going to be needed , its just a matter of time. Hope u get your apatasia under control.
 
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#27
I can share me experience with aiptasia. When I setup my 180 a few years back I had a few on the LR. I tried getting rid of them with kalk but failed. So I said screw it. The 180 was a nem tank anyways it's not like the aiptasias we're going to effect other nems. Well after time (like a year) I had thousands of aiptasias and they became an eye swore. So I tried peppermint and they ended up in the sump then I think coral and fish food after getting chopped up by return. Also bought the nudis. Bought 20 of those bast***s only to never see them again and didn't make a dent. I also tried a file fish but I never saw it eat and it died a few days later. The last resort was a cbb only cause I had already killed like 3 in my 12+ years in the hobby and I knew how pita they are to keep. But one day when I was at the lfs I saw a cbb that was picking at the rocks, hunting for food. So I got it. The first couple day where scary. The cbb wasn't picking at rocks or eating anything I could see. Also my yellow tang wouldn't leave it alone and it had a few ick spots on it. But after a few days I started seeing it pick at rocks and with in 10 day I started noticing aiptasias disappearing. Then after a month or so it started catching on to the tangs acting feeding frenzy when I feed the fish and started acting all frenzied out too but wouldn't eat like the tangs. Well after a week of him getting frenzied but not eating I had to try something. So I found a clear plastic tube that had caps on the ends. I drilled a few holes in it that we're about 1/4". Just big enough for him to get his mouth in to. I put a piece of styro on one end so it would float at the top. It took him all about 10 min to figure out mysis was food. And he's been eating mysis sense, no defrosting just through the frozen cube in and he's the first one on it. I can even touch and pick him up when I feed. But to this date I have still never seen the cbb eat a aiptasia but I know he does cause I have nun.
 
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#29
Most of the above references are good at controlling a few aptasia, or even a few dozen, but if you've got hundreds or thousands....the hungriest fish/shrimp/etc. in the world is not going to be able to keep up.

I WAS IN YOUR SAME PREDICAMENT . I mean.....I had aptasia in my display, in my sump, but worst of all in my rear coast-to-coast built-in overflow! They were about as "protected" as you can possibly get back there!

The only cure I was able to find (and believe me, it was extremely effective) were the Berghia Nudibranchs (sp).

I purchased 20 in all, and then split them between the display, sump, and overflow. Within a two weeks time, EVERY SINGLE TRACE OF APTASIA WERE GONE

Important Points to remember:
1) Internet prices vary greatly (mine were purchased on a group buy so I can't refer you to anyone specific, sorry about that)
2) The creatures are EXTREMELY delicate, so transfer methods of each specimine from shipping container to your system MUST be adheared to precise instruction.
3) Give the process TIME. You will rarely (if ever) see the creatures again, but within a week or two you will be amazed at how the aptasia seem to disappear into nowhere.
4) The berghias, because of item #2 above, are not conducive to reselling after your treatment, so do not count on recovering your investment after the fact. Even those who breed these specimines professionally have a very difficult time harvesting, shipping, and transfering to the intended customer. (due to their size, color, and delicate nature) The nudi eat ONLY aptasia, so they simply starve to death after the food source is gone.
5) Use methods from previous postings to help control population from re-appearing (reinfestation)

I hope this helps/Good Luck!

Kevin Adams




 
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#30
@Max I tried the Berghia Nudibranchs twice. The first time I bought 10 but 5 were doa and the others weren't looking so hot. It took 12 hours to acclimate the 5 only cause I knew how dictate they were. After a month or so I saw no difference so I bought 20 more. Those 20 I hand picked at a guys house that breads them. Even with the hour drive home they were still very active and health. I took my time acclimating them again and waited till the tank was completely dark to add them so that my fish wouldn't eat them. And a few months had passed and still had no change in reducing the aiptasia population. So the last on the list was a copperband. The cbb easily wiped out thousands of aiptasia in my display over 2 months.
Check for your self I posted all this on my 180 nem build thread.
And now I have a mysis eating CBB that I can pet that so many people want. I've even been offered $300 for him.
 
