Anenome

[Seriak]

Well here goes; hopefully someone can offer some insight.

I have had an aiptasia problem for quite a few years that I have never been able to control. I did the Kalk, shrimp, CBB and nothing worked that well so finally I gave up and bought a Racoon Butterfly. Now I know that some can be very detrimental to a reef, but I couldnt ake the aiptasia anymore.

Within 1-2 weeks every aiptasia was gone. I was in Heaven but then that is when my first ever toadstool started to shed. I am not sure if the Racoon had anything to do with that. Either way my Large BTA's started to close up as well.

The other day I noticed that my one BTA had closed up pretty much completely and was lying on the bottom of the tank not attached with the Racoon picking at it. I was very sad. I put the BTA and a separtate container in the tank that the Racoon couldnt get at to make sure it was dead before I disposed of it. To my amazement the BTA started to open again.

Now my question to you is, What now? Do I try to put the BTA back in the aquarium or is the Racoon the reason it was dying in the first place. I initially thought it was the Toadstool but now I am not so sure. Maybe it's a combination.

I would love to try and get the Racoon out and return him to the store since his job is done but that seems really tricky without removing all my rock first.

Someone must have some idea on my next move.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and my other anenome has come back out and is doing fine. But it also has two clowns hosting in it which may be keeping the raccon at bay.

[Delphinus]

Without experience with racoons myself, my guess would be that your guess is pretty bang on. Butterfly's (at least some species) are supposedly potential predators of anemones. The anemone with the clown pair is apparently being protected or the butterfly just knows not to try that one because of the clowns being there.

The leather, I have no idea. It could be the butterfly.

The real proof in the pudding would be getting the racoon out of there and seeing how things do after that. Maybe the thing to do is try a fish trap before tearing apart your rockwork though.

[Seriak]

Thanks Tony,

Do you know where I can find a fish trap I can even bait it with some aiptasia from my sump. :)

[ElGuappo]

My toadstool sheds all the time if you want to see it look at my pics. every week or so.

[Delphinus]

No, afraid not, sorry. Check with the stores or see if you can mail-order something maybe? I know jasond on here has been looking for one lately but don't know if he found any at any of the local stores.

Thanks Tony,

Do you know where I can find a fish trap I can even bait it with some aiptasia from my sump. :)

[ElGuappo]

cant you make your own trap? i have no idea what one actully looks like but i have seen a minnow trap and this would be super easy to make.

just a tube with two funnels at either end facing inward. the one i saw was made of screen. would have to be pretty big for this fish thou.

[Seriak]

I did some searching and I am going to try the 2 litre pop bottle trap baited with a rock full of aiptasia. Hopefully they dont migrate out. :)

[24storm]

Where did you get it from? Has anyone else used one of these for ridding aptaisa?

[ElGuappo]

Where did you get it from? Has anyone else used one of these for ridding aptaisa?

aptaisia is the BAIT he is trying to catch a butterfly of somesort i believe.

[24storm]

aptaisia is the BAIT he is trying to catch a butterfly of somesort i believe.

I know that i am asking about the fish.

[Delphinus]

I think butterflies are probably the surest bet for aiptasia control.

I'm sort of surprised that a CBB (Chelmon rostratus) didn't work because mine is an absolute bloodhound for aiptasia. I'll throw in a rock with an aiptasia on it and sometime he'll even have it eaten before I've left go of the rock and pulled my hand out of the water.

Other butterflies you could consider are the yellow/longnose (Forcipiger flavissimus) and the pyramid (Hemitauricthys polylepis). The longnose is considered "reasonably reef safe" but I can't find any info if it will pick at clams so proceed with caution. Supposedly it does adapt to prepared foods easily though and I've read it suggested somewhere to try one of these if you have a CBB that won't eat because the CBB will watch what the longnose eats and might try the same things.

The pyramid is generally regarded as the most reef-safe butterfly of all, so, should be safe to try, although I don't know if that also means it's the least likely to pick at aiptasia.

[langdon reefer]

Ive had pyramids befor they seem to be more of a plantonic (spelling) feeder
and from what ive read about them they prefer to feed on stuff in the water i know mine did...lol

[revgeoff]

For the fish trap, Wendell at OA in Delta sells them (they work great!).

Has anyone had their CBB picking at corals? I tried pepermint shrimp to get rid of aptasia and it worked in my nano but not in any other tank. I don't have any clams, but I do have a BTA as well as some sofites and LPS.

[ponokareefer]

You could try getting a small fish hook and line, and fish him out. Put something on the hook that looks like aiptaisa, or a piece of aiptaisa, and you should have no problems. Make sure you remove the barbs from the hook though.

[Delphinus]

Some people have had luck with fishing their fish out. I stopped short of suggesting it because the one and only time I tried it, it didn't work out so well for me. Plus when you go to Fishin' Tales or whatever the store is that you get fishing hooks from and ask them for one 1/8" hook to catch a fish out of your fish tank is priceless, and then they look at you even funnier when you explain that using a net is out of the question. Here, if you want an amusing read, read about my attempt to catch a sixline here: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27132&

However, it may be worth a shot if you think you're up to trying it. Definitely use pliers or something to get the barb off the hook though so that you don't injure the fish too badly. I dunno, maybe I'm just not cut out for fishing.

[Seriak]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I got my trap all setup last night and baited it and I also threw a couple large nets in the tank just to get him used to it. Well every other fish dissapeared into the rock work once I did that except the racoon. He practically swam into the net. So he is living in the sump for now clearing that tank of aiptasia.

I got him at Elite earlier this year and it was quite intriging watching him blow on each aiptasia to get it to withdraw some and then bam the Aipatsia is gone. But yes he picked on snails, polyps, LPS, and my anenomes afterwords.

[ElGuappo]

Crongrats on catching him.