Aptasia Experiments

[jnowell]

Here's the deal, I have a 100g reef in my living room, I got a 125 and am finishing up the woodwork and will transfer everything soon.

Problem, the 100 and sump (55g) are COVERED in aptasia, upwards of 75, many of them full grown. I am raising berghia's so I needed an aptasia farm, and as long as I keep them away from everything else, they really don't do any harm.

Problem is, I now have an old 30g set up as my aptasia farm, and I want to COMPLETELY rid the reef of them at the time of transfer....without killing the biofilter bacteria of course :D I've had some luck with the combination of hypersalinity coupled with a heavy formalin dose...the bacteria survives, but I got a sizeable diatom bloom, so a good portion of it got nuked with the aptasia.

Anyone have any ideas? Methyline blue also worked, but it took weeks to kill the aptasia, and stained the rocks blue. I have a perfect lab for trying any ideas, a 55g with nothing in it, cycled and ready...not to mention plenty of "test subjects" muhahaha.

Even if I kill some of the bacteria, I can live with that, I just don't want to kill off all the anaerobes and destroy the natural denitrification within the rocks. I have places to hold the fish and corals, but i seriously don't want ANY aptasia making it into the 125. I have (and have used) all of the "standard" aptasia killing products and animals, but none of them will for sure give me a tank free of the little pests. I'm thinking something along the lines of a bath that I can run all the rock through that will send the aptasia to it's death without destroying the bacteria in the rock.

Any Ideas? Was that long winded enough? :D

Jason

[jnowell]

125 views - no suggestions? C'mon, I thought you guys were SMART! :D

[Travis L. Stevens]

I'm afraid that without the help of Berghia nudibranchs, you are out of luck. And even then, it couldn't garuntee you a 100% success rate. As far as getting rid of Aiptasia without hurting the bacteria on your rocks, I think there would be no possible way. Technically, even when you inject an aiptasia with something, there is spill over that will harm the effected area of the excess. Injection would be safest, but there is no way you could get them all.

[Carp1959]

I have some Blennies that i collected in galveston, tx and they completly take care of aptasia. Both my buddy and i put the blennies at the same time he had more aptasia than I did and we both had no aptasia until his died when he went out of town.

The other people in houston on MARSH say that they are moller miller blennies. but i have my doubts that mine are.

Justin

[Travis L. Stevens]

Interesting. I never knew that Molly Miller Blennies could do that (if that is true).

[Carp1959]

All I know is that i had aptasia. I added these blennies. I have no more aptasia. I did nothing else to try to get rid of it.


In my buddies tank within 2-3 weeks of his blennies dieing he had aptasia again.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9983/picture3gd.jpg

[bchristie]

The blenny is indeed Scartella cristata, the molly miller, they are quite abundant on the jetties and groins along the beachfront in Galveston, where they feed on a small local anenome, Aiptasiomorpha texaensis, and have been known to feed on Aiptaisa spp. in reef tanks.

The same habitat in Galveston that is home to Aiptasiomorpha texaensis and thus Scartella cristata, is also home to Lysmata wurdemanni, the peppermint shrimp, which is also a useful Aiptasia-vore.

One thing I would caution you on is to make sure you have a fishing liscence when collecting L. wurdemanni or S. cristata in Galveston...the local game wardens show no mercy and will take your car and everything else in your possesion if you get caught without one!

[rcmike]

Has anyone tried these blennies with majano anemones?

[jnowell]

Interesting, especially since I have a fishing license, and will be in Houston in a few weeks :D Need to get that diving gear wet again anyhow (+ a saltwater stamp) :D

I still think there has to be a way to kill the aptasia chemically or otherwise without completely destroying all of the biofiltration of the rocks. I guess I can stick to hypersalinity and Formalin. It's neat to have a blenny eat it, but I don't want it PERIOD in the new tank. I think there could be a market for breeding those blennies too...hmmmm.

Jason

[Carp1959]

unless somehow i got all males when i collected like 20 of them the don't like each other for the most part. Had them in a smaller tank to see which ones would survive before throwing them in to the 55 and they constantly chased each other around . If there is a way to sex them i would like to know. I have a spare Hex tank that i could use to try to breed them



Justin

[fppf]

I bought over 100 pounds of rock from a guy that was tearing down. It was really cheap but totally covered with the pest.

