[numisticman]

Hello everyone/ (anyone)?

I have a 90 gallon reef and fish set up. I have 1 Volitan Lionfish, 1 lawnmower Blennie and 1 yellow watchman goby. 9 pcs of coral mostly mushrooms , 2 leathers, and 1 orange sun coral. it was established and torn down. I have had it up and running for over 10 months. I was using power compact lighting. I finally broke down and bought Metal Halides about 2 months ago. and now I am begining to see aptasia. so I read about these little [email protected]$*@&Ds...... I've tried the hot water blast, the highly concentated salt balst, the (I will not use the products name) Blank juice, and Calcium blast. The calcium seemed to work the best but It has not stopped them!! I read that peppermint shrimp will eat aptasia, but Lion fish eat shrimp. I have also read that the copperband butterfly will help remove these nuisances? But I have also read that they are difficult fish to get to eat.

So I would like to get some imput on. (1) cures for aptasia?
and (2) how hard is it to keep The Copperband Butterfly Fish?

Thank you so much for reading and replying!!!

Numisticman

 

[Hop]

The CBB is best left in the ocean IMO. They can be very difficult to keep and I've heard that less that 20% make it to our tanks and even less survive. Gorgeous fish, but such a poor survivability rate I'll never own one again.

True peppermint shrimp and actually removing the apt by manual means will do just fine

 

[crvz]

The CBB is really tricky to acclimate, and they just have a terrible survival rate in captivity. I'm with Hop, buy a half dozen peppermint shrimp and see how they do (they work great for me).

 

[skey44]

lion fish love to eat shrimp guys...
I agree about their survivability being lackluster, but every now and then there are great specimens available on Live Aquaria's "Diver's Den" if you have to get one i'd get it there- acclimated eating and guaranteed maybe even get an australian which will help ensure their "net caughtness". usually the problem they have after they start eating is they run out of aiptasia and they cannot compete w/ tangs and angels for free floating food bc of that measley little mouth and their shyness. in a tank as quiet as yours i think you have a better shot than most.

 

[Seaweed88]

I have had good luck with the *** juice. I have had no luck with the CBB.

 

[Loverotties]

I used a kalk pasty injection.

 

[kyrie_eleison]

I loved my Copperband...right up to the point of him dying. I just don't get it. I seriously don't. Beautiful fish but high mortality rate. Once all your feather dusters and aptaisia are dead, they starve b/c they have a difficult time competing with other fish. For a long time, I looked at a reef aquarium as being somewhat incomplete w/o a copperband butterfly but I realize they aren't meant to be kept in a tank.

Most people I know tell me it's hit or miss and most of the time it's miss. It really sux. Aptasia is bad but a dead copperband is far worse. Do the joe's juice thing and leave the delicate creatures in the ocean.

 

[wolfe4372]

Hello everyone/ (anyone)?

I have a 90 gallon reef and fish set up. I have 1 Volitan Lionfish, 1 lawnmower Blennie and 1 yellow watchman goby. 9 pcs of coral mostly mushrooms , 2 leathers, and 1 orange sun coral. it was established and torn down. I have had it up and running for over 10 months. I was using power compact lighting. I finally broke down and bought Metal Halides about 2 months ago. and now I am begining to see aptasia. so I read about these little [email protected]$*@&Ds...... I've tried the hot water blast, the highly concentated salt balst, the (I will not use the products name) Blank juice, and Calcium blast. The calcium seemed to work the best but It has not stopped them!! I read that peppermint shrimp will eat aptasia, but Lion fish eat shrimp. I have also read that the copperband butterfly will help remove these nuisances? But I have also read that they are difficult fish to get to eat.

So I would like to get some imput on. (1) cures for aptasia?
and (2) how hard is it to keep The Copperband Butterfly Fish?

Thank you so much for reading and replying!!!

Numisticman

pretty fish however they can make a snack of your coral sometimes just as easily. on top of that they are picky eaters as far as frozen foods. if you do get one keep an eye on him and make sure hes eating at the LFS.

