Low Flow, High Bio load, Minimal Mechanical Filtration?

[Louis Z]

It seems that cheap ghost shrimp eat aptasia too . I had small aptasia . They hadn’t grown big yet and the cheap petco ghost shrimp were making it disappear . And ghost shrimp can get in the nooks and crannies . I also caught a lot of mine from the coast . And now the new small lantern basslet has cleaned out my ghost shrimp. I was trying to deliberately grow aptasia to introduce into my 125 FOWLR so as to be a snack for my butterflyfish that love them .
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[Wandering Albatross]

It seems that cheap ghost shrimp eat aptasia too . I had small aptasia . They hadn’t grown big yet and the cheap petco ghost shrimp were making it disappear . And ghost shrimp can get in the nooks and crannies . I also caught a lot of mine from the coast . And now the new small lantern basslet has cleaned out my ghost shrimp. I was trying to deliberately grow aptasia to introduce into my 125 FOWLR so as to be a snack for my butterflyfish that love them .
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I’d donate all of my aiptasia for your butterfly if I could, these things are such a menace. I have quite a few now that are about the size of a 50 cent coin. Many have wedged into the cracks and crevices that my smaller reef fish lived in, forcing them out and causing squabbling over sleeping spots and perches. My blenny is stuck on the sand now in the back corner, and he’s not happy about it.

I’ll look at the ghost shrimp. I don’t mind the extra inverts staying after they finish the job, as long as they won’t pick at corals or other tankmates.

 

[Louis Z]

Ghost shrimp usually become food

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Ghost shrimp usually become food

How big do they get? What usually eats them? Hawkfish or other invert predators? Or just anything that'll eat mysis or brine sized shrimps? If so, unless they're nocturnal shrimp that are very good at hiding during the day, they won't work. I have wrasse that pick all day, and 6 blue sea puppies that'll eat anything that floats by them.

 

[Louis Z]

I would imagine hawkfish will make them gone . I bought a lantern basslet that’s about 2&1/2inches long . He made steady work of them . The ghost shrimp are about 1/2 in long when adult . The shrimp all ate throughout the day . Next trip to the coast I will catch more . They are a good clean up crew in the sump

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I would imagine hawkfish will make them gone . I bought a lantern basslet that’s about 2&1/2inches long . He made steady work of them . The ghost shrimp are about 1/2 in long when adult . The shrimp all ate throughout the day . Next trip to the coast I will catch more . They are a good clean up crew in the sump

I'm googling them now and perhaps they are misnamed where I'm looking, but it says they're freshwater and algae eaters, but make no mention of aiptasia eating capabilities. Perhaps they don't know? How do I acclimate these guys to saltwater, as if they're listed as freshwater by the seller, they're probable held in freshwater? Are they so hardy that it doesn't matter?

 

[vlangel]

I'm googling them now and perhaps they are misnamed where I'm looking, but it says they're freshwater and algae eaters, but make no mention of aiptasia eating capabilities. Perhaps they don't know? How do I acclimate these guys to saltwater, as if they're listed as freshwater by the seller, they're probable held in freshwater? Are they so hardy that it doesn't matter?

Actually they live near where rivers dump into saltwater estuaries so they are both. I used to feed them to my seahorses in full saltwater but I worked at a lfs where they were kept with the freshwater brackish fish.

They probably will not help with your aiptasia issue. They may consume small aiptasia but doubtful they will do anything with big ones.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Actually they live near where rivers dump into saltwater estuaries so they are both. I used to feed them to my seahorses in full saltwater but I worked at a lfs where they were kept with the freshwater brackish fish.

They probably will not help with your aiptasia issue. They may consume small aiptasia but doubtful they will do anything with big ones.

So back to waiting on the berghias then, that's a shame. I'm tempted to add more, as I only see one or two that were blown from the rocks and end up on the glass at night, but I know they're supposed to be able to breed in the tank. I do wonder how effective that breeding actually is though. If they have an 8-10 day free floating larval stage, they'll likely get swept into the overflow, where they'd be removed through various filtration methods. I'm not sure I can risk my skimmer and socks being out of commission for that long. Obviously at least one has survived though.

At this point anything that'll slow it down would be nice....

 

[mcarroll]

I have (at least ordered) 4 peppermints and a half dozen or so berghia over a month ago, and while I see a berghia on the glass from time to time, I've seen no real improvement.

It's possible the berghias are being predated upon by the shrimp (or others) so their progress is being slowed – but if you're still seeing them cruising the tank occasionally, they are still working!

Open cruising might even be a sign that aiptasia are getting harder for them to find – potentially a sign of progress!

Patience is the key for them to work....and sounds like you're well under way!

I have quite a few now that are about the size of a 50 cent coin.

That's huge. I forget if you mentioned this, but have you been broadcast feeding? Flake food?

They need some kind of food source like that to grow huge and sprad to plague proportions.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

It's possible the berghias are being predated upon by the shrimp (or others) so their progress is being slowed – but if you're still seeing them cruising the tank occasionally, they are still working!