I rotated the rock through a 20 gallon QT tank with 6 ture pepperment shrimp in it. I did about 20-25 pounds at a time, about 4 to 5 pieces. Left it in there for a week or 2 until I saw no more aptasia and then waited until I started seeing the shrimp come out during the day. When they started to come out during the day that was a sign there was no more food for them to scavenge and they where really hungery. Then I would put in the next batch and the would feast again. When I was all done with the rock I put them in my main display for cleaning crew and I have never seen any aptasia yet.

[jnowell]

Fppf - You'll be VERY lucky if it doesn't come back. Pepps are nice, but they almost never get it all. How long has it been since you cleaned the rock? BTW - I have 4 pepps in this tank, they hardly make a dent...but they are getting to scavenge other foods too.

Justin, No clue on how to sex Blennies, but i'm planning a trip to Galveston soon. I've heard there are several pipefish species there as well, have you ever found any?

Jason

[Carp1959]

yeah i've found the pipe fish in the sargasum. Which there was ALOT of it down there fathers day weekend. can get lots of small shrimp in the weed also for food for the rest of the tanks Let me know when you are going down i need to get some Peps and some feeder shrimp

Justin

[jnowell]

I KNOW I'll be there the weekend of MACNA, but I'll probably hit Galveston either over July 4th weekend, or sometime later in July. I'll let you know, I'm bringing my dive gear this time, so I'll do a little shore collecting, and then try my hand underwater too. If you're a diver, I'll be looking for a dive buddy!

Jason

[fppf]

I did this about 8 months ago and still clear and free.

The key is to have nothing else in the tank to eat. It is a little cruel in away but would you eat that stuff given a choice? Yes I agree just throwing in something that eats it wont solve the problem. Just like a few cleaner shrimp wont cure ich.

The KEY to my method and success is rotating small amounts of rock through a small tank with a lot of cleaners.

[jnowell]

Ahh, that makes more sense...but I'm still not sure I'd strust them completely to ENSURE that it never came back. I may let them have a crach at the rocks with corals on them.

I think i'm just going to revert to killing everything, including the bacteria. I will be severly upset if I went to all this trouble to transfer tanks, and ended up with aptasia again. I might give the pepps a chance at a few rocks and then move them to a fry tank to watch for a few weeks. Wasn;t planning on this taking a YEAR, but if it does, so be it i guess.

Thanks, any other ideas?

Jason

[fppf]

Good things take time.

[Reefit]

"Josies Juice" works great. See if you can get it at your lfs.

[saltyunderground]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7590481#post7590481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bchristie
The blenny is indeed Scartella cristata, the molly miller, they are quite abundant on the jetties and groins along the beachfront in Galveston, where they feed on a small local anenome, Aiptasiomorpha texaensis, and have been known to feed on Aiptaisa spp. in reef tanks.

The same habitat in Galveston that is home to Aiptasiomorpha texaensis and thus Scartella cristata, is also home to Lysmata wurdemanni, the peppermint shrimp, which is also a useful Aiptasia-vore.

One thing I would caution you on is to make sure you have a fishing liscence when collecting L. wurdemanni or S. cristata in Galveston...the local game wardens show no mercy and will take your car and everything else in your possesion if you get caught without one! Do you know if this blennie is otherwise reef safe? I have heard of some blennies that eat clams, etc.

[Travis L. Stevens]

I've watched one in a store that we were going to get when we had a tank up for many months (~4 months). It was a model citizen. It did not pick at any of the many corals in the tank. It did occassionally perch itself on top of various corals which slightly aggitated them. I didn't see it eat Aiptasia though since there weren't any in the tank.

[Fredfish]

I also used L. wurdmanii to get rid of aptasia. Had them in my tank for 8 months and when I removed them the tank stayed aptasia free.

Not everyone has good success with these shrimps though.

Fred.

[fish4red]

I was just looking as some Joes Jucie that a friend of mine bought and its the exact same stuff I have been using for years and learned about on Garf's web site. Its Calcium Hydroxide....something most good reefers have already. The insturctions from Garf were to mix about a tablespoon of calcium Hydroxide powder with about 50 m/l of R/O .. then microwave for about 30 secs. Then inject it with a neele and surgine into the little pest. They will die with in 24 hours. This is only good for small out breaks. Coverd live rock....get the bergihas you will be glad you did. They are great unitl they have nothing left to eat then they die

[mr.wilson]

I would stick with a biological cure such as copperband or longnose butterflies, peppermint shrimp, and molly miller blennies.

