Aptaisa-new tank & new rock-what should I do?

[Tim Reed]

I have a 55 gal and I just bought 1 piece of lr and it has aptaisa. I got some peppermint shrimp but I was wondering if I should just put the rock outside for two days to kill everything, even the bacteria. It has been in my tank for only two days, but will the aptasia have spread already?

 

[Mike02]

i put a peppermint shrimp in my tank Friday and within 36 hours, all my aptasia were missing and presumed dead. peppermint shrimp should be enuff.

 

[Tim Reed]

The peppermints are acclimating now

But the rock has nothing on it so I dont mind baking it in the sun.

 

[Tim Reed]

Wow! Looks like they are eating eat; I figured it would take them a couple of days.

 

[Mike02]

Tim, i bought my shrimp on Friday. Within an hour or so the shrimp ran into my biggest aptasia and went crazy attacking it. i knew the end was near for my aptasias. I dont know what happens if you put rock into the hot sun. doesnt sound like a good idea to me.

 

[Fishbreath]

Please pardon my question but what is aptasia? Is it bad? I have a lot of interesting stuff growing on my live rock and I don't know what most of it is. thanks.
-Steve

 

[Mike02]

Tim, what is the source of your live rock that came with all the mantis shrimp? i was thinking about getting FL rock (its the man-made kind) from gulfview marine, but i think im going to go with some pacific island rock.

 

[Mike02]

aiptasia are the small brown rock anemones that grow usually out of dark crevices of live rock. they sting or even kill corals.

 

[Tim Reed]

I wasn't looking forward to killing the "live rock" after paying for a live rock but thanks for the replies; I feel better about it now because I didn't want to go with Florida live rock because my 29 gal has lots of mantis (I thought they were amphipods at first), bristles, cowries and the list goes on-cool, yes, but I worry about the Matis. There seem to be about 50-time to get an octapus and put the fish in the big tank!