copperband butterfly...

[Seriak]

The vinegar will affect you PH a little to a lot depending on how much you use. I used to use vinegar in combination with kalk to keep my pH at the prober level while boosting my calcium levels.

Essentially, if you are getting rid of a couple in this method it should be no big deal. If you are going after 20 like in my tank it might affect your pH.

A pH meter would be handy.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Seriak

A pH meter would be handy.

Actually, an alk test would be better. The introduction of an acid to the tank will lower alk before affecting pH. If the pH drops, you already added too much. That said, I have added large quantities of vinegar (and hydrochloric acid) to my tank without any trouble. As was pointed out, if you're killing a few, the vinegar shouldn't be a problem.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Interesting, I never noticed a drop in my pH but I didn't check my alk after killing a dozen or so aiptasias... I'll do that if I have any more to kill.

Doug

[dekay]

If you ever get another butterfly, try getting the LFS to feed the tank so you can find one that's already eating frozen food. Butterflies are usually picky eaters, but don't let that discourage you. They're beautiful fish.

[Scorpion]

Originally Posted by IslandReefer

Sorry about your copperband butterflyfish. I have never owned one ,but I have read the trick to them is to get them to aclimate and eat . It seems reasonable that a well fed and adjusted butterfly would be motivated to eat aiptasia, after fasting, but aclimate and fatten him up a little first. Once "trained" the word is they are aiptasia eating machines...and then some small polyps, tubeworms,zenia.... etc, depending on the individual fish. The best obligate aiptasia eater is a nudibranch called: Berghia verrucicornis.
here is a couple of sites you might find helpful:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/in...a/aiptasia.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nudifaqs.htm
From one rookie to another,
John

thanks for the articles! i was reading the first article that you posted and it says that you can use hermit crabs (red legged "hairy" hermits). has anyone ever used these hermits before? also... can i find these guys in vancouver? i'm also thinking about getting a peppermint shirmp (not only for the aptasia, but also cause i like the way they look). do these shrimp "play nice" with skunk cleaner shrimps?

[BCOrchidGuy]

Red legged "Hairy hermits? Well there are scarlet legged hermit crabs which are great algae cleaners etc, but there are also the bigger hermits which will eat everything, I doubt they are reef safe. King Ed has both. Peppermint shrimp are a risk in my opinion, they can be great in a reef or they may eat polyps etc. I've had them in my reef and not had any trouble but then I moved some stuff around and they started eating some star polyps and a montipora digitata. Nice thing about Peppermint shrimp is that they spawn all the time if you've got more than one, and all those little shrimp larvae add alot of natural food to the aquarium.

Doug

[dekay]

For critters, go to J&L, they have the best price and always have them in stock:
http://www.jlaquatics.com/static/livestock/janitors.htm

From my experience, red leg hermits aren't reef safe. They were jacking shells off my snails and grew way too fast. IMO blue leg hermits and red scarlet hermits look safer to me, their legs and claws look more flimsy. But then again, they're crabs, don't expect any of them to be 100% reef safe. Another thing I noticed was when the red leg hermits got together. They go crazy and start messing with the snails, at least mine did.

BTW, I don't think hermits eat aptasia.

[Seriak]

I will never overload on blue legged hermits again. I lost at least 20 snails to these guys. I even added miscellaneous empty shells to the tank in hopes they would use those, but they still went after my snails. I have about 4-5 now.

[dekay]

lol, i only have 1 emerald and a blue legged hermit now in terms of crabs. gave away my red legs, they were too aggressive for me. a lot of ppl say scarlet hermits are 100% reef safe though. Maybe that's why they're so much more expensive than the other ones.

[Scorpion]

right now... i have some zebra crabs and blue legged crabs. the zebra crabs are really aggressive. i think they ate all my snails. i've never seen the blue legged ones attack my snails, so i'm guessing they a little nicer.

do the scarlet hermits eat aptasia? i'm mainly trying to get rid of my aptasia. they look so ugly, and they're taking over most of my rock. my shrimp barely has any room to roam around on the rock now.