cooking rock to get rid of aiptasia

[JonG101]

ok, so i just bought about 150lbs of lr at a really unbeatable price. The only issue was that about half of it was covered, and i mean covered in aiptasia, i mean this guy was practically keeping a farm of it. So i removed all the pieces that had it, and set up a 40gallon garbage pale with new sw and a powerhead in my basement and figured if i cooked it for a couple weeks it would rid me of it. Am i right on this? i just read an article on cooking lr and seems like it should work. just want to make sure this is the best method

 

[Awibrandy]

I don't know about that! I would think that unless you dry out the rocks they will just come back.
My gf's tanks was full of them, I went after them with a syringe and white household vinegar. That took care of them, except for one which is now living in my fowlr next to my RBTA. Time for more vinegar....

 

[Marteen]

It depends on how fast you want to get to this rock. If you were to keep them blacked out for say 6 months or more the apistia may be gone, but you can't be sure. I would take the rock and sun bleach it or boil it let it dry and then let it recure in a bucket. Sure you may lose some beneficial life but you wouldn't get any of the nasties that have hitchhiked in and you can always reseed the rock.

 

[rgun2515]

Peppermint shrimp. My Flame Angle actually eats apistia too...

I would just setup the tank and add 5 or so Peppermint shrimp.

 

[JonG101]

Ok, I may try the vinager thing first. Thisay be pretty time consuming...

 

[Awibrandy]

Yes, it is! But atleast you haven't set up the tank. That will make it much easier. You need a syringe!

 

[jrobbins]

peppermints can be hit or miss with aptasia IMO. rather than cooking it, you could also just dunk the rocks in fresh water for a while. it will probably kill most of the inverts, and wont take nearly as long as cooking does to recure it.

 

[Master Shake]

dont get any peppermint shrimp that is a terrible idea. there are 2 main types of peppermint shrimp, one might possibly think of eating aptasia and the other wont even look at it. Both will pick on corals thoug. sun bleach or vinegar.

 

[rgun2515]

dont get any peppermint shrimp that is a terrible idea. there are 2 main types of peppermint shrimp, one might possibly think of eating aptasia and the other wont even look at it. Both will pick on corals thoug. sun bleach or vinegar.

I guess you got a imposter peppermint shrimp...


Mine (Lysmata wurdemanni) have been a pleasure.

If you decide to go with peppermint shrimp, make sure you are getting what you asked for. This article can explain further.

http://fish.suite101.com/article.cfm/peppermint_shrimp_imposters
http://fish.suite101.com/article.cfm/peppermint_shrimp_imposters

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Jon, just my .02 cents. I would not set up the tank with rock's full of aptasia. I would rather take the time to re-move it and recure the rock, than to start a tank knowing I have a major problem. In fact it would be insane to set it up and hope that some critters would eat it all. I would scrub the rock with a stiff wire brush to clean off as much aptasia as I could then soak it for a day or two in fresh water

Good luck with whatever you choose to do

 

[ECFENCING]

I think peppermints can be hit or miss as well.

I've had a peppermint take care of an aiptasia problem only to find it did not eradicate it completely when one pest glass anemone showed up almost a year later

Your best bet is the patio to bake or as jrobbins indicated dip it in fresh water

I wouldn't put that in my tank

 

[JonnyIce]

yes, i made that mistake before (with majanos)...take care of the problem before it goes in...ive had success with kalk paste.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

You are getting alot of advice here. All of these suggestions May work. Some of them will definately work, but also can be time consuming. Kalk paste, vinegar, lemon juice, Pt. 2 (cal/alk. will all melt mojanos, but you will miss some, some will retreat while trying to stick them.. blah, blah,blah. you will wind up making a huge, time consuming job for yourself. The advantage here is you keep more of the organisms in the rock alive.
the Livestock route is a Crap shoot at best, and an avenue you take if you have an existing setup & don't want to break it down.. mostly because its not that reliable. IMO
If it were me, I would get rid of them in one fell swoop. Boil it,, BAM GUARANTEED GONE... I know it is alot of rock to boil,,, but it only needs to simmmer for a few minutes.
This way you start your tank with no problems. It will only take your tank about 2-4 weeks to cycle after the boil.
If you want to bring it to me,,, I have a 80 gallon Steam kettle,, and can have it done in an hour.
LMK

 

[JonG101]

Andy, if I did go the route, would any beneficial bacteria survive from that? What about injecting each one with vinager before adding the rock? I really would like this tank to be set up sooner than later, but if i can scub the rock, soak it in fresh, and then re introduce it. I would be very open to that. I would assume some type of cycle

 

[JonG101]

Hmmm, I mean I have 60lbs of established rock to seed it with, so it would be nice to know there is absolutely no pests in the tank. I guess maybe boiling is the best option. Would leaving it in pure rodi for 48hrs do the same?

 

[noelskii]

what makes u think the other rocks don't have any aiptasia? this happened to me once before. i got a bucket full of rocks and picked out the ones without any aiptasia on it and boiled/dried/boiled/dried the rest. i didn't even put the boiled rocks back in yet and after 2 weeks, i started to notice the rocks with "no aiptasia" on it- grow some. boil EVERYTHING, or prepare to syringe every other day.

 

[Awibrandy]

You are getting alot of advice here. All of these suggestions May work. Some of them will definately work, but also can be time consuming. Kalk paste, vinegar, lemon juice, Pt. 2 (cal/alk. will all melt mojanos, but you will miss some, some will retreat while trying to stick them.. blah, blah,blah. you will wind up making a huge, time consuming job for yourself. The advantage here is you keep more of the organisms in the rock alive.
the Livestock route is a Crap shoot at best, and an avenue you take if you have an existing setup & don't want to break it down.. mostly because its not that reliable. IMO
If it were me, I would get rid of them in one fell swoop. Boil it,, BAM GUARANTEED GONE... I know it is alot of rock to boil,,, but it only needs to simmmer for a few minutes.
This way you start your tank with no problems. It will only take your tank about 2-4 weeks to cycle after the boil.
If you want to bring it to me,,, I have a 80 gallon Steam kettle,, and can have it done in an hour.
LMK

Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what about the above offer? Quite generous at that!!
I'd take the chef up on it, especially since you have 60 lbs of live rock with which to seed the pest infested one.
Just my .02......:splitspin

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Hi
I am really not familiar with boiling the rock, but I would do anything possible to not add that pest to my tank. I would think that the fresh water would kill the bacteria and the aptasia. IMHO its a better road than letting those aptasia get going in your system.
Hey chef is that pot the same one you make the clam chowder in? LOL

 

[JonG101]

The other 60lbs of rock I have is from my old system. It has not had any aptasia in the 5 years I have had it. So letting it soak in rodi would accomplish the same thing? I think that would be a little less messy. If you think that would work lmk. I appreciate everyone input

 

[Keith P]

Boiling will kill everything on the rock, no? Might as well dunk it in muriatic acid. This will kill everything AND remove built up phosphates.