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stacis16

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#31
I have a small aiptasia issue in a nano tank that I'd like to control with natural methods, so I'm considering ordering a Berghia. Right now, I can only see three in the tank, but I know there may be more. Since it is a small tank, I am going to start with one Berghia. Any vendor recommendations?

FYI -- I don't want to use chemicals except as an absolute last resort.
 
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#32
@Max I tried the Berghia Nudibranchs twice. The first time I bought 10 but 5 were doa and the others weren't looking so hot. It took 12 hours to acclimate the 5 only cause I knew how dictate they were. After a month or so I saw no difference so I bought 20 more. Those 20 I hand picked at a guys house that breads them. Even with the hour drive home they were still very active and health. I took my time acclimating them again and waited till the tank was completely dark to add them so that my fish wouldn't eat them. And a few months had passed and still had no change in reducing the aiptasia population. So the last on the list was a copperband. The cbb easily wiped out thousands of aiptasia in my display over 2 months.
Check for your self I posted all this on my 180 nem build thread.
And now I have a mysis eating CBB that I can pet that so many people want. I've even been offered $300 for him.
Yea, my first experience with Berghias was DOA too, which is why I warned about thier delicate nature. Come to think of it, I think it was one of the online breeders too. Fortunately my second batch (from the group buy) worked perfectly. It sounds like you did everything you were supposed to with your batch, I wonder why they died on you. (predatory fish or other tank inhabitant maybe?)
The problem with Copperbands is that Aptasia is NOT their only diet, and so some are not exactly reef safe. It sounds like you've got a "golden goose" so to speak given its track record. yea, I'd sell him for about that price too if I were you.

Too bad there isn't a means of breeding food-specific copperbands: (ie: Aptasia-eating Copperand, Redbug-eating Copperband, Mojono-Eating Copperband, Wife-Eating Copperband, DOH!) :)'

kevin
 
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Yea, my first experience with Berghias was DOA too, which is why I warned about thier delicate nature. Come to think of it, I think it was one of the online breeders too. Fortunately my second batch (from the group buy) worked perfectly. It sounds like you did everything you were supposed to with your batch, I wonder why they died on you. (predatory fish or other tank inhabitant maybe?)
The problem with Copperbands is that Aptasia is NOT their only diet, and so some are not exactly reef safe. It sounds like you've got a "golden goose" so to speak given its track record. yea, I'd sell him for about that price too if I were you.

Too bad there isn't a means of breeding food-specific copperbands: (ie: Aptasia-eating Copperand, Redbug-eating Copperband, Mojono-Eating Copperband, Wife-Eating Copperband, DOH!) :)'

kevin
Lol or ex-wife eating.
Very true on them being not totally reef safe. Just recently my clam has started to reside and the mantel is not fully extending. I've never seen the cbb nip the clam but I still think it is. Plus I do still have a good amount of aiptasias in my fuge. But I think of those as auto feeders.
 
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#34
Well so far I have 3 peppermint shrimp left.

As much as I want to try berghia nudis, I have so many wrasses that I wonder if it'll be worth the cost.
 
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#37
Get burghias. They only come out at night. The fish are sleep. You'll know they are still alive because aptasia will just start to disappear. And they breed so as long as you have aptasia they will keep eating. I believe I saw a post in here last night with some for sale.
 

805reef

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#38
Berghias and peppermints didn't work for me. I got a file fish and bam! Haven't seen an aiptasia in months
 

JOSE CASAS

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I have only used peppermints and have always worked but I make sure i have no wrasses(mystery wrasse) and feed the tank very lightly.
 
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#40
Get burghias. They only come out at night. The fish are sleep. You'll know they are still alive because aptasia will just start to disappear. And they breed so as long as you have aptasia they will keep eating. I believe I saw a post in here last night with some for sale.
How many berghias should I get? My tank Is 60x30x18
I have only used peppermints and have always worked but I make sure i have no wrasses(mystery wrasse) and feed the tank very lightly.
I have an auto feeder that feeds a pinch of pellets twice a day and I feed frozen once. is that too much?
 

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