Injecting a huge colony is out of the question. Calcium hydroxide or acid will kill a broad spectrum of marine-life with a PH shift. Hyposalinity would be ineffective as they have the ability to close up and cover themselves with a protective mucous membrane. Pouring salt on the rock and allowing it to slowly dissolve wouldn't effect PH but may not kill all of them.

If you had to go the chemical route, I would use copper at 30ppm for 7 days. It wouldn't adversely effect bacteria, only invertebrates and some of the coraline algae. Coraline algae will bounce back in a few months.

Don't worry too much about getting all of them, as you will likely introduce more with future coral purchases.

[rcmike]

Copper? Sorry, but are you crazy? This is a REEF tank.

[mr.wilson]

Yes I'm crazy, but my suggestion wasn't. Killing aiptasia without adversely affecting beneficial bacteria was the original question asked. I was suggesting treatment of the rocks only (REMOVE ALL INVERTEBRATES DURING TREATMENT). I prefer a "natural" cure, but I thought I'd give a safer alternative to the formalin and methylene blue treatments Jnowel was using.

Formalin is a carcinogen, it kills nitrifying bacteria, depletes dissolved oxygen levels and it contains methanol as a stabilizer. Methylene blue will dye the rocks, kill nitrobactor and all coraline algae. Copper is the most efficient poison for killing invertebrates (aiptasia in this case) without disrupting bacterial colonies.

Roughing up a copper wire with sandpaper and piercing the anemone will provide enough localized copper to kill it without adversely effecting other organisms. The difficulty is in manually carrying this out.

The overall idea is to use a localized poison or PH shock that is in high concentration for the anemone, and safe for the tank once it is dissipates. Calcium hydroxide (Joe's Juice) is caustic (PH shock) in the initial dose, then becomes bioavailable calcium once dissolved. Vinegar is acidic (PH shock) and is buffered out by calcareous media and chemical reactions in the aquarium. Non-buffered copper sulphate is absorbed by calcareous surfaces and falls out of solution in a few days. It can be completely removed with polymeric absorbents (polyfilters) or ion exchange resins (Kent toxic metal sponge). Copper is the only effective agent that can be dosed in full concentration to affect anemones throughout the tank. Treating with copper will kill all of the anemones, no matter where they are.

[saltyunderground]

mr.wilson,
Have your tried dosing copper to kill aiptasia as an experiment or otherwise? I am curious if the aiptasia will return (regenerated from the pieces that break off while dying) after the water has been changed.

[rcmike]

My post may have been a little harsh but I just don't understand how copper can be safer than calcium hydroxide. I have even heard you don't want to use a bare tank that has had copper in it at some point, not to mention rock. Calcium hydroxide is only going to kill what it is injected into or maybe a very small amount of bacteria right under the anemone. I agree that peppermint shrimp and aiptasia eating shrimp are the best choice for a large infestation since you can't inject thousands of them.

[saltyunderground]

I have talked with literally 100+ people who have tried using Joe's Juice, Kalk paste, Kill Aiptasia and the other chemical solutions to kill aiptasia in their display tanks. The overwhelming majority of those people who use these methods have made their aiptasia problems worse, not better. The little pieces of aiptasia that break off from the main anemone can start a new anemone. So you may kill one large aiptaisa and make 10 small ones. The best way to succeed using these chemicals is to siphon off the dying aiptasia and prevent any peices from floating off into the tank.

[rcmike]

To tell you the truth I have never had a real aiptasia problem. My main problem has been majano anemones. I never could find a predator that would eat them and not anything else. Joe's juice worked great for them though. Kalk would make them multiply just like you said though.

[mr.wilson]

I didn't take your comments as harsh. I have never used copper to solve an aiptasia problem, nor would I. I use aiptasia in refugia as a means of mechanical filtration and nutrient assimilation and export. Physical barrier and UV irradiation assures that they don't infest the display tank.

When I experience aiptasia infestations, I've always had success with fish or shrimp as a biological control. As stated in earlier posts, mechanical removal is often one step forward, two steps back, as they are cued to reproduce. My recommendation of copper as a "cure", was only implied as the lesser of the available evils (chemical warfare).

Just to clarify, Kalkwasser, Joe's Juice, and calcium hydroxide are all one in the same chemical. They are only marginally effective when used correctly.

