Berghia for Aiptasia

[Delatedlotus]

File fish and peppermint shrimp killed all of mine and keep it in check. I've only seen 1 aiptasia pop back up in the last 3 months. They seem to kill them before they are noticeable.

I truly understand just that..! I just didn't want to add fish for this as my thinking is kind of like the berghia. When the Aiptasia is gone what do they depend on..? I know frozen reef food, flakes, and pellets. But the Aiptasia they do depend on that's why they specialize in just doing that.. is hopefully gone now. They do get trained to depend on much easier food... Kind of like tank raised Peppermint's.. Does that make sense..?

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

Back in Aug I purchased 5 Berghia for about 20-30 aiptasia. No improvement at all, actually way worse probably 100 Aiptasia now. I spent $150 with the shipping for no improvement. So my question is does anyone know how many i would need now and where is the most affordable place to buy some. I’m getting desperate because they are killing my soft corals. I do not have a wrasse or peppermint shrimp so I not sure what happened to the first ones i bought. Thanks in advance!

I understand your stress Crystal....I have a 210 gallon tank and every rock is covered with aiptasia....I have many wrasse so I can't use nudibranchs, although I would love to (try Dinkins Aquatic for the nudibranchs, they are incredible for service, quality and value). I'm have an Aiptasia Eating Filefish, but although he/she is thriving, it refuses to touch the aiptasia...bummer....so I am gonna try some manual removal with Aiptasia X and Joes Juice, both work, but are a huge job to do it. Try the Julians Thing device to apply it, works great, available at BRS. My next step is a Copperband Butterfly. I've seen so many in reef aquariums and seem to be quite good with corals, I focus on SPS, so least likely to be bothered. Seems the Copperband is great at eating aiptasia. Fingers crossed. Maybe next step is a Kleini Butterfly, but get the one with the dark stripe on face.

 

[Delatedlotus]

About 10 months ago I put 20 Berghias purchased from Dinkins Aquatic Gardens into my 150 gallon reef. Then 3 months later I put in another 30 Berghias. I didnt have a major aptasia outbreak at the time but I wanted to get ahead of it. I have heard Berghias described as a wild fire that will multiply quickly, eat all the aptasia, then die quickly once the aptasia are gone. Based on m,y experience I don't think this is true. A month ago (which was 6 months since the last time I added Berghias) I found two Berghias in my sump. Since adding the Berghias I have had no visible aptasia anywhere in my system besides on my two locline return nozzles which are covered in aptasia and most likley inacessible to the Berghias. I don't have any other aptasia eating animals in my tank so I can only assume that the Berghias have been doing their job and surviving in my tank for many months.

I don't like to tell people what to do with there tanks.. I hope this will help you, I would get some peppermints and and a needled syringe ranch supple store $4.50. Turn some wild peppermints loose in tank, and syringe white vinegar directly and very FAST straight into the mouth of the aptasia ONE fast very short squirt. As there mouths can not close..! Yes they can not they cant! They will retract and then explode! They POP.. Dead, gone, deceased, never see it again.. Do this around your walls and any out going water supply where shrimps cant climb or get access to.. Short fast bust's BUT not to much in a day. As vinegar is carbon dosing, 10ml in a syringe should do about 6 or 7 Aptasia at least.. Wait till the next day or two and then do it again! Good luck my friend.. But have the white bugs worked at all...! That is the most imporant thing..?

 

[Delatedlotus]

I understand your stress Crystal....I have a 210 gallon tank and every rock is covered with aiptasia....I have many wrasse so I can't use nudibranchs, although I would love to (try Dinkins Aquatic for the nudibranchs, they are incredible for service, quality and value). I'm have an Aiptasia Eating Filefish, but although he/she is thriving, it refuses to touch the aiptasia...bummer....so I am gonna try some manual removal with Aiptasia X and Joes Juice, both work, but are a huge job to do it. Try the Julians Thing device to apply it, works great, available at BRS. My next step is a Copperband Butterfly. I've seen so many in reef aquariums and seem to be quite good with corals, I focus on SPS, so least likely to be bothered. Seems the Copperband is great at eating aiptasia. Fingers crossed. Maybe next step is a Kleini Butterfly, but get the one with the dark stripe on face.

Dude did you read my post...?? Just sayin... Fish eat food. SHRIMP why the heck not.. Terrible out break here for months and months and it was gone totally in 3 days... Your ordered fish would have not even acclimated totally yet.. Mine was gone in 3 days...!

