aiptasia?

gonephishin'

it looks like i have some aiptasia (very small) that is growing on the shells of my hermit crabs? at first it was on a shell that was abandoned but recently i have seen it on other occupied/non-abandoned shells...
it appears to have a hard bright white covering/outer coating that it goes back into when distrubed..
how should i handle, please advise?

SKAustin

Without knowing more about your tank, ie size, filtration, inhabitants, the only recommendation I could make is to get yourself a peppermint shrimp. They are a natural predator of the aiptasia. I have two Reefs set up. Both had an aiptasia problem in the beginning, both were stocked with a peppermint shrimp, neither has a single aiptasia anemone remaining.

caferacermike

Joe's Juice works excellent. Another excellent method is to make your own "juice" from Kalk powder. Another common name is Pickling Lime. Buy the pickling lime at any Walmart for about $3 for 2 lbs. Much better than $10 a 1/4lb at the fish store. Use about a tablespoon of powder to a few drops of water. Once it creates a thick paste suck it into a syringe or eye dropper. Squirt some directly into the open mouth area of the anemone and then try to coat the body once retracted. This is the serious method for taking out Aptasia and Majano anemones.


Peps are a great addition but tend to only eat small juvenile specimens. Some will eat adult anemones but it's a lot more of a rarity.

SKAustin

Mike, not all wal-mart stores carry pickling lime year round. Up here, it's a seasonal item. I'm sure it can be found at other places up here year round. Personally, Ive learned that pickling lime doesnt dissolve as well as Kalk powder, so Ive stuck with the kalk since I use it for my top off. Therefore, I couldnt be much help in suggesting an alternate source for the Pickling Lime.

SKAustin

AGWAY