Once one has exhausted their patience with the injection method and biological cures, chemical warfare is regrettably the final option. If you are in that place, you must weigh the various weapons at hand.

Calcium hydroxide would kill everything in its' wake if added to the tank at a lethal dose for aiptasia. The PH would shoot up to 11 and alter water chemistry.

Medications such as formalin, methylene blue, malachite green, acriflavine, and to round out the colour spectrum, potassium permanganate, will all adversely effect nitrifying bacteria.

On the other hand, copper sulphate will target any and all invertebrates while leaving nitrifying bacteria intact. There are no dyes to contend with and polymeric absorbents and/or ion exchange resins will remove all residual Cu even if bound in calcareous media. Coraline algae will be lost to some degree, but it will bounce back.

One mans heavy metal is another mans trace element. Fish have haemoglobin in their blood which is comprised of iron. Marine invertebrates on the other hand, have haemocyanin in their blood which is comprised of copper. This is how copper medications are able to kill invertebrates while remaining "safe" for vertebrates, algae, and bacteria.

The idea that an aquarium that once contained copper not being reef safe is false. Once copper falls out of solution, it's no longer a threat to invertebrates. Although copper is bound in calcareous media, it can be removed chemically as stated above.

Have you tried copperband or longnose (f. logirostris) butterflies with your majano? Overfeeding is often the cause of their rise, but limiting food seldom brings their fall.

[kkenn]

Hi ,I used to have a big aiptasia problem,after I use every method,my friend told me one good aiptasia eater,Red Sea Golden Butterfiy (Semilarvatus Butterfly Red Sea) first few days,u cannot sea him eating those stuff,but after one month I can sure u cannot find any aiptasia left,I told another friend of mine who also have prolem with aiptasia,after adding this fish,he also fix the problem u can try this

Ken

[kkenn]

Hi ,I used to have a big aiptasia problem,after I use every method,my friend told me one good aiptasia eater,Red Sea Golden Butterfiy (Semilarvatus Butterfly Red Sea) first few days,u cannot sea him eating those stuff,but after one month I can sure u cannot find any aiptasia left,I told another friend of mine who also have prolem with aiptasia,after adding this fish,he also fix the problem u can try this

Ken

[reefgeek67]

copperband butterflies eat aptasia---i suggest about 4 more peppermint shrimp and a copperband......make sure your shrimp are not camelbacks......some stores sell those as peppermints

[Sinclair9]

Just purchased a molly miller, hoping with the combination of that and joes juice will be able to rid my tank of the aiptasia, will let all know how its going.

[Chad Vossen]

pepermint shrimp will also attack and bite your hand if they are hungry enough!!

i was fishing out a hermit crab for a costomer and we had over 10 pepermints in the tank that attacked my hand, only 1 bit me but it hurt. i fed my pepermint to my anemone cuz it would steal food from it so i made him into food lol.

[GARFVolunteer]

I bought a Raccoon Butterfly fish that wiped out all my aiptasia then the xenia, zoanthids, star polyps, hairy mushrooms and clams... I was finally able to catch it and find it a new home.

[Alphabet]

I also have an issue with aptasia, I was also looking for better advice. I was given two other methods. First was squirt lemon juice on the aptasia with something like a turkey baster. Second you could use a hot ro/di water with a turkey baster. Hot water is supposed to kill them instantly, not sure I will try it. I am unsure how the lemon juice will effect the water quality of my tank, even in low amounts. Any thoughts before I proceed? Thanks

[saltyunderground]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7707724#post7707724 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Alphabet
I also have an issue with aptasia, I was also looking for better advice. I was given two other methods. First was squirt lemon juice on the aptasia with something like a turkey baster. Second you could use a hot ro/di water with a turkey baster. Hot water is supposed to kill them instantly, not sure I will try it. I am unsure how the lemon juice will effect the water quality of my tank, even in low amounts. Any thoughts before I proceed? Thanks Siphon the aiptasia out right after the application or you'll probably make the problem worse.

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7678421#post7678421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kkenn
Hi ,I used to have a big aiptasia problem,after I use every method,my friend told me one good aiptasia eater,Red Sea Golden Butterfiy (Semilarvatus Butterfly Red Sea) first few days,u cannot sea him eating those stuff,but after one month I can sure u cannot find any aiptasia left,I told another friend of mine who also have prolem with aiptasia,after adding this fish,he also fix the problem u can try this

Ken
A lot of Butterflyfish species eat Aiptasia.
The main concern with using Butterflyfish to eradicate anemones is the fact that the fish might eat something that you want to keep alive.
Does anyone know if the "Molly Miller" Blenny attacks any inverts besides small anemones?