 

[partobe]

I agree I truly believe they belong in the ocean. Having said that I have a friend upstate who has always wanted a copper-band and 3 weeks ago bought one. It was eating live blood worms at the lfs so he bought a supply of live blood worms and would stop on his way home from work every few days and pick up some more. The copper-band is now eating frozen foods as well as still eating his live blood worms. I dont know if this is the hit part of a hit and miss story or someone who figured out a way to get them to survive until he could get one to eat frozen.

 

[numisticman]

Thank you to all that have replied!!!!! I do appreciate all of the input!!!! and as I have read it almost is a 50/50 to 40/60 survival rate!!???? or worse on the CBB!! I have no desire to watch one of these precious fish die in my tank!!!!!! So I now need more information on getting rid of Aptasia!!!! (Please remember I have a Volitan Lionfish)!!!!!!!!
so the Peppermint shrimp is nothing but (The special of the day)!!!

Thank you!!!!
Ray

 

[Hop]

Ray,

One thing that always makes me wonder is why people are affraid to put their hands in their tanks. I had them in my first 55 gallon tank with 50lbs of rock and spent one afternoon with vinegar and a syringe. I would inject each one with about 1-2cc of vinegar and they would immediately shrivel up and most let go and could easily be removed from the water column with a net. The rest were easy to flick off their post with a old credit card. I never have seen another one since that day... So unless it's a really big tank, I can't see why this method can't work for people... And syringes are easy to get at the pharmacy

 

[numisticman]

Hop,
Thanx,
I am not afraid to put my hands into my tank! but I have not heard about using Vinegar??? I have a syringe. (I use this for my morning coffee) J/K! Is vinegar safe to use if you have corals? My tank is only 90 Gallons! how often should I try the vinegar treatment? Do they accept Visa? or Discover cards???

Thanks again!
Ray

 

[Hop]

Hop,
Thanx,
I am not afraid to put my hands into my tank! but I have not heard about using Vinegar??? I have a syringe. (I use this for my morning coffee) J/K! Is vinegar safe to use if you have corals? My tank is only 90 Gallons! how often should I try the vinegar treatment? Do they accept Visa? or Discover cards???

Thanks again!
Ray

Yes it's safe. If you had 100 I would break it up in two afternoons, but vinegar is fine. It is has many uses and in that small of quantity it will only slightly affect pH.

:funny: Usually visa!

 

[drdude05]

What kind of venegar?

 

[Hop]

What kind of venegar?

Distilled white vinegar. It's used for many things, one of which is to supersaturate kalk in RO water. It's fairly inert in small quantities for reefing.

Plus it's great for cleaning stuff of coraline and just about any other reef related grime

 

[numisticman]

drdude05,
OK can you explain to me what the difference is. of what kind of vinegar? and the settings. Stun and kill??
Thank you,

 

[ChrisandMel]

I had apatasia big time bought a little peppermint shrimp and in about 3 weeks was all gone. You won't see the shrimp for days and when we did he was about 5 x the size. Sort of creepy actually. We also just added a Copperband and the critical thing is to have them feed it at the store. I asked them to feed two foods. MOst fish will eat brine shrimp so they fed it cubed food and ate that too and is doing great. I think most fish are a crapshoot if you ask me. I added 5 green chromis to my reef along with three other fish, some corals and two shrimp and do you know that all 5 dissapeared???? Figure that scooby doo mystery out.

 

[shanalea]

I had apatasia big time bought a little peppermint shrimp and in about 3 weeks was all gone. You won't see the shrimp for days and when we did he was about 5 x the size. Sort of creepy actually. We also just added a Copperband and the critical thing is to have them feed it at the store. I asked them to feed two foods. MOst fish will eat brine shrimp so they fed it cubed food and ate that too and is doing great. I think most fish are a crapshoot if you ask me. I added 5 green chromis to my reef along with three other fish, some corals and two shrimp and do you know that all 5 dissapeared???? Figure that scooby doo mystery out.

check your overflow boxes... I have 3 on one side and they have been there for about 3 months or so

 

[berger9953]

I recommend aptasia-x. It works instantly and has no negative points except the cost. It was around $20.