Good & Some Bad Critters for Your Aquarium

There are tons of great little critters to add to an aquarium and will work on keeping your system clean. Most fish and snails along with crabs are great assets for your aquarium but it is important that you put the correct ones in your tank. You can put the wrong ones in your tank and end up killing some really expensive coral or plants and maybe even other fish. So for now I am going to tell you about some simple good critters you can start with and ones to keep away from. Let’s start with your hard working but very slow moving snails. They do a really nice job at keeping your rocks, glass and decoration clean. Snails are very slow, so you may need to buy a couple of extra ones. There are tons of different types of crabs that you can choose from, just keep in mind their size that they reach and what they enjoy to eat. If you get ones that grow larger you will need to provide empty shells that are a bit larger so they have a new home to move into. Most only eat algae and things that have died and will not harm anything else in your tank. Snails and crabs are both for fresh water and salt water so you will be able to choose which one is needed. Just make sure to let your lfs know what type of tank you have and what is living in the tank so you will not harm anything.

Onto the nuisance critters that are a pain to get rid of and are something you do not want to ever have. If you are one of those unfortunate one’s to get these nasty little critters than I will try and give you the best remedies on getting rid of them. We will start with the very famous Aiptasia anemone that usually appears when water parameters are pretty bad or came in on a live rock/coral purchased from your lfs. Here is a picture of what one looks like: Click Here

Luckily these are easy to get rid of but you need to act fast before they spread like weeds. Never try and remove them by cutting or poking at them, they will reproduce even faster that way. You need to purchase a chemical called Joe’s Juice and it will depend on your lfs on what brand name they carry but they all have the same ingredients. It should come with a syringe needle to inject into the mouth of the Aiptasia. I have found this stuff to work on the first shot. There is also another way of getting rid of these pests and that is by purchasing some peppermint shrimp and depending on how bad of an infestation you have will determine how many you need. Do not feed your tank for the first three days of introducing the shrimp because they will get lazy and just wait for you to feed the tank. The last choice you have is purchasing a Copperband Butterfly fish but keep in mind that these fish enjoy eating on corals.
The next pest is one that I have had recent encounters with and it does not have lots of remedies. This one is very similar to the Aiptasia as for looks but you can tell the difference by looking at this picture: Click Here

This one is called a Majano Anemone and it can spread just as fast as the Aiptasia but it does not have as many creatures to eat it. Some people have had success with using Joe’s Juice but not many. Others have tried creating their own home remedies and have had some success. The only problem with that is it really depends on the type of aquarium you have and what is living in it already. Be very careful with what you read on the Internet and make a sound decision on what to do. This is the best way to get rid of them without harming anything in your aquarium. As it turns out they can’t live without lighting so what you can do is take a five gallon bucket and fill it up with your aquarium’s water. Then grab the rock that the Majano Anemone’s are on and place it in the bucket. It may take a few hours even days for them to crawl off the rock and search for light and once they are off the rock you can put it back into the aquarium. The last remedy is purchasing a Raccoon Butterfly Fish but please keep in mind that this fish loves all types of anemone’s and even enjoys some corals. It will however go after the majano anemone's first because it does have a sweet tooth for them. You may find yourself removing after it has completed the job just so you don't risk it eating your coral.



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Thanks,Tim