Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Overgrown and neglected


sprinterpd

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 101
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I had a buddy who worked at a small childrens museum which had tank that looked just like this. He thought it looked awesome. I think I broke his heart that day when I told him what it was...

Link to comment

im telling you peppermints arent going to take care of it. they WILL NOT go for the big ones. they will only eat the little ones as they pop up. peppermints will keep it from spreading but not kill it off. the nudis might, i dunno.

 

dont waste a ton of money on peppermints cuz they wont do the job.

Link to comment

My heart raced faster when i first saw this. You might be able to see these aiptasia for some $$$ to berghia breeders...

 

My heart raced faster when i first saw this. You might be able to see these aiptasia for some $$$ to berghia breeders...

 

How long did it take to get like this? When did you first start noticing them?

 

And really, its not a pest if you like them.

Link to comment

When I first started with a tank I bought a Majano rock. Oops. Thank LFS

 

When you add the Peppermints and Berghia Nudibranch you should do time lapse photography of them being eaten.

Link to comment
So here's the plan. I'm going to let it get WICKED crazy and crank the voltage for then next month on the lighting. Let's see how big we can get these guys. Then I'll take the percs back to the shop and load up on peppermint shrimp. I mean, like 20+, just to see. I'll take some photos as we go, and see if we can find a bottom to the black hole. Kinda fun, actually.

 

This is going to be exciting to watch. I think you've already reached "big". I want to fast forward to the attack scene.

Link to comment

Here is the shot from June, 2010, so over a year ago. At this point, the tank was about 9 months old

 

_MG_1515.jpg

 

Had some really nice, happy growth....

 

IMG_20100920_190536.jpg

 

Fast forward to November of last year (10 months ago?). you can see just one of these guys in the lower, front right of the tank

 

_MG_1620.jpg

 

Now here is April of this year. The spreading has begun!!! This was about 4 months ago.

 

_MG_2335.jpg

 

Michael

Link to comment

This is insane!

I cant wait to see what happens!

Please time-lapse this if you can.... if you have a PS3 and a playstation eye you can time-lapse stuff on it =)

Link to comment

Do yourself a favor and give John from reefcleaners.org an email. Send him a pic of the nightmare. I'm sure he will have an affordable resolution to run by you.

 

Can anyone tell me , from experience, can peppermints and sexys coexist in a 5 gallon?

Link to comment

Dude your tank looked great before those suckers took over. Don't give up..... Use it as an opportunity to upgrade. Just get better live rock this time and if you see any pests pop up don't wait to deal with them. Best of luck!

Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

My science! I've never seen such density of aiptasia! Amazing! Don't give up on your tank. I agree that the peppermint shrimp/berghia idea would be way more fun. If you go the peppermint road, stop feeding your tank. Peppermints do eat aiptasia, but only if there's no other source of food around. If you can successfully document a total eradication it would be awesome! Make like a time-laps film or something.

Link to comment
From experience...can peppermints and sexys coexist in a 5 gallon?

 

Duh...I already posted that! Sorry.

 

 

yes their can live together with no issue, I use to keep 3 sexies and 2 pepers on my 29, I don't know if a 5 gallon will make any difference tho!

Link to comment

OP: no need to "burn" the tank or whatever. Go with the shrimp or maybe temporarily adopt a copperband (didn't check compatability for your tank, sorry) for a few weeks. Whatever you do, do not give up an a nicely established tank. fwiw, imo :)

Link to comment

I agree, don't nuke the tank. Aiptasia should be destroyed painfully and slowly by natural predators. Hahaha.

 

And the tank was pretty good looking before the takeover, by the way.

Link to comment
yeah-peps won't work. Become the next nudibranch breeder!

 

Beg to differ.... Pacific Peppermints won't eat Aiptasia unless they are very hungry. Peppermints from Galveston Texas will eat them no matter how big. I had a bad infestation. Picked up some peps from Galveston and they took them all out. The Aiptasia actually start moving in an effort to get away from the Peps. Unfortunately LFS only sell Pepps from Indonesia. You will have to ask someone near Galveston to send you some. I suggest going to Marshreef do com. There is a user named Oldmantran that posted some for trade. Someone already mentioned this thread. He can probably overnight some to you.

 

Good luck

Link to comment
Beg to differ.... Pacific Peppermints won't eat Aiptasia unless they are very hungry.

 

I don't think blanket statements can be made about pepps. It tends to be hit or miss. I bought one from a LFS in Indiana that claimed to receive them from the Gulf. Overnight that thing took out an aptasia the size of a quarter in diameter. Months later bought from the same store and the pepp was lazy, occasionally picking at the aptasias.

 

I think that this thread is coming from a experiment/entertainment standpoint rather than "save the tank".

 

Lets see what happens with the pepps, the try plan B.

 

I feel like its February and I'm waiting for the summer blockbuster to come out.

Link to comment

Maybe John @ Reefcleaners will see this thread and put you on scholarship.....He could send you some kind of crazy, steroid fueled CUC to take care of it.....and a logo you could put on the back wall so he can advertise every time you post a new picture of the progress.....believe me, this battle will attract lots of eyeballs.

Link to comment
yes their can live together with no issue, I use to keep 3 sexies and 2 pepers on my 29, I don't know if a 5 gallon will make any difference tho!

Thanks!!!!

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...