

Although they are considered reef safe, when underfed they have been known to pick at the occasional coral polyp.

Unfortunately, Peppermint Shrimp, just like everything else can present the occasional problem meaning that they aren't a perfect solution. If you run out of Aiptasia in your tank, they will happily chow down on standard foods and wait for the next crop of anemones to grow. One of the best parts of the shrimp is that they come in at a reasonable price point and are very easy to take care of meaning that they can be an easy long-term solution to an invasion. Peppermint shrimp are typically considered to be reef safe and should get along with other peaceful species. Although they will eat any size Aiptasia, they are great at taking down little ones and can help prevent an outbreak without you ever knowing. These voracious little shrimp will cruise around your tank eating all kinds of detritus, parasites, and most importantly Aiptasia. Thanks to mother nature, there is a better option for aiptasia control in our reef tanks - The Aiptasia Hit Squad! The Aiptasia Eliminating Hit Squad Peppermint Shrimpįirst up we have the Peppermint Shrimp. It only takes one tiny Aiptasia to re-infest your tank. Each of these work great in their own right but will require constant use to make sure that you have truly ended your infestation for good. There’s a variety of products and equipment out there such as Aiptasia X from Red Sea, Joe’s Juice, and the Majano Wand designed to kill Aiptasia specifically. This sort of practice gives the little pest nems the perfect opportunity to infiltrate your tank and multiply. They spread throughout your tank quickly, will sting corals, and start to take over the precious real estate inside your tank.Īlthough Aiptasia can be easily avoided by following standard quarantine procedures and dipping your corals, most hobbyists tend to just drop new aquatic friends into the display after a quick acclimation without sweating the rest. The most common way for these pests to make their way into your tank is as a hitchhiker with new corals, live rock, or macroalgae. The odds are, if you’ve seen one, then you’ve seen many because they are prolific.

If you’ve had a reef tank for any real stretch of time, it's more likely than not that you’ve seen an Aiptasia Anemone. Pingback: Aiptasia Eaters: Eradicating This Pest Anemone - Reefs.What are Aiptasia and How Do You Get Rid of Them? Tags: aiptasia, aiptasia anemone, aiptasia eating filefish, berghia nudi, copperband butterfly, peppermint shrimp One Response to Aiptasia Eaters: Eradicating This Pest Anemone
#WHICH PEPPERMINT SHRIMP EAT AIPTASIA FREE#
To stay up to date on the latest saltwater reef aquarium topics and news sign up for a FREE account here! Good luck and have fun watching your new critters help you fight the evil aiptasia! Hitch hikers do not put up No Vacancy signs when occupying your stuff so you will need to just assume they are already there. If you have a problem in your tank you can post it in the REEF DISCUSSION FORUM and we will help you! Always pay attention to the rocks and frags you buy. There are tons of ways to prevent and eradicate aiptasia. It is best to try to remove or kill the larger aiptasia to help the animals focus on the smaller hard to reach ones. Once they seem to enjoy eating them you can try to put them back in your display. The floating particles will entice curiosity at the very least and possible help them acquire the taste for your worst enemy. If they still do not want to try to eat one you can actually take a large aiptasia, chop it up as best you can, and dump it in the tank with the fish like you would mysis shrimp. Once they get hungry enough they begin to forage through the rock and may stumble onto the aiptasis, thus triggering their need to eat more. Simply setup a quarantine tank with a rock that has aiptasia on it and leave the creatures in the tank for a week or so. If your fish or shrimp is not eating them you can attempt to train them to. Copperband butterfly fish image via Īiptasia removal can be a chore.
