getting rid of aptasia on live rock

chez

chez

Reefing newb
I got a really good deal on liverock or what I think is a good deal 300lbs for $400, but it has a lot of Aptasia on it. So my question is can I get it off the rock before putting it in my tank? I was thinking of washing the rock down with fresh water hoping to kill the Aptasia… Anyone has a better idea or know of something that my work before I put the rock in the tank?
 
freshwater would kill the good parts of the live rock. I wouldnt do that. Just hit the ones you can see with Aptasia x or Aptasia control. Then let the rock sit in the tank for a few days hit any new ones. Then rearrange the rock. Hit any new ones again. I have one rock every time I move it i find 2 or 3 new ones. So if you spend a week killing then rearranging you should be able to get most of them. When the tank cycles get a bunch of peppermint shrimp they should eat any of the smaller ones you dont get to. Just what I would do. :D
 
Thanks for all the good advice...No my tank is not setup yet I was planning on putting the liverock in today and start the cycling period. I still haven't found a skimmer yet, I'm thinking since I don't have a bio load I have some time still...
 
You can place the rock in the tank, let it cycle...the cycle may kill most off...dose with aptasia x or control...and when the tank is done cycling, add a few pepperment shrimps to finish the job off.
Good luck.
 
Smitty said:
You can place the rock in the tank, let it cycle...the cycle may kill most off...dose with aptasia x or control...and when the tank is done cycling, add a few pepperment shrimps to finish the job off.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

That's where I was heading with my question

+1 Smitty :mrgreen:
 
IME, Aiptasias need no light to live. FW spray/bath will kill your beneficial life. Man, sucky situation man! Is it going into a new tank, or a cycled one with livestock? For me, Klein's butterfly has 100% success in eating ALL of my pest aiptasias in the DT, and a single pep shrimp ate all the little ones in my 12g frag tank in 3 weeks time. These things are just too tough to 100% eradicate from our tanks, definitely the cockroaches surviving the nuke as far as reef tanks go. Joes juice never worked for me, they just came back stronger. Definitely don't try manual removal, as the small bits broken off will float around to unseen places and repopulate ten fold. Or 1,000 fold, depending on your luck ;)
 
Since the tank is not set up when I put the rock in the tank this weekend I'll wait for the tank to cycle then add a copperband butterfly, a kline butterfly and about 10-15 peppermint shrimp. Lets see if they surrvie that all three of it's enemies...
 
Boil the rock. Who cares about the beneficial bacteria? It'll grow back in a couple weeks.

Starting off with a tank full of aiptasia is a recipe for disaster. You're not doing yourself any favors by starting off with aiptasia. Trust me on that.

Kill them!!! Boil that rock!! It'll all be live rock again in just a few short weeks. The bacteria will grow back. The aiptasia won't if you boil it.
 
...and then serve with a rich buttery sauce


"MMMmmmm, aipastia pasta" :12:

Ok...maybe just boil it. If you're gonna do anything, do it now, before you start dealing with livestock, get the copper band butterfly and peppermint shrimp to be save later, but kill as much as you can now.
 
Last edited:
Rc how long should i leave the rocks in the hot water i don't have a pot big enough and my wife won't let me put it in a pot that we have, so i'm boiling the water and pouring it on top of the rocks coving them in a 5gal bucket.
 
I would try to find some peices that dont have apstasia on them and keep them out of the boiling water. Boiling them will not only kill the bacteria but also the other hitchhikers like bristle worms, serpant stars, snails, pods and coraline. Theese will not come back unless reintroduced with live rock that you either add later or keep from boiling.

I personally would get a hand full of peppermint shrimp. I have used those previously and they worked wonders on my apstasia. It never came back and they even ate the larger ones where the heads were about the size of a nickle.

Brian
 
What about all the GOOD critters that living in that rock?
The micro brittle stars,bristle worms,peanut worms.Stuff that actually help keep the tank clean.
Once you boil the rock,your just not loosing bacteria,your cooking a big part of your tanks clean up crew which can be replaced by buying more live rock.
I'd invest in some Aiptasia -X or Joe's Juice.Since you've gotta let the tank cycle anyway (and waiting on the cycle is kinda boring) nuking the aiptasia will give you something to actually do with the tank while its cycling.
Besides that,watching em shrivel up and melt away is fun:D

Ninjaed by Bj
 
+1 yote:mrgreen:

If bacteria was the only thing that we wanted on our live rock, then we wouldnt be paying so much for it. We would just grab a ton of cheap base rock and let the bacteria grow on that. Wouldnt need to seed it or anything. The bacteria would just get in through the air or fish waste.
 
Well I boiled all the rock that I saw had aptasia which was just about all of it. I do have about 80lbs that I didn’t and it does have all that good stuff, and I have it all in the same tank. I am going to buy more liverock either from my LFS or on line. This should add all that good bacteria that I cooked off. I let you guys know how it comes out; I plan on adding the saltwater to my main tank Sunday. One thing about living in San Diego is that we have a place where we can get filter saltwater right out the ocean for free, keeps me from having to mix the water…
Thanks for all the great advice...
Chez
 

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