Aptasia and Bubble Algae issue

[Thunderrapson]

Good afternoon fellow reefers! I have a 2 part question that I hope someone could help me with that I'll break down below. Background information on my tank, I have a Waterbox Cube 20 that has been running for about 1.5 years now. Current stock is a six-line wrasse, blood orange clown, 3 striped damsel, emerald crab (new edition), peppermint shrimp (new edition), and various CUC (my astrea turbo snails did have baby's and I'm still pulling a bunch out).

1) Aptasia issue - I have at least 3 that I can see that I am not able to get to with glue, and I've tried aptasia-x but had zero luck with it. I recently purchased a peppermint shrimp (this Tuesday actually) and I know it takes time for them to get settled but I'm curious, is one enough for a 20gal tank, or do I need to get more? Am I wasting my time with peppermint shrimp?

2) Bubble Algae - I have been dosing 2ml Vibrant twice a week going on three weeks now and it doesn't seem to be doing anything to it. I've taken out the rocks that I can and scraped and cleaned them off and I recently put in an emerald crab (same time as the peppermint shrimp) to hopefully help get it under control. Is Vibrant the way to go or does anyone have any other ways that they beat it?

 

[york1]

I have had great luck with peppermint shrimp ive gotten from nemos duluth I keep 3 in my biocube 32 and my 25 Lagoon. berghia nudibranch work great if you can fin some. I never had luck with aiptasia x but joe's juice has worked for me in the past.

Bubbles algae can be a pain. Make sure you phosphates and nitrates are under control. remove as much as you can manually. Emerald crabs can be hit and miss. https://www.reefcleaners.org/ guarantees the emeralds they sell will eat bubbles algae

 

[Steve Burton]

1. If your peppermint eats aiptasia, I expect one will be plenty for a 20 gallon tank with only a few visible. Only time will tell if yours will indeed eat it, but if you don't see a reduction in a week or so I would start looking for another peppermint or a file fish.

2. I don't have experience with Vibrant on bubble algae, but I had a terrible infestation of hair algae, and when I first started the Vibrant I saw no improvement until well after the three week mark. I'm in the middle of week 8 now and the progress has been tremendous, I have no doubt of complete success in a few more weeks. I would continue with it if I were you.

Good luck on both.

 

[Gabridge83]

Peppermint shrimp have been hit or miss with us when it comes to Aptasia. Some go after it some don’t it’s just luck of the draw. I wouldn’t use Aptasia X. That’s been the easiest way for them to multiply for us.

Emerald crabs have don’t the best work for us when it came to bubble algae. We tried Vibrant for a long time and it never seem to fix the problem.

One peppermint shrimp and emerald crab should also be enough for your tank.

 

[Thunderrapson]

Thank you guys! I’ll give the peppermint a little longer to see if he’ll go after it and if not I’ll head over to Nemo’s. @Steve Burton Would a file fish be to much for my tank with my current stock? I’ll keep going with the vibrant and hopefully I’ll start seeing a reduction, at least it’s not hurting my tank at all.

 

[sharis100]

Heisenberg might have berghia nudibranchs. Peppermints typically hunt in groups- make sure you get actual peppermints as lookalikes can be harmful to coral. Emerald crabs from reef cleaners usually eat bubble algae to keep it in check.

 

[Thunderrapson]

welp, went to Nemo's and picked up a peppermint shrimp from them. As soon as it hit the bottom of the tank it walked over to one of the aptasia and was just about to do something with it when BAM out of nowhere my six-line picks it up and begins to relentlessly torment the poor thing. I couldn't get it out in time and sadly the rest of my cuc had an $8 snack. I guess it's either use Joe's juice to get rid of it or figure out how to get that mean SOB out of my tank.

 

[york1]

A fish trap would be the best way to get the six line out

 

[gill]

I spent years battling aiptasia. Tried everything: peppermint shrimp, aiptasia-x, physical removal. My tank is currently and blessedly free of nuisance anemone. There is a magic solution...

A standard brown "aiptasia-eating" Filefish. The fish deserves a better name. But the name says it all. Done. And I mean DONE. Within 2 weeks. And no, it doesn't bother any corals. But then I don't have palys and zoas. It constantly picks at the rock looking for food. It has never bothered polyps on my SPS, and it certainly does not mess with the LPS. I got one small one for a 200 gallon DT. DONE.

 

[AWarnick]

It’s new name is Apstasia Doombringer filefish


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[AWarnick]

If you market under the babolactus lineage and guaranteed apstasia destruction you can change $400 per fish


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[Dmac]

+1 on the filefish, but it's hit or miss. Grabbed one from Nemo and did nothing. Bought one from an ARC member and within 1 week it was gone. Just to put it into perspective, I had a full-blown infestation, couldn't count how many I had. Also purchased some nudi's but they were too slow and I could never find them so I wasn't sure if my wrasse got them or what.

 

[Gdel]

Regarding the bubble algae, I was at WWC in Orlando and their guys said to just get into a routine of picking it off with tweezers or foresepts. They don’t think pinching
them off causes any spreading unless you have a major nutrient problem. I’ve been following this routine and so far, my problem hasn’t gotten any worse.

 

[Andrew32]

Ihad a really bad infestation (still there but under control). dropped 3 emerald crabs in a 65 and it cleared it up in a few weeks around all corals and rockwork. just got to get the last few groups where the crabs cant get to em.

 

[Betterwhereitswetter]

I don't have any left for sale, but Blue Leg Hermit crabs would work on your algae issues really quick. You can usually get them in the stores for 2-3 bucks each and they are worth it. They will take care of it on your rocks, sand and as far up as they can reach on the glass. Just my .02 they will take care of the algae issue quicker then the emerald crab. Good luck!

 

[darrrenjmartin]

Good . I battled bubble and apstasia for decades and permanently solved with Vibrant and filefish.
Bad. Now it turns out my tank might be to clean ?
and my first ever outbreak of Dino since 1990.