Peppermint shrimp for aiptasia

[JonV88]

So I got a pepp shrimp to help with my aiptasia, small guy but I'm having trouble getting him hungry every time I feed for the tank he gets his fill so he's not really going after aiptasia any ideas on what I should do??

[Felix T Cat]

I have tried multiple times with peps from different sources and none of them have ever even made a dent on my aiptasia issue. I added a Filefish tonight and the second he hit the tank he started nipping at an aiptasia I had on the glass.

I'm going to keep a close eye on him and my corals but so far so good.

[markh50]

they did a great job for me I was seeing about 6 of them 2 weeks ago now I see none I would try it, I paid just 7 dollars for 2 of them at my lps

[JonV88]

I think it's because mine is still tiny in beginning I noticed him eating aiptasia but then I keep seeing newer 1s pop up. I think theirs too many for him

[shermanator]

Berghia nudibranches. They only eat aiptasia and they do a good job of it. Only downside is that they are expensive.

[davocean]

Usually people add a handful of peps, but even then it's iffy, and then if they pick at things they are tougher to catch.
berghia nudibranchs and matted file fish are other options, both easier to catch if you want to pull them after.
Sometimes hitting apt w/ aptasia X melts them enough to make it easy for eating and encourages the eating of your aptasia.
The combo has worked for me, I have a CBB that took care of my aptasia, but they are a little trickier to keep.
I did not care for peps, they stole food and messed w/ snails.

[Mikesmith34]

Research reef napalm. It will kill ap's 100%. I've used it to kill undesirable corals as well like xenia and mushrooms

[JonV88]

Research reef napalm. It will kill ap's 100%. I've used it to kill undesirable corals as well like xenia and mushrooms


I have a frogspawn frag and mushrooms and RBA don't know if that will work for me

[Crooked Reef]

Peps will generally only eat the small ones too. If you have an extreme infestation and large ones they may not even make a noticeable dent. I got lucky and bought two of them that handled my 3 small aiptasia in about 3 or 4 days.

[JonV88]

Thanks every1 for the info

[JonV88]

I think I might try the matted filefish but am scared it might pick on my coral, and berghia nudibranches are my last option I kno they starve after eliminating aiptasia

[Relativity]

I bought 8 berghias and I only saw 1 after four months on the glass. They did nothing to my aptisia population. They have the gut the size of a grain of sand. I think I would need a thousand of them to do anything

[Son512]

I bought 2 peps. 1 ate like a pig and decimated a large population of aiptasia within a week.

[Crooked Reef]

I bought 8 berghias and I only saw 1 after four months on the glass. They did nothing to my aptisia population. They have the gut the size of a grain of sand. I think I would need a thousand of them to do anything

The breghais really need to reproduce to be effective. If you just dropped them in and have fish that found them through the night they probably got picked off

[albano]

So I got a pepp shrimp to help with my aiptasia, small guy but I'm having trouble getting him hungry every time I feed for the tank he gets his fill so he's not really going after aiptasia any ideas on what I should do??

Hopefully it is a Caribbean Pep, as they are the only ones that will eat aiptasia ...cut back on feeding your fish for a few days...but don't expect to see the Pep eating the aiptasia, they do their best work at night!

Where did you get the Pep? Max Reefs?

[JonV88]

My local store jawz.net

[JonV88]

I've seen him picking at aiptasia before, like when I turn lights on I'll see him over a retracted aiptasia but it'll recover

[davocean]

I think I might try the matted filefish but am scared it might pick on my coral, and berghia nudibranches are my last option I kno they starve after eliminating aiptasia

From comments I've seen they usually will go for the pests first.
Sometimes they don't bother anything at all, especially if well fed.
If not, easy to catch and pass it along.

[albano]

My local store jawz.net

No idea what they stock...stopped going there years ago! You should drive to Yonkers to see 20x the inventory at less than 1/2 the price

[chris.scang]

I recently put 3 peppermint shrimp in my tank to take care of some aptasia and they are doing great work. But like many people have said, don't expect to see them eating the aptasia. The peppermints are nocturnal and will do their best work in the dark.

[Uncle Salty 05]

Kalk paste always works for me.
It is something I add anyway and I know it will do no harm. (if used correctly)

[JonV88]

Well I just bought a berghia nudibranche if any1 needs 1 near new Rochelle NY area u are more than welcome to come for it after he cleans out my tank

[SpectraPure]

There is a product called Aptasia X. It works! We don't sell it, but I am sure that you can find it.

Jeremy

[davocean]

There is a product called Aptasia X. It works! We don't sell it, but I am sure that you can find it.

Jeremy

Many of us have used this and thought the same...at first.
You will most likely see it recede and appear to go away, only to have it come back in numbers.
What I DO recommend is to use this product or similar to somewhat melt the larger apts, or help break down the larger ones in order to make it easier for whatever animal you use to control them eat them.
Most of the animals we use will prefer the smaller apts, or will eat at the semi melted/distressed aptasia, and often will really develop an appetite for aptasia and become more aggressive at controlling it.

[SpectraPure]

It never did that for me. It worked like a charm.

[SpectraPure]

I had a peppermint shrimp, but I noticed that my hermit crabs were missing. I later found that there was a shell graveyard underneath a live rock where the peppermint shrimp lived.

[shermanator]

Well I just bought a berghia nudibranche if any1 needs 1 near new Rochelle NY area u are more than welcome to come for it after he cleans out my tank

As a caution, you usually need more than one (which gets quite expensive). To be truly effective, you want them to yield offspring.

And make sure you provide time for them to establish themselves (while the tank has no or very little flow). They will probably move to the first rock cave they find (and if you are lucky lay some eggs (very distinct spiral pattern)).

[davocean]

It never did that for me. It worked like a charm.

Well, Aptasia X has been around for a few years now at least, I still see a lot of people that have tried it coming back to finding something that eats it.

[SpectraPure]

It makes sense to take care of it naturally. It's just that I felt bad for my hermit crabs. =(

[davocean]

It makes sense to take care of it naturally. It's just that I felt bad for my hermit crabs. =(

Oh I agree there, I DO NOT like peps, they attack snails too, and steal food from my nems.
I will take a berghia group or a matted filefish over them any day, and if you can sustain a CBB and get lucky to have one that eats app even better IMO.
I have used the Apt X in training CBB's to start eating apt, have not done this w/ a filefish, but they are quicker to jump on it from the get go.

[JonV88]

As a caution, you usually need more than one (which gets quite expensive). To be truly effective, you want them to yield offspring.

And make sure you provide time for them to establish themselves (while the tank has no or very little flow). They will probably move to the first rock cave they find (and if you are lucky lay some eggs (very distinct spiral pattern)).


Sweet thanks for the advice, just got them right now drip acclimating, and yeah I got 3

[JonV88]

Many of us have used this and thought the same...at first.

You will most likely see it recede and appear to go away, only to have it come back in numbers.

What I DO recommend is to use this product or similar to somewhat melt the larger apts, or help break down the larger ones in order to make it easier for whatever animal you use to control them eat them.

Most of the animals we use will prefer the smaller apts, or will eat at the semi melted/distressed aptasia, and often will really develop an appetite for aptasia and become more aggressive at controlling it.


+1 for me it harms them they hide then come back out the week after recovered it did help my tiny pepp shrimp take some tentacles of them but that's bout it