AIPTASIA
Why is Aiptasia a Pest?
Aiptasia are a kind of sea anemones that can enter into your reef aquarium hitchhiking on live rock or other such material that you introduce into the tank. Aiptasia are not harmful when they are present in the reef tank in a small number, but then they can grow very fast. Being anemones, they are animals and can take up the resources of the tank quite fast. That will deprive the fish of the safe and healthy aquatic environment that you have built for them. Within no time, Aiptasia will begin looking very ungainly in your beautiful reef tank. That is the reason they are pests that must be removed as soon as possible.
How do we Control Aiptasia?
Aiptasia must be nipped in the bud for effective control. It becomes very difficult to remove them when they proliferate. The most effective method in such times is to inject the anemones with chemical solutions. A very cheap treatment method is to inject them with lemon juice concentrate. Some other chemicals that can be used are bleach and caustic soda and caustic potash solutions.
FLATWORMS
Why are Flatworms Pests?
Flatworms like Planaria are pests in the aquarium habitat. These flatworms are especially undesirable in a reef aquarium, because they have a nasty habit of carpeting onto the corals in the reef and stopping their supply of sunlight and nutrients.
How do we Control Flatworms?
Most people use biological control for the elimination of flatworms in the reef aquarium. Organisms like Chelidonuria are known to feed on flatworms. Hence, introducing Chelidonuria in the reef tank could be a solution. There are also flatworm control solutions available in the market, which are introduced into the reef tank when a new coral or live rock is introduced.
NUDIBRANCHES
Why are Nudibranches Pests?
The nudibranches are a type of sea snails that are parasitic on the corals belonging to the genus Montipora, sometimes known as the montis. Sometimes the proliferation can be so vast that the nudibranches could even kill the montis.
How do we Control Nudibranches?
The biological method of controlling nudibranches is to introduce some wrasses in the reef aquarium, especially the six lined wrasses. Some chemicals are effective in repelling nudibranches too, the prominent ones among them being potassium permanganate and even garlic.
REDBUGS
Why are Redbugs Pests?
Redbugs are common pests on the Acropora corals. Redbugs can actually serve as cleaners for the corals, because they can feed on the waste materials and other metabolic products that the corals produce. But in large numbers they will upset the biological balance maintained within the aquarium habitats.
How do we Control Redbugs?
Dragonface pipefish can act as a natural deterrent to the redbugs present in the tank, and hence are used for biological control. Another method is to clean the coral itself with an iodine solution and the aquarium cleaning medium.
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