At the End of My Rope

[abcha0s]

Berghia Nudibranches work for some. They didn't work for me though.

http://www.saltyunderground.com/

As suggested, a matted filefish might also work.

Instead of 2 peppermint shrimp, you could try adding 10 more for a dozen or so total.

Whatever approach you take, it's a numbers game. You need more predators than prey, so to speak.

I solved my problem by throwing out all of my live rock (150 pounds) and starting with new base rock. So far, the strategy seems to have worked. Honestly, the financial loss was worth the end result of being aptasia free.

- Brad

[toxic111]

I have 2 peppermints in my 30 & haven't see one in ages. I had them going crazy in my 12gal JBJ, put a peppermint in, and then had a Bergia Nudibranch show up (friend borrowed one of my rocks to feed some he ordered). That one cleaned my tank clean in 3 days!

[Aquattro]

The first time I bought a filefish, as soon as I dropped it out of the bag it started eating the aptaisia. I had about 200-300 of them, and they were gone in about a month. These are now standard fish for all my tanks.

[reefermadness]

Berghia worked great for me.......

good to hear about the success with filefish though.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

good to hear about the success with filefish though.

also, once they did their job, they just eat regular fish food (flakes, pellets, mysis) and have not toughed anything else. I have some zoos, purple clove polyps (which I wish they would eat) and frogspawn...all safe.

[Skimmerking]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

also, once they did their job, they just eat regular fish food (flakes, pellets, mysis) and have not toughed anything else. I have some zoos, purple clove polyps (which I wish they would eat) and frogspawn...all safe.

So Brad with all my Frogspawns and Hammer's Acans Clams the file fish wont be a problem

[asylumdown]

Over a year I spent over 1200 dollars on Berghia nudibranch's when you consider shipping. I had a similar problem in a 90 gallon - the aiptasia had reached plague proportions and it seemed like everything I did was only making the problem worse.

My take on Berghia is that in a mature reef tank with all the types of mechanical filtration you probably have is that they're probably not going to be worth the exorbitant expense. They're easily the most expensive 'solution' to aiptasia, but in a tank your size, with the number of aiptasia you have, you will literally need hundreds of Berghia to make a dent. The companies that sell them claim they will breed in your tank, but my experience did not reflect that. There are about a dozen little critters that love to eat their eggs in any one mature reef tank, and I'm pretty sure that Berghia's go through a pelagic larval stage that means creating a self sustaining colony in a tank with a sump, skimmer, any sort of mechanical filtration, etc. is not possible. So unless you're willing to start your own little aiptasia farm in a smaller secondary tank and raise Berghia's in more conducive conditions, you're probably never going to be able to afford the number of nudibranch's you'd need to get ahead of the problem if it's as bad as mine was. Raising them on your own is of course an option, and there's lots of instructions on how to do it online. However, while it is in theory "easy" to raise berghia, I find it's "easy" on the same level that raising clown fish fry is "easy". The rarity and cost of each nudibranch really is a testament to how few people can or would bother.

Either way I feel your pain. My aiptasia problem was only solved by the breakdown of my tank, but if I had kept it, I would have gone either the Butterfly fish or filefish route. If you've got the kind of aiptasia that reproduce at the slightest irritation (and I'm convinced that there is a type that's more likely to do this), then chemical solutions won't work either (I tried them all).

Good luck!

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

So Brad with all my Frogspawns and Hammer's Acans Clams the file fish wont be a problem

My filefish ate the aptasia but also eats my LPS. Leaves my zoas and sps alone. However it seems the coral preference varies with these fish, but they all seem to eat aptasia.

[chandigz]

If you have peppermint or cleaner shrimp and most wrasses they will often eat the bergia nudis. Not all peppermint shrimp will eat aptasia. Only certain species.

[Proteus]

my peppermints havent touched the aptasia

but what i found that works is nitric acid

i tried the lemon juice and sure it kept it at bay for a day or two but always to return

i use standard issue general hydroponics ph down it has a ph or 3 so its pretty stong apply the same as lemon juice

hasnt hurt anything yet i did have a large aptasia on one of my clams and the clam wasnt bothered when i shot the aptasia full of nitric acid