[Samper]

I don't have a picture to post but I did see one eating the aiptasia one evening.

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by Samper

Sorry I haven't posted in a while guys. I just fought the Aiptasia battle with Lysmata wurdemanni in two seperate systems. I got three for each and within a week noticed a decline in numbers in each system. There are still a few left but so far I'm in control of the situation.

Lucky you! I am really hoping our new copperband will start ripping through them.

[Samper]

Good luck with it Scott! I wonder if in qt if you added a rock full of aiptasia and didn't feed anything else for a few days if you could induce the fish to start eating them so that once in the display it's not hit or miss.

[Reefland]

I don't QT but have thought that too.

[zhenya]

I've added three L.wurdemanni to my 75g last week but haven;t seen them after three days and fear that they are in the shrimp heaven.
Either my Rabbitfish ate them or they hide a lot and only come out at night.

And Scott, as far as know nothing touches those anemones, at least nothing that is readily available to the hobby. Maybe some specialized nudibranchs eat them in the wild but I don't know which ones.

PS> I think kalk paste or Joe's juice just make them mad and they go on the reproduction craze...
I didn;t have as many before I started actively killing them. They go away, it seem, for a while and then there are twice as many in their place.

[Reefland]

Man that is a real bummer Gene. Are they are strong as the Aiptasia's (with their sting)? Most of our frags have perished, except for our blue milli.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Man that is a real bummer Gene. Are they are strong as the Aiptasia's (with their sting)? Most of our frags have perished, except for our blue milli.

Man that really sucks, Scott.

Those majanos just as bad as Aiptasias, not sure if their sting is as strong but the corals near by (where they touch tissue) begin to recede. The main thing to me is that they are so ugly... Some butterflyfishes probably would eat them but they would eat everything else as well.

I've been looking around locally for some new, fully cured rock but it proved to be not as easy as years ago.

[Reefland]

On a positive note, I just just see our new copperband eat about 3-4 teny, tiny ones. Will this guy be able to eat them as big as my thumb Kevin?

[Reefland]

Replacing the rock will be a big pain too won't it? Like Aiptasia, wouldn't the only safe to go would be to replace all rock?

[Poseidon]

Give 'em some time Scott, he will come thru for you on all but the biggest anems. For REALLY huge ones, you may need to zap them with lemon juice or vinegar, or SODIUM HYDROXIDE!

I hope he eats prepared foods for you after the little devils are all gone, that was/is my fear with that fish.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Replacing the rock will be a big pain too won't it? Like Aiptasia, wouldn't the only safe to go would be to replace all rock?

Scott, it will certainly be a pain to replace rocks encrusted with corals.
I may just downsize amount of rock and replace all. I can then break off the colonies and either sell them or give them away locally. Better than just chucking them in the garbage can.
This upheavals could be a good thing... and then they can kill your tank completely. I hope it will be a smooth transition.

[Reefland]

Mike,

He is already eating the mix of flakes I add to the tank.

Gene,

I hope it all goes well my friend. I know it will be a lot of work though.

[kevinpo]

He will eat even the 3" diameter ones. I put a rock in with him that had a giant one on it and it was completely gone in three days. His favorite food is raw shrimp from the store. I would recommend not to feed flake food except on rare occasions as it is high in phosphates. He also eats mysis shrimp and freeze dried plankton.

Regards,
Kevin

[Reefland]

Interesting, I didn't realize it was high in Phosphates. I have fed a mix of flakes almost exclusively to our Powder Blue and Flamehawk since we have had them. I will get him a few pieces of shrimp this weekend.

[kevinpo]

Gene,
The Raccoon Butterfly (C. lunula) will eat the Majano sp. and leaves most other corals alone until they are gone (I did have one specimen go after zoanthids right away however).
Here is a link to an article about another Butterfly;

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Editorial: August 2005

I have also used the Threadfin and the Vagabond both of which are much less safe with SPS corals but not too bad with soft corals (they both have to be removed after the job is complete).

In my home tank my Blueface Angel (P. xanthometopon) made short work of them along with some hydroids.



Regards,
Kevin

[zhenya]

Thanks, Kevin!

I wouldn't mind keeping a blueface angelfish but not in my measly 75g tank.

I do have two pyramid butterflies already, so adding raccoon butterflyfish isn't an option unless I can capture it and remove it after the job is done.

PS. From what I understand once you remove the predator those pests will undoubtedly return in an instant.

[kgeorge]

Hey guys, my tank had a few pop-up when I got set-up. They came off a piece or two of rock w/ coral that I got from Samper's good friend . There were about 6 or 7 to start so I got a syringe and injected the base and sprayed a small amount around the tips and they died right off and haven't been back. That was about 3 months ago and still free of those lil' jerks!

[Cas]

Instead of tossing all the LR with corals on it maybe you should burn the aiptasia or manjo's off. Get a little butene burner for Creme brulee from a cooking store. Small hot flame that you can control the nems will be all then , but you will be .

[Reefland]

Nice use of the smilies, Cas.

[TimH07]

hey there, i have aipts as well, generaly i just get a pot of boiling water and then use a medicine syringe (needle-less) and shoot the base of the anem, if you get the stem real quick they burn before they can retract, then you can cook up their mouth area with a second dose of ouch. any that might semi survive get eaten by the pepermint shrimp, they smell it like a bbq on memorial day.

i only still have 3 because they were under a rock and unreachable till now, they moved so its time for another round of nuke the aip's.