Briopsis is one of the more difficult to eradicate algae's we have been contacted on many occasions over the years by customers with strange requests for animals reported to eat Briopsis Giant sea hares, Specific sea urchins found in the northern hemisphere etc. We have had one or two encounters with this algae over the years ourselves. Our effective solution to totally eradicate the algae quickly is... Our janitor crabs, our crabs are a species proven reef safe. They eat dead and dieing matter and algae's. Adding lots to an aquarium they will strip all the algae's from the rock work. There is no rule as to how many crabs but say for a standard 120cm aquarium 30-40 crabs. Putting so many crabs into the tank is probably not a good long term solution as you will need to feed them once they finish the job. We always offer our Perth customers to take them back at the end.. Eastern state customers should be able to trade them for credit at the local LFS.

You must address the causative agents or your problem likely will return, examine nutrient control and ensure efficient filtration equipment is installed. Ph can be an important factor with your water parameters just as much as nutrients. Don't overdose Iodine. Use quality activated carbon when any algae problems exist.

This solution also works for the more common and less invasive hair algae.

Most reef aquariums only seem to develop one or two of these anemones and they don't seem to spread throughout the reef. Some however seem to be plagued with ever increasing volumes of these anemones. Available particulates and organics seems to play a major role with their spread.

In most cases a well balanced reef aquarium with lots of invertebrates, coral etc consumes much of these particulates and organics. The aptisa un able to get an advantage and spread. Even some reefs in the wild can however be over run with these anemones.

They are a common anemone on the reef, most will encounter them in the hobby. We offer two biological solutions but also consider the filtration set up is it removing enough organics?

The reasonably reef safe margined coral fish (Chelmon marginalis) from WA and the NT is the most reliable butterfly to eat them and the least likely to start eating corals. Racoon butterfly fishes can also be quite effective but are only suitable for fish only tanks for their coral eating behavior. We have not found the similar QLD Copperband butterfly (Chelmon rostratus) as effective at acquiring a taste for aptisa.

Our number one choice for Aptisa eradication is Peppermint shrimp (Lysmatta vitata) Peppermints will make short work of these other wise problem anemones able to peel the anemones off the rock work with their legs and quickly stuff the whole anemone into their mouths. The only caveat being the small shrimp may be prey for some reef critters Wrasses, Triggers and other predatory fishes will eat them with gusto Mantis shrimps are also active crustacean hunters.

Often you will encounter these as hitch hikers. They can come in on live rock but also they can be lurking on corals and may be quite small and innocuous to begin with. They also lay fertilized egg masses you can import a whole colony of these destructive critters into your aquarium if one of these egg masses is hidden within or on new rock or corals. 

These guy's are meat eaters, seeking out your algae snails and are accomplished predators right from birth. They posses a special feeding organ, it is like a long proboscis with sharp teeth and a mouth at the end. It is designed to first rasp a hole into a snails shell, then it is used to devour the animal within the shell. But this horror story gets worse they will also eat gastropods, Yikes! yes that means clams... Plus any other meaty meals worms etc.

We find them quite hard to track down they don't move about much unless actively hunting more often finding a quiet dark corner. Tell tale signs are the obvious bodies of their victims shell. Try a meat bait to bring them out especially after dark or inspect the tank at night with a torch to see if you can find one hunting. We periodically trap our tanks for unwanted crabs using the jar method. Basically we place a weighted bait prawn or fish flesh (Perhaps snail meat?) in the bottom of a small jar and lean it at a angle against the rock work. Any crabs without rear swimming fins simply fall in and cant get out. The trap is usually set overnight and checked in the morning but snails can climb back out after a meal. To get the snails check the traps with a torch before you go to bed it can be quite effective at removing the little buggers.

Prevention is the best cure as always quarantine and carefully inspect all new purchases there's no sure fire prevention but a little prudence can at least minimize the risk. There are many species of them lurking out there we have provided a few photo's to help with the common ones we have encountered ourselves. If you find any unidentified snails it is always good policy to identify them and find out what they do eat.

These snails seem to be more often encountered these days we believe this may have a lot to due with the stresses the corals currently face often a stressed coral is weak and more vulnerable to attack and less able to recover, giving the Drupella the upper hand. Stress on a coral reef can be a result of bleaching with global warming and climate change. These events are becoming far more frequent and severe. Another factor of climate change are more severe and frequent tropical storms these add stress into the environment with turbidity, fresh water run off, out right demolition of reefs often occurs from the massive swells and many reefs may just become buried under tons of sand. In the Dampier archipelago where we collect and base from the heavy industry of mining iron ore, Gas, Oil and Salt production adds extra stresses to the environment with huge ships churning sediments constantly and incessant dredging for shipping channels. The water clarity is poor year round, the covering of the reef with these sediments can impede settlement of new coral larvae. The corals barley seem to have time these days to recover between one event and the next.

The species we more often encounter are the small Drupella *** many an occasion these days we remove a Acropora from the reef to find a few to tens of the snails resting at the dead base. More recently I added some extra live rock to one of our coral culture aquariums. The rock had been in one of our holding tanks for some time and was carefully inspected for such invasive specimens. The next morning were two severely attacked corals about 8 cm of bare stripped skeleton. Close inspection did not reveal the culprit I was pretty sure I knew what to look for a "Drupella". I kept looking all day but with lots of rock below a layer of egg crate it was a difficult task. Next morning the process had repeated They have a preference to feed at night. I failed to find them again that day so late at night I came out with a torch 12 pm - no, 1am - no, 4.30am - got the bugger at less than one cm 4 corals eaten in two nights. All good (I thought) all my corals were intact until again the following morning another had been attacked. I repeated the process and again found the culprit looking for a meal just before day break. Now two instances don't make a conclusion but next time I will be hunting Drupella just before sun up.

Interestingly the attacked corals did recover greatly with only the thinnest encrusting around the base not recovering. Around 8 weeks latter they had almost fully recovered.

We don't have a lot of experience with these snails still we have encountered them on at least two clams we collected our selves. Reading up on them I still don't have a great understanding myself on the amount of damage these can inflict on the clams overall health. None the less they are of a predatory nature and should be removed.

One occasion I had 10-15 clams in a single aquarium, one being sold to a internet purchaser was bagged and taken to the airport without confirmation of the order not being able to get hold of him on the phone till after leaving. At the airport we established he had changed his mind so I returned with the clam. The clam had been in a foam carton and bagged for around three hours, opening the bag it was quite obvious there were the pyramid snails at the top up near the mantle. I checked all the other clams finding none and again latter that night by torch light found one on the original clam. Presumably the snails move up at night to feed, this is substantiated in other literature I have read about them and also that they spend the day around the base.

The only other occurrence we have had was when we sent a clam to a customer... days latter we were sent a email of picture of a dead clam. Reportedly 100's of pyramid snails had exited the dead clam.

Other than the snails that surreptitiously enter your aquarium hitch hiking on rocks and corals, there are those wonderful ones sold at some of the less scrupulous aquarium stores. Never add a snail just because it looks good. Yes there are some sensational snails the wonderful cowries for instance with beautiful glossy shells. However most cowries eat either soft corals or have specific diets of sponge. Most snails have very specific diets... other snails, bivalves worms, sponges and corals to name a few. Best to research its diet before you ad it into the aquarium.