[jnowell]

If you try the lemon juice, do so sparingly, and watch your pH very closely. The acidity will knock it WAY out of whack quickly if you use too much.

I'm heading out to get a butterfly right now, am also picking up a few more pepps. I'll let you guys know how they do.

On another note, the formalin didn't actually work, I transferred some of that rock to my new pipefish tank, and sure enough, I spotted two appies a few days after adding it.

Jason

[kkenn]

A lot of Butterflyfish species eat Aiptasia. A lot of Butterflyfish species eat Aiptasia.

[adam82]

i would go with the berghia nudi if they werent do expensive for how many you need.

[jnowell]

You only need 2, they will make 100's in a matter of weeks in a heavily infested aquarium, provided the filter intakes are covered.

Jason

[adam82]

thats all you need? i have over 300 aiptasia in my 29g. my peppermint shrimp do nothing. yes im sure they are peppermint not camel.

[Nammy]

Don't bother with the lemon juice! By injecting the aiptasia you make micro tears that will grow into a new one. Joe's juice will work without injecting inside the aiptasia but again when you think the problem is gone another one appears. Hot water injection? Don't think so, by the time you're ready to inject and reach down in the tank, the water isn't that hot anymore.
Injecting is not the best way to go, it may help control a limited amount of aiptasia but not for a bunch.

[zmar84]

Here is my out of control tank...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/809744.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/809743.jpg

and after I used Joe's Juice and got some peppermints...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/809745-med.jpg

I agree that it is hit or miss with the peppermints but I think they are the easiest and cheapest way to eliminate aiptasia. Just kill some of the larger ones with Joe's Juice and the peppermints get the rest.

(sorry for lagging your connections with these big pictures but sometimes you don't feel like writing the thousand words that the picture is worth.)

[Nammy]

Good luck

[kkenn]

If the Aiptasia problem is very big, I still suggest use a Red Sea Golden butterfly to control it,after all aiptasia gone,u can easy to catch this butterfly easy by a catching cage with shrimp,they like shrimp meat

Kenhttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/4314Redcap.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/4314tank3.jpg

[wds21921]

The kalk dosing has always worked for me but I use it sparingly with a ink refill needle to does right in the mouth as it's opened. Added some (genuine) peppermints as well and they are helping to keep it in check.

I think that once you've got Aptasia your probably always going to have it. We just don't see it as much afterwards because we treat it often times biologically which helps to keep it in check. It can be hidden so far down in some rock you couldn't possibly find it if you wanted to.
Since it reproduces so easily I have a hard time believing that it can ever be totally eliminated once you've had an outbreak.

[fishmon]

I use Joe's juice successfully, I heard that besides kalk it has selcon or something like it so the anemones will eat it, thats why you don't actually inject it in them, you just cover their mouths, they do the rest.

[wds21921]

Same as my kalk application, you don't actually pierce the mouth or the body you simply get close and fill the mouth up with kalk. How is the selcon going to have any effect when they have a mouthful of kalk? Not questioning you, only the reason for the ingredients.

[fishmon]

When you cover the mouth, your doing just that, covering it. The anemone can expell water out its mouth, blowing the kalk away. The selcon is supposed to get the anemone to ingest the kalk instead. Just heresay, I don't know this for fact.

[fishmon]

Actually I was wrong, this is the link for whats actually in Joe's Juice.....http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6898995#post6898995

[rcmike]

Hmm, maybe it is because they use salt water instead of fresh water mixed with the calcium hydroxide. I have had much better results with Joe's juice than kalk for some reason.

[wds21921]

Thanks for the follow-up fishmon. The inclusion of Selcon (as an appetite stimulator) would be almost negligible with that much kalk included.
The salt mixed in and then boiled together does make more sense. Much clearer now, thank you.

[Ciarán]

I noticed about 5-6 tiny aiptasia popping up on one of my rocks. I have had those rocks for 8 months or so without any aiptasia problems and suddenly i noticed them. The way i dealt with it was: I got a dremel and a chisel and took out a whole chunk about an inch below where the anemones resided. Then dumped the infested rock and put the cleansed rock back. Its under intense observation. Prevention is better than cure.

