3 questions

1. Should there be forum for just pests....bristle worms(not imo), aiptaisa, etc...

2. What eats Aiptasia? Copperbanded Butterfly fish? I just found two more and that makes 6 this week.

3. I know that you introduce them through the addition of corals and live rock, but what makes them live so well and how can I prevent them?

 

1. It would be nice.

2. I believe a type of hermit crab does eat them, the copperband butterfly fish does eat them though but I'd only get one if you don't have any corals or inverts they might pick on them too.

3. Aptasia can grow almost ANYWHERE they are tough. The only thing you can do is clean & disinfect any live rock you get which can be hard as the anemones withdraw into the rock while cleaning.

 

I blast them with Kalk paste and that gets em, but when I really look I keep finding one more...one more...one more...know what I mean?

I did a TAG search and found a bunch of articles....I'm gonna go do some reading! Thanks!!

 

I have 2 pepermint shrimp in my 75, there were quite a few Aps in it whe I first set it up but thse two wiped them out in a matter of days.

 

peppermints will do it

 

i had some on a few rocks i broke them up and put the aptasia in my fuge and they def multiplied faster in there, and i have not seen any in the display since.
ive heard of other people keeping them in the fuge, cause they use nutrients ect.
seems to be keeping them out of my display for the time being.its been about 8 months since i put them in there.


and i may have noticed something about peps. ive had two kinds of peps(not camels) one variety had a darker blueish tail.(this type did not eat aptasia) and another variety that had the same color all the way down(this type i did see eat aptasia)
maybe nothing but it was something i took notice of.

 

Did you do a search? There are a million (or a lot anyway) of threads on aiptasia.
Search the invert board.

 

are peppermints compatible with coral banded shrimp?

 

said this before you posted...;D

 

Yes, Peppermint shrimp are compatible with Coral Bandeds.
As for the aiptasia anemones and their toughness, they are symbiotic and thus contain zooxanthellae, so this in and of itself makes them very hardy. This and the fact that they are filter feeders and we tend to have elevated nutrient levels in our tanks adds to this.
Peppermint shrimp will feed on the smaller ones as would a Copperband Butterfly but they are not very reef safe!