Open cruising might even be a sign that aiptasia are getting harder for them to find – potentially a sign of progress!

Patience is the key for them to work....and sounds like you're well under way!

That's huge. I forget if you mentioned this, but have you been broadcast feeding? Flake food?

They need some kind of food source like that to grow huge and sprad to plague proportions.

I've seen no visible signs of change since adding them, I added the peppermints after the fact and they seem uninterested. I could count probably 50 or more aiptasia in one 2ft section of the rocks. I'm suspicious that the largest ones might be stinging fish now too. I'm considering adding more nudis, but they're expensive so it's a battle of wills currently.

I don't use flakes, but due to a dozen+ high energy/special diet fish, I broadcast frozen mysis and brine, sometimes pellets are added, and a seaweed based frozen food minimum 3x a day. The food has to be moving through the central/lower water column without floating up or sinking completely to the sand to get the garden eels their food, and the anthias and chromis groups need several feedings a day to maintain weight. I also have several actively spawning fish that need the extra food. I'm trying to coax my ornate wrasse pair to spawn as well. Perhaps they do and I miss it. So yes, the aiptasia do inadvertently get their share of food. I cannot prevent that with my current inhabitants unfortunately.

 

[mcarroll]

did you say at the beginning this is a 20 gallon tank? From your description it sounds like a 125 gallon. "... on one 2 foot section of rock...". how many 2 foot sections of rock are in your 20 gallon tank? Sounds to me like you might be more than a little bit overstocked.

leaving that aside for the moment…

I think you're going to have to discover a way to stop feeding the aphasia if you want to get a leg up on them.

Switch as much of that feeding as you can to target feeding.

Switch off the water pumps and filtration for as much of the feeding as you can.

Etc.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

did you say at the beginning this is a 20 gallon tank? From your description it sounds like a 125 gallon. "... on one 2 foot section of rock...". how many 2 foot sections of rock are in your 20 gallon tank? Sounds to me like you might be more than a little bit overstocked.

leaving that aside for the moment…

I think you're going to have to discover a way to stop feeding the aphasia if you want to get a leg up on them.

Switch as much of that feeding as you can to target feeding.

Switch off the water pumps and filtration for as much of the feeding as you can.

Etc.

No, the one with the aiptasia problem is a 150g reef, after adding tbs live rock to the sump. The initial thread was asking about my new 20g.

The eels have to have the food come to them, they do not move. They do not take spot feeding. The only fish in that system I can spot feed is the sand sifter goby, because he was taught, I'm guessing when he was held at the lfs.

 

[fish_collector]

I put a copperband butterfly in my frag tank that had a few hundred aiptasia and he has been noticeably eliminating them. A bonus is he eats frozen food as well

 

[Idech]

Can anyone guess my theme?

Please ignore cords, the cord octopus and I are arguing on placement.

Star Wars ?

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I put a copperband butterfly in my frag tank that had a few hundred aiptasia and he has been noticeably eliminating them. A bonus is he eats frozen food as well

Size-wise he'd fit, but how's his temper in a crowded environment? How likely is he to cause problems with my corals? Clam/scallops?

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Star Wars ?

Haha, not quite...

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Size-wise he'd fit, but how's his temper in a crowded environment? How likely is he to cause problems with my corals? Clam/scallops?

Additionally, I have a toadstool, frogspawn, gsp frag, pulsing xenia, and a favia frag, but the goal is for this to grow into a full reef. I've heard mixed reviews on their reef-safety, and if he'll eat my coral or inverts, he won't work long term, and he won't fit in the 50g FOWLR for very long if I move him after he does his job, even if I get him as a baby. I don't want another tank bully like the tominis either, so a no if he's inherently aggressive to other fish. Last point, my rock is gravity locked, not glued in the 150g. with my current stock no one is strong enough to move/topple any of it. Would a full grown CBB be strong enough to knock anything over? Does anyone have a vendor that can source mated pairs, or do they sex-change like clowns/wrasse/angels?

 

[dvgyfresh]

Haha, not quite...

Zoidberg?

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Zoidberg?

I'm gonna go with nope, as I have no idea what that is....

 

[Louis Z]

Wow so many posts . Sorry for not responding quickly . Ghost shrimp I initially got was from petco . One of the employees that had dealt with SW , told me that they were ordering them and putting them in FW . They always seem to die on him so he popped them in SW and they lived . So I bought some to try . And they did well In SW . So I went to the west bay of Galveston Tx and did some netting around the salt grass . Picked up quite a bit . They all lived in Full strength SW but none of them would carry eggs after being caught . So they may need brackish water to spawn and carry , and release .

So as to answer the remark about them eating aptasia . My aptasia farm was very young with all small aptasia and nothing big . So yes I don’t know if they would eat large ones . So now that the lantern bass has cleaned the shrimp out , I can get back to developing the aptasia farm.