[alizarin]

Here's my experience with Molly Miner blennies and pepermint shrimp:

There are lots of blennies in Tampa Bay that look exactly like the photo that carp1959 posted as Molly Miner Blennies (http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9983/picture3gd.jpg). I caught two of these juveniles (1 inch and another a half inch) and put them in a minibow 2.5 with a half dozen small aiptasia and they've yet to touch them after a week despite being hungry. They ate my nasarius snails right off though.

I had 2 aiptasia that I added to my tank a year ago before I realized they were bad and the pepermint shrimp I bought took them out in a day. When I got this outbreak from a new piece of live rock that same pepermint would never touch them. Seems like even the pepermints that do eat aiptasia don't keep up the habbit.

[Ciarán]

I have 2 small aiptasia at present that i got from new LR i bought on Saturday. Im currently trying an ultra concentrated Ca(Cl)2 (Calcium Chloride) addition to see if it does anything similar to Kalk, though i sincerely doubt it. They dont like it though, they run away and contract into their cowardly holes. Persistence may prevail I hope!

[Ciarán]

Update: The Calcium chloride wiped out a small aiptasia! Very good news IMO, the calcium input is safer than kalk with no pH spike or alkalinity worries. 1cm^3 was all that was needed via a hypodermic syringe. Excess calcium is then immediately 1000% bio-available without skewing the alkalinity balance.

[Pico Keeper]

I didn't read the whole thread.

But I would split the rock into sections. Throw the first section into the tank your going to treat. Feed all the aiptasia's so they are big and fat, and start injecting them with kalk. Granted this will mess up your water quality and calcium and ph will be all over, but that it why you dont do this in your actual display tank. Kill as many as you can with kalk, and then send them to another tank full of peppermints and bergs. Let them take care of all that's left over. When that's done, move the rock into the display.

start over. also keep peppermints in the display to eat the little ones that will almost certainly be left behind. Be sparing with the kalk, as if you inject too much and it drips out, it will kill all coralline it touches.

[saltyunderground]

Pico, if you are suggesting peppermint shrimp and Berghia, the shrimp will eat the Berghia if they find them. Not a good combination.

[BJCooper]

I also have had aptasia problems....forgot about peppermints....dang. My best solution was a Orange Butterfly (Kleins). Little bugger wipes them right out. Problem is though, that while he will leave most of the corals alone....an open brain is just plain labelled "lunch". Ugh.

[Pico Keeper]

I had bergias and a couple peppermints to clean up about 40 lbs of live rock. The didn't bother each other.. But maybe cus the peppermints where little?? I used begia verricicornis i think. I think the bergias where breeding alot in the rock cooker.

I had the tank curing rock, and i kalked all the big aiptasia I could find after feeding them, then waited for my water levels to get back to normal and I added the shrimps and nudibranches.

[WhatIgot]

old thread, but I'm bumping it as this was very helpful to me.

[BlastoEric1589]

Look, there are a million ways to "kill" an aiptasia... as soon as anyone ACTUALLY figures out a GOOD way of killing them, we wont need forum posts like this to debate what chemical works the best. (IODINE IODINE IODINE IODINE) Inject iodine directly into the stem of those little buggers and they wont have a good chance, but you can only do that once a week or maybe twice... its gunna take time bro... or just kill everything... cant take the easy way out of this one

[Heinz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7596173#post7596173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Carp1959
unless somehow i got all males when i collected like 20 of them the don't like each other for the most part. Had them in a smaller tank to see which ones would survive before throwing them in to the 55 and they constantly chased each other around . If there is a way to sex them i would like to know. I have a spare Hex tank that i could use to try to breed them



Justin
i know this is a old thread,

but i always thought you could only keep one Scartella Cristata in a tank, if you put two they will fight till one is dead

has anybody experience the same ?

that would also explain, what you saw in your tank with 20, i can only imagen that all died and only one survived,

was that the case ?

[drstupid]

mr. wilson, doesn't the copper end up in your rock and substrate forever?

[Muleball39]

If you were to take the rock out of the tank, and left it outside, how long would it take to kill the aiptasia? Could you bake the rock and kill it?

[mr.wilson]

You can microwave the rock for 30 seconds. It will kill anything full of water, like aiptasia or plankton, leaving coraline algae. I know one person who did quite a few rocks using this method successfully.

[tspors]

Inject each with .5ml of Sodium Hydrixide (Drano). Never to be seen again! Does not harm water. Moderation of course.