 

[Delatedlotus]

I understand your stress Crystal....I have a 210 gallon tank and every rock is covered with aiptasia....I have many wrasse so I can't use nudibranchs, although I would love to (try Dinkins Aquatic for the nudibranchs, they are incredible for service, quality and value). I'm have an Aiptasia Eating Filefish, but although he/she is thriving, it refuses to touch the aiptasia...bummer....so I am gonna try some manual removal with Aiptasia X and Joes Juice, both work, but are a huge job to do it. Try the Julians Thing device to apply it, works great, available at BRS. My next step is a Copperband Butterfly. I've seen so many in reef aquariums and seem to be quite good with corals, I focus on SPS, so least likely to be bothered. Seems the Copperband is great at eating aiptasia. Fingers crossed. Maybe next step is a Kleini Butterfly, but get the one with the dark stripe on face.

I do sincerely hope that your new Copperband and the Kleini Butterfly with the dark stripe on face
are raised on eating Aiptasia. Fingers crossed here as well only because of the sellers tanks don't have any for them to feed on ever!. They are feed frozen, flakes, and pellets for how long..? Who knows.. Not all Peppermints will eat Aiptasia but..... Fresh Wild Caught specialty eaters is your absolute best chance of getting anything to eat Aiptasia.. 3-days huge, huge, infestation gone, done, eliminated! 280lbs of live rock covered gone! For cheap as well..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Royce White]

Back in Aug I purchased 5 Berghia for about 20-30 aiptasia. No improvement at all, actually way worse probably 100 Aiptasia now. I spent $150 with the shipping for no improvement. So my question is does anyone know how many i would need now and where is the most affordable place to buy some. I’m getting desperate because they are killing my soft corals. I do not have a wrasse or peppermint shrimp so I not sure what happened to the first ones i bought. Thanks in advance!

A file fish cleaned my aiptasia out in 2 weeks and I haven't seen any more in 2 years.

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

I do sincerely hope that your new Copperband and the Kleini Butterfly with the dark stripe on face
are raised on eating Aiptasia. Fingers crossed here as well only because of the sellers tanks don't have any for them to feed on ever!. They are feed frozen, flakes, and pellets for how long..? Who knows.. Not all Peppermints will eat Aiptasia but..... Fresh Wild Caught specialty eaters is your absolute best chance of getting anything to eat Aiptasia.. 3-days huge, huge, infestation gone, done, eliminated! 280lbs of live rock covered gone! For cheap as well..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you explain what exactly you used that ate the aiptasia? Fresh wild caught?

 

[Delatedlotus]

Can you explain what exactly you used that ate the aiptasia? Fresh wild caught?

Peppermint Shrimp.... From Saltwaterfish.com "Wild Caught Peppermint Shrimp" I called and talked to the owner. And they had the best deal, and they where wild caught. Harvested right out of the ocean held a very short time and then sold.. **NOT tank raised out of some ones shrimp hatchery, raised on pellets and flakes. Even my largest major supplier couldn't get me that, and again for the monies either. I did my homework and to all you don't have to.. Get some... Good Luck

 

[Uncle99]

A file fish cleaned my aiptasia out in 2 weeks and I haven't seen any more in 2 years.

Same here, filefish 2 weeks, but then rehomed him so he don’t pick at my corals.

 

[Poulpo]

Wow, that's a lot of interest around berghia and aiptasia. Here is a method that worked perfect for me and can be started with only two berghia. This is the resulting method from my trial and errors. I had a few thousands aiptasias at the time of the start (200 gal aquarium overfedd with copepod and other stuff). I ordered six berghias in october and in february I couldn't spot any. At the end, I could spot at night a hundred berghias wandering on on every corner of the tank trying to find a last aiptasia. I trade a part of them and the rest disappeard quite quickly (a few week after the last aiptasia).

You only need time. First effect 2-3 month after start. The worst the infestation the best it will work.

Step 0: Check that there is no peppermint shrimp in the tank (eat the berghias). In my experience, wrasses are no problem as berghias are nocturnal, they will be hidden under rocks during the day.

