Do you have any suggestions on
natural ways to rid your tank of aiptasia besides peppermint
shrimp? I have some of the little things popping up, and want to
keep it under control, but Butterfly fish aren't an option for
me.
Butterfly fish are also a bit on the
delicate side and have been known to take to polyp nipping, so
they are a bit risky. This is an option for some people, but not
everyone. Good for you for saying "whoa" on adding more fish.
Self-restraint can be difficult
when there are so many cool critters to have, but it is worth it
to help keep your tank stable.
Another option to helping rid your tank of unwanted nasties is
to look at your filtration. Aiptasia like to feed on dirty
water. If you are under-skimmed, overpopulated, or overfeeding,
try to remedy these problems. It won't be an immediate fix, but
if they are deprived of their food source, they tend to recede.
Regular checking of Nitrate and Phosphate levels and using
regular water changes, and/or something like Seachem's deNitrate
or Phosguard can help to bring down those levels.
Remember: Aquariums and ponds are closed environments. YOU are
the "sanitation engineer" who is responsible for keeping things
in check. You have no choice but to feed your critters because
you must, but you can control how much, how often, and the
quality of the food (whether or not it has filler material in
it).
When it breaks down, food becomes Dissolved Organic Compounds
(DOC) and that is what leads to algae, aiptasia, red slime, and
so on. Filtration is how you get it back out - and in the case
of saltwater, having a good skimmer is the best way to do this.
What are those pinkish-grayish bristly
looking worms I see in my rocks?
Are they harmful?
Those little critters are called bristle worms. They eat
detritus, which is essentially solid bits of fish poop and
excess food that are floating around in your aquarium.
Having one or two is not unusual. They shouldn't be a
problem for the most part, assuming that they are small.
That being said, some people have
"bristle worm farms" in their aquariums. If you pick up a
rock and there are 20 of these little guys swarming around under
it, you may have a bit of a problem.
Large quantities of bristle worms typically are indicative of
overfeeding over a period of time. You should cut back on
your feeding and increase the flow in your aquarium to get the
detritus up and into the filter for removal. If you have a
bad problem with this, and it can be a common problem in a
non-drilled aquarium, consider adding on a canister filter and a
power head to filter out the excess bits of poop.
OK, so I've got a bristle worm problem.
I promise to cut back on my feeding and all that jazz, but these
things really freak me out. Is there anything I can do?
If you have a bristle worm farm teeming with hundreds of 1"
babies, trapping the little guys one by one might take a while.
NorthSide does carry traps for this purpose, but they are better
suited to the slightly more mature worms that are 3"-4" in
length.
If you have an
infestation, you might consider getting an arrow crab, that is
assuming that your aquarium is safe for crabs. Triggers
and puffers would find arrow crabs tasty.
