Risk a peppermint or not?

[entropygain]

I bought a nice big rock of dark orang zoas a while back, but apparently it came with aptasia that I missed. Calk paste has helped but they keep coming back, and now I'm finding them on some of the other frags.

This is a frag tank with zoas, frogspawn and mushrooms. Should I risk a peppermint shrimp or keep trying the calk or joe's juice? Only 5-6 aptasia heads now, but I don't want them to get out of hand. What's the risk to the lovely Zoa's I'm growing?

thanks

[FishyBiz]

Aptasia-X

[650-IS350]

If you don't have any wrasses or predatory fish, then you can use Berghia Nudibranch's. They're sole purpose in life is to eat aiptasias and multiply. They won't touch ANY coral.

[evsalty]

As long as you get a true pep and not a camel then you will be fine. Just know what you are looking at when purchasing. DON'T TRUST THE LFS OR CHAIN STORE EMPLOYEE for verification. They may know what they are doing but you need to know too. If it is dark red (ruby red) and has bright white stripes in all directions then it is NOT a pep. PEPS are a translucent red/pink with clear/translucent stripes running lengthwise down the body.

For those that want to post that their PEP ate corals PLEASE PLEASE post a pic of what yours looked like, even if you have to borrow the pic off the net.

[650-IS350]

Make sure if you get a peppermint... it's a Lysmata Wurdemani.

True Pep.
http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_wurdemanni.php

camel back ( not reef safe ) Rhynchocinetas durbanensis
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/Camelback-Shrimp_329_63_4_4.html

[650-IS350]

Oh yeah, the reason why I don't deal with those guys is that they tend to STEAL from LPS and Poyps. They dig their arms/claws inside the corals mouth to steal the food it just ate. they even do this with Anemones. Same as cleaner shrimp.

[oddballs]

DONT TRUST THE LFS OR CHAIN STORE FOR VERICATION, If u can not trust your lfs then you are in the wrong one!!Second of all why did you put that in capitals that means you are yelling it?

[650-IS350]

I think he/she is just emplying to personally make sure you ID it properly and don't rely on others to do so ???

[FishyBiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15473031#post15473031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oddballs
DONT TRUST THE LFS OR CHAIN STORE FOR VERICATION, If u can not trust your lfs then you are in the wrong one!!Second of all why did you put that in capitals that means you are yelling it?

He put it in caps because hes stressing the point.
Its not that you cant trust your LFS, you just need to be informed because they don't know everything. If your not an expert on a specific thing it can be hard to ID.

[evsalty]

Thank you 650 and Fishy. I am not saying not to trust your LFS but I see too many people post that their peps ate their corals and then come to find out that they had camelbacks and that their lfs had mislabeled them. It happens more at Petco's then most trust worthy LFS's but I have still seen it happen.

[entropygain]

Thanks all. Good options.

Perhaps Pep's are unfairly maligned... I enjoy watching them a lot and like the idea of not having to hunt aptasia myself (must be the manager in me...). I can tell the difference from Camels, but just never had this nice of zoas before and am anxious about risking them. How does one know if a shrimp is eating them, rather than just melting for some reason? Need to catch somebody in the act?

Aptasia-x looks a lot better than Calk! Loved the video's I found on the web.

With regard to the Nudi's -- What do they eat when the aptasia are gone? I really like idea of establishing a population to share with others, but if I need a separate aptasia tank to feed them, probably too much effort.

As to the LFS question - I tell my folks at work that if a meteor hits their experiment and they didn't have a backup stashed someplace, it's still their fault. Some people at stores are good, some aren't, but in the end it's our responsibility what happens to our tanks!

Thanks again!

[650-IS350]

what biotech do you work at in SD?

They go hungry if not enough aipts in the tank. but that's the good thing once out of aipts they can be sold, traded or passed around as a freebie help just like SeaHares.

[Atarax]

I borrow them from the beach, then when they've done their duty i just take em back. its a great deal, they get food and a break from predators and i get rid of unwanted gifts from the LFS.
plus its an excuse to hit the beach.

[goldmaniac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15473031#post15473031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oddballs
DONT TRUST THE LFS OR CHAIN STORE FOR VERICATION, If u can not trust your lfs then you are in the wrong one!!Second of all why did you put that in capitals that means you are yelling it?

If can not trust your lfs to make decisions and identifications for you, then that means that you know you should be thinking for yourself and taking responsibility for your own identifications and decisions.
Which is how it should be.