Step 1: Take two (or more) 1-2 gal plastic or glass container and put some seawater from your tank. I personnaly used 20L transparent storing boxes from IKEA with the lid almost closed (a pencil in the corner for gas exchange) but smaller container should be just fine. Place it in a dark (so no algae growth) temperate place (20—25°C). Then capture a few aiptasia without damaging them too much (that's the hard part). Easiest way is to scrape the ones that are on the glass or the one that grows on macro algae. Feed them a little and take care of removing every bit of algae or rock in the container (lot of tiny critter eat baby berghia). This is the crucial part that made the difference between successful culture and nothing happend. Change some water once a week to keep the water quality in check (but not too much, aiptasia love dirty water). When you see around 10 aiptasia from different sizes in every container, order a couple of berghia.

Step 2: Change the water before putting the two berghia in the container. Watch them feast on the berghias for a few days and lay eggs everywhere. When they have eaten half of the berghias, moove them to the next container (use a plastic pipette for capture) . When you run out of container, capture the berghias and place them near your worse infestation spot in the main tank (the best is to do it at night) and cross your finger (Hopefully you will soon spot 20 to 40 new berghias in each container).

Step 3: Wait for one month to six weeks. Cover the container so the evaporation is reduced. If necessary, compensate with RODI and agitate with a spoon so the salinity is even. Don't put any airstone, heater, food. Waterchange is not necessary. Egg should hatch around one week after beeing laid. Then nothing is visible for a few weeks. Use this time to capture more aiptasia and put them in a new container. Do not disturb the containers with the invisible baby nudibranch.

Step 5: One day you will see very small berghias. They will grow quite fast but they get more and more hungry as they grow so feeding them can become a problem. You can capture the biggest and feed them in an other container with some aiptasia infested rock until they are big enough to be put in the main tank. Start making a list of people who will be interested by some of the offspring.

Step 6: Put most baby berghias in the main tank and save a couple to try to raise a new generation in more plastic container... The limit will be the supply of aiptasias. Watch the population of aiptasia receed in the main tank and trade as much berghias as you can as they will soon all vanish...

I will soon restart berghia farming as the aiptasia are slowly back (three years later) so if you are near Geneva Switzerland, send me a message. This time I will try to document a little better the attempt so I may start a new thread with all this.

Good luck.

Serge

 

[Crystal08]

Wow, that's a lot of interest around berghia and aiptasia. Here is a method that worked perfect for me and can be started with only two berghia. This is the resulting method from my trial and errors. I had a few thousands aiptasias at the time of the start (200 gal aquarium overfedd with copepod and other stuff). I ordered six berghias in october and in february I couldn't spot any. At the end, I could spot at night a hundred berghias wandering on on every corner of the tank trying to find a last aiptasia. I trade a part of them and the rest disappeard quite quickly (a few week after the last aiptasia).

You only need time. First effect 2-3 month after start. The worst the infestation the best it will work.

Step 0: Check that there is no peppermint shrimp in the tank (eat the berghias). In my experience, wrasses are no problem as berghias are nocturnal, they will be hidden under rocks during the day.

Step 1: Take two (or more) 1-2 gal plastic or glass container and put some seawater from your tank. I personnaly used 20L transparent storing boxes from IKEA with the lid almost closed (a pencil in the corner for gas exchange) but smaller container should be just fine. Place it in a dark (so no algae growth) temperate place (20—25°C). Then capture a few aiptasia without damaging them too much (that's the hard part). Easiest way is to scrape the ones that are on the glass or the one that grows on macro algae. Feed them a little and take care of removing every bit of algae or rock in the container (lot of tiny critter eat baby berghia). This is the crucial part that made the difference between successful culture and nothing happend. Change some water once a week to keep the water quality in check (but not too much, aiptasia love dirty water). When you see around 10 aiptasia from different sizes in every container, order a couple of berghia.

Step 2: Change the water before putting the two berghia in the container. Watch them feast on the berghias for a few days and lay eggs everywhere. When they have eaten half of the berghias, moove them to the next container (use a plastic pipette for capture) . When you run out of container, capture the berghias and place them near your worse infestation spot in the main tank (the best is to do it at night) and cross your finger (Hopefully you will soon spot 20 to 40 new berghias in each container).

Step 3: Wait for one month to six weeks. Cover the container so the evaporation is reduced. If necessary, compensate with RODI and agitate with a spoon so the salinity is even. Don't put any airstone, heater, food. Waterchange is not necessary. Egg should hatch around one week after beeing laid. Then nothing is visible for a few weeks. Use this time to capture more aiptasia and put them in a new container. Do not disturb the containers with the invisible baby nudibranch.

