Aiptasia and Butterfly Fish
 

Hello All,

I have an on-going problem with Aiptasia Anemone. I have read that Butterfly fish find them a tasty treat! Is this true? Is there other fish that will eat Aiptasia Anemone. If only Butterfly, is there a small varity to be had in Calgary??

Thanks all......

I know Copperband Butterflyfish eat them. I have a friend who has an Auriga that loves them. Allways be aware however that they eat poyps, so zoanthids are also a treat, and some soft corals too. :eek:

That and there really isn't such a thing as a "small" butterfly.

I don't want to resuscitate this endless argument, but a fish will only grow as large as its environment will allow. IOW you buy a small butterfly and keep it in a small tank it will surely stay small. :biggrin:

Hello all,

Thanks for the replys. Albert I will pop by Gold's this weekend and pick up a Butterfly if you have any.......

Albert, I was in you store about a week or two ago asking about snails that eat green algae. Who ever I was chatting with was a big help and told me to watch for Cerith snails...Was it you? If it was you, did you get an in on the last order????



Thanks



Ken

SOME copperbands will eat aiptasia.

Don't peppermint shrimp eat it also?

Another way I've gotten rid of lot's of aiptasia is to inject boiling water right into the centre of it with a syringe that you can get at the pharmacy. I know it sounds dumb and barbaric, but it works great! :smile:

And I think I had a peppermint shrimp in my 33 gal at one time that liked to eat them.

aphaisa
 

I have good results from "Joes Juice" the big ones and peppermint shrimp the rest.
FWIW

Just like all those small oscars in the small tanks at Petsmart, right Bob?

I vote for the peppermint shrimp. The ones they have at golds right now, cleared my tank of aptasia in less than a week!

Robb

Yes when I made the post I forgot about the exceptions. :redface: . I have grown very large Oscars in small tanks. Regal tangs also appear to grow large. However, to date I have not seen any Butterfly fish, or Angels that outgrow their tanks. If anyone knows differently I would be pleased to hear about it.

What Deb says is also true. Not all CBB's eat Aiptasia. And it is also true that not all species of Peppermint shrimp eat Aiptasia. Probably not all Auriga Butterflies eat Aiptasia, but one that I know about certainly does. :biggrin:

I'd keep something in mind here Bob:

The rule is a mainstay for freshwater fish because many release inhibitor hormones that limit their size based on the water volumes around them. A survival strategy that makes sure the fish doesn't outgrow its potential food sources.

I remember reading somewhere (vague, I know, but I've read it for sure) that marine fish do not rely on this strategy since the ocean, in contrast with freshwater systems, is exponentially bigger.

That being said, though captive angels grow pretty slow, they still grow. I've seen some pretty deformed koran angels; products of 20 gallon tanks. Someone go tell them that they weren't suppose to grow any bigger.

Also worth remembering, in the last issue of Coral, there was an article on the aiptasia eating nudibranch; and how to raise them. I'll have to remember to steal the magazine back off josh before I head to calgary this weekend.

Andy

ive had a copperband in my 75gal and it did a great job of eating aptasia
but he also ate my feather dusters. and he grew very large even though i bought him as a juvenille.
I dont believe the myth" a fish will only grow to the size of its encloure"
try peppermints i haev since replaced my copperband with a few of these critters and they have done just a good job! :biggrin:

I've had 2 CBBs - the first one ate them, the second didn't. You don't want to add a fish on a hunch, IMO. If a Peppermint shrimp is available, so much the better.

I also like the boiling water trick. :biggrin:

Berghia. Man, I wish I could get some of those!

As I said I don't want to resuscitate that old argument. There are a couple of books that give different sizes for wild and captive fish. In all cases the captive size is considerably smaller.
In addition I can see what the Flagfin does in the near future if of course it does not follow the usual trend of dying.

reply
 

Which on do I have?

Another good bet for aptasia removal is the Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, or commonly called the Chevron tang. Very rare too!

check this out:

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/mari...gs/chevron.php