Fishiebusiness Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I put a few pieces of LR into my refuge and there seem to be some aiptasia on it. I wont be keeping any corals in there, just macro algae. Should i get rid of em or just let them be? Link to comment
rhinoivory Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I reccomend that you remove the live rock and scrape them off. Aptasia are a parasite, they serve no goal, and in some cases are detrimental to your system. If the task of scraping them off sounds to daunting, you could try peppermint shrimp, in some cases, they have been said to eat the aiptasia. Look back in further posts for some information regarding peppermint shrimp, Don Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Aiptasia in a refuge.. will potentialy do 1 of 3 things. 1) behave and eat particulate foods and perform a "cleaning service" for your water collumn, 2) reproduce like crazy 3) move into the main tank... at whic time I start to be concerned. Id get a Rhinocloriestes SP. (or Florida Pepermint Shrimp) if that later happens. I have Aiptasia in my tanks and they dont pose any serious threat. UNTILL THEY attack softies and mushrooms. LPS will torch Aiptasias no problem. Use some Kalkwaser in a paste form in a pipette squirted on the head of the glass anemone will turn it to slag. they can still come back andrepopulate the tank. for now, let them be. Link to comment
Sahin Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 I'd try and get rid of it. For one thing, I sure wouldnt chance them getting into the main tank and becoming a pest. Use the kalk paste as mentioned, it worked for me. It does take a few tries though. Link to comment
suprax Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 You might not have access to this equipment, but it works great. First I take a large bore hypodermic (21gage) with a 3cc syrenge filled with super saturated kalk and sneak up on the aiptasia. I stick the hypodermic directly into its body and inject until the kalk comes out its oral plate. Almost right away they will shrink up as they like to do... Sometimes they will fall off pretty quickly after the injection, but others dont. For these I remove the whole rock, and heat up a small rounded spatula with a bunsen burner, and scrape the thing out killing whatever is left with the heated spatula. By spatula I mean one they would use in a lab. Basicly, your just trying to get rid of any part that could possibley make a new anemone. Most people will yell, but I like to let some of my aiptasia grow large. Many sub species exist, and are not as bad as others... Link to comment
tinyreef Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 like the other posts i'd recommend peppermint shrimp but for two reasons. first, to eat the aiptasia. second, they breed (or at least produce fry, none of my fry have made it yet) and thus can greatly add to your planktonic food base which is one of the reasons for a refugium in the first place. Link to comment
Fishiebusiness Posted July 2, 2002 Author Share Posted July 2, 2002 Would peppermint shrimp have a significant impact on the effectiveness of my refugium(regarding pod population and such)? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 i don't think the shrimp fry will compete with the xpod populations other than raw materials to build their respective exoskeletons. the fry will add diversity to your plankton & microplankton though. Link to comment
Fishiebusiness Posted July 2, 2002 Author Share Posted July 2, 2002 Sounds good, i think i'll go look for one. How much do they cost usually? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 it depends on specials. i've seen them cost around $7 to $29. this hobby is too expensive! check around the online suppliers but watch out on the add-ons for box and freight. some are valid but some are profit centers. Link to comment
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