Step 5: One day you will see very small berghias. They will grow quite fast but they get more and more hungry as they grow so feeding them can become a problem. You can capture the biggest and feed them in an other container with some aiptasia infested rock until they are big enough to be put in the main tank. Start making a list of people who will be interested by some of the offspring.

Step 6: Put most baby berghias in the main tank and save a couple to try to raise a new generation in more plastic container... The limit will be the supply of aiptasias. Watch the population of aiptasia receed in the main tank and trade as much berghias as you can as they will soon all vanish...

I will soon restart berghia farming as the aiptasia are slowly back (three years later) so if you are near Geneva Switzerland, send me a message. This time I will try to document a little better the attempt so I may start a new thread with all this.

Good luck.

Serge

Thank you for this information. I am going to give this a try. I found a person I can buy some from sorta near me. I wish I was close to Geneva Switzerland. That sounds like a magical place to be. I’m in Texas unfortunately pretty far away.

 

[Sticker shock]

So I know you’ve heard it all already in this thread, but I just want to point out that aiptasia x in combination with berghia is a magic combination. Check out my build thread and you can see what I dealt with. but here’s a quick summary.

75 gallon with peppermint shrimp and a leopard wrasse infested with aiptasia (1000s of them)
bought 12 berghia
added 9 together in display, and 3 in the sump. When added to the tank keep them all in the same area. You need them to breed
i occasionally fed the sump with whatever aiptasia I could pull out of the display ( pulled from sandbed or small frag rocks
hit the biggest aiptasia with aiptasia x right before lights out and the berghia come running for clean up duty. It’s like ringing a dinner bell for them

took a few months but everything was cleared up. Aiptasia free for the last month or 2

as a bonus I was able to recoup all my berghia investment by rehoming once everything cleared.

 

[Royce White]

Same here, filefish 2 weeks, but then rehomed him so he don’t pick at my corals.

I haven't had any problems with my file and ifthere are any aiptasia I haven't seen them.

 

[noelskii]

I use IC-Gel and Putty. Take some putty and put some ICGel on it and put it on the aiptasia. If the rock is super porous, the aiatasia can possibly move to a different spot on the rock- but keep doing it until it has nowhere to move.

I’m currently Aiptasia free for maybe 3 months now.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Thank you for this information. I am going to give this a try. I found a person I can buy some from sorta near me. I wish I was close to Geneva Switzerland. That sounds like a magical place to be. I’m in Texas unfortunately pretty far away.

Yeah something in your tank definitely got them you should have started seeing results by now . If you can somehow harvest some of the aiptasia I'd be willing to trade you berghias for aiptasia I know sounds crazy lol

 

[EUPHYILLAADDICTION]

I had an aptasia take over in my 80g i put a file fish in and literally 1 week gone over 200 aptasia all sizes !

 

[Starbuxxx]

I had an aptasia take over in my 80g i put a file fish in and literally 1 week gone over 200 aptasia all sizes !

Yea my file fish has an infinite stomach. Took care of aiptasia and still they'll eat whatever I throw in there.

 

[EUPHYILLAADDICTION]

Yea my file fish has an infinite stomach. Took care of aiptasia and still they'll eat whatever I throw in there.

Always an the hunt like they dont get fed!!

 

[Delatedlotus]

Good Morning Reefers. As I mentioned above they cleared out all my Aiptasia in 2-3 days! Read my comments above if this helps anyone with a serious Aiptasia problem great and I hope helps everyone!. This is with minimum effort and cost I just found this https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/video/newbie-tank-build/aiptasia-update/ And I do believe he's right on the monies... Only because it worked for me extremely FAST! And no messing around with all the set-up and extra's! And huge monies!. Have a great day and keep your fingers dry...lol

 

[Miguel.PT]

Hello fellow reefers.
I purchased 2 berghia and kept them on a breeder box on the side of my tank where I put some rocks with aiptasia… the thing is… I noticed that I just could see one after some time and tonight I was checking my fish after lights go off and I had a sight of a HUGE nudibranch that I discovered that was the one that got out of the breeder. Is it normal for them to reach 4-5cm?? That was a surprise. Been feasting on aiptasia so it’s mega fat!

Thanks for your feedback in advance.