I have a bunch of these fan worm like things in the tank most are small but these two are quite large compared to the reast.
Thanks for any help!
Andrew
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Its aptasia a wild anenome that is NO GOOD I use boiling water to kill them but u must inject the aptasia with boiling water in a syringe. Aptasia will sting corals and will also spread rapidly through your tank. You can also buy Joes juice that is quite effective.
Quote from: FishPassion on August 31, 2006, 08:37:48 PM
Its aptasia a wild anenome that is NO GOOD I use boiling water to kill them but u must inject the aptasia with boiling water in a syringe. Aptasia will sting corals and will also spread rapidly through your tank. You can also buy Joes juice that is quite effective.
Could it/them kill hermit crabs? I have a few missing...
Andrew
That Im not sure of I doubt it tho, hermits will hide in little holes in your rock work. How many did you start with and how many do you have now. I wouldnt worry to much about aptasia killing your hermits but I would try to keep it under control sooner than later. I try to "weed out my garden" every couple of weeks but its a never ending battle.
Quote from: FishPassion on August 31, 2006, 09:10:29 PM
That Im not sure of I doubt it tho, hermits will hide in little holes in your rock work. How many did you start with and how many do you have now.
I "had" 5 but now I can only find 3 (for the last 4 days)...
Quote from: FishPassion on August 31, 2006, 09:10:29 PM
I wouldnt worry to much about aptasia killing your hermits but I would try to keep it under control sooner than later. I try to "weed out my garden" every couple of weeks but its a never ending battle.
I will try to do just that - luckily my wife is a doctor so I have access to lots of syringes ;)
Thanks for all your advice FP!
Andrew
that's an aip in the forground and feather dusters in the background. kill that aip before it takes over the tank.Keep the dusters, they are fun.
This is definetly aiptasia, not the fan worm.
Take care and FP's advice.
Regards
dont power drill through, it will only help multiply!
:(
Quote from: az on August 31, 2006, 11:01:50 PM
dont power drill through, it will only help multiply!
:(
What do you mean by power drill? Stick them full of holes?
Actaully, I was thinking of doing the Joe's Juice thing...
Andrew
That's a joke regarding the drill.
Joes kind of works for me but they always seem to pop up again and again.
I've tried vinegar in small amounts and it works too.
They're nasty because they will irritate your corals, and know when to pop back into their hole(as soon as the syringe appears ;))
Julie
WooHoo :o !
I put three peppermint shrimp in the tank on Friday and today the only aiptasia's left are 2 wee ones on the glass the shrimp can't reach!
I did not use any Joe's Juice, vinegar or boiling water, so it must've been the shrimp - very cool ;D
Andrew
I have one that is right beside a lps. Like touching it! I have been afraid of using any liquid because I dont want to hurt the coral. Do the shrimp really kill these things?
Quote from: kennyman on September 04, 2006, 07:59:23 AM
I have one that is right beside a lps. Like touching it! I have been afraid of using any liquid because I dont want to hurt the coral. Do the shrimp really kill these things?
Well, I am not expert, but...there were at least a dozen aiptasia's in my tank and to my mind, there was one of three reasons they are gone:
(1) peppermint shrimps
(2) hermit crabs
(3) suicide
Now, I have had hermits for a long time with the aiptasia and they have never shown a taster for it. I do not believe there was a mass suicide on the part of the aiptasia. So, I think it was the peppermints although I did not actually see them killing/eating the aiptasias.
Andrew
Kennyman - I forgot to add that I do not have any corals, its a FOWLR setup. I have heard that the peppermint shrimp can go after some corals as well.
Andrew
My experience:
Peppermint shrimp - hit or miss - some seem to do a great job on aptasia while others don't (IME) - glad to hear that you seem to have got at least one that likes aptasia. That will probably be all that you need.
Boiling water or vinegar - works well on the ones that you can reach with the syringe.
Joe's Juice - same as for vinegar or boiling water, it works well for those aptasia that you can reach with the applicator. More effective compared to vinegar for getting those aptasia reaching out from within deeper crevices.
Some fish (such as Copperband) eat aptasia but unfortunately are also likely to eat other polyps.
Missing hermits - they go everywhere including the crevices betwen rocks and under rocks and inside rocks. Therefore usually more are in the tank than you can actually see or count at any given time. As they grow they will cannibalize one another in fights for larger shells if the quantity of empty shells is less than the number of larger hermits. Musical chairs/shells theory applies.
As others have indicated, if you don't have a natural predator keeping the aptasia under control you will probably find them popping up ona regular basis. They are like the ever-flowering dandelion. Interesting to observe but a pain to eliminate. They are a natuaral hitchhiker on most LR.
Ron
Guts, Joe's juice and vinegar are ok if you know what you're doing.
Any introduction of these two throws of your pH, and that could kill something else in your tankl, depending how much and how often you use it.
Peppermint is the way to go. They keep it under control.
Now, if Aptasia is to big, peppermint cannot eat it. For those I recomend small scissors and syphon (If you can cut it before it contracts) New one will grow from the stomp, but it will be small enough for the peppermint.
Quote from: BOnaqua on September 09, 2006, 11:12:14 AM
Peppermint is the way to go. They keep it under control.
Now, if Aptasia is to big, peppermint cannot eat it. For those I recomend small scissors and syphon (If you can cut it before it contracts) New one will grow from the stomp, but it will be small enough for the peppermint.
Yup peppermints rock! At least in my tank ::) They even took down a rather large one.
Andrew