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what species is best to fight aiptasia??

is there a maximum number of peppermints that i can put in my 90 gallon? right now i have 2 cleaner shrimp. are copperbands safe for a reef tank? i am reading mixed reviews on the topic. besides injecting the pest with lime juice, can you guys tell what animals you use to control the population please. thank you.

professor
 
The Copperband Butterfly eats it but once the aiptasia is gone you may have trouble getting it to eat anything else. I have 2 peppermint shrimps in my 120 and they seem to have it under control. Aiptasia was growing in my tank but since I've gotten the peppermints I've not seen anymore of it.
 
I had a copperband in each of my reef tanks. Never had a issue getting them to eat mysis shrimp. They can really keep the aips in ck. Had to buy them on faith as neither one ate at the store, then are a bit skidish when first introduced
 
Copperband butterfly's are great at eating Aiptasia's but I would make sure they are eating at the store before you buy it. As to whether they are reef safe, that depends on the fish

Harry
 
2 in my 90 cleared things up in side of a few weeks...the problem is whether or not they are hungry. If they get a good diet from food the fish don't eat, they may get lazy...

Kenny Z.
 
While I think the best approach to dealing with Aiptasia is NAPALM, I was finally able to get the suckers out of my 40 with a Berghia Nudibranch. Absolutely fish sells them in Clifton for $30. They will die after all the Aip is gone, but it's a worthy sacrifice in my opinion.
 
In my limited experience I have used peppermint shrimp with good success in a reef tank. ;) They were eventually eaten by my Marine Betta! ::)

A Copperbanded Butterfly in FOWLR tank that scarfed down all the aptasia, then stopped eating! :'(


So you can try the biological approach with nudibrach or peppermint shrimp before using toxins like Joe's Juice.

JMO

D
 
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