aiptasia have won. Maybe...

[Readingexcalibur]

This is continuing my aiptasia thread (ID?) because the topic has changed.

New question, so I was going to propane torch the aiptasia off of my live rock. But when I started counting, I counted 15 3" size ones. And over 99 littles. OMG. I can't torch the whole rock without killing everything. So I decided to pull all the live rock out and will leave it in las Vegas sun for two days to kill all the anemones... And everything else lol. Buhbye bristleworms!

Here's the thing. I replaced 25 pounds of live rock with 15 pounds live rock and about 10 pounds lace rock. The LFS gave them to me wrapped in wet newspaper. They said as long as the paper is wet, the rock will be ok. Well... Then came the traffic and detour, and if you've ever been to las Vegas... The horrible infrastructure and road work. 2 hours later made it home. Now the paper was still damp. But the rocks didn't look too wet. They felt cold and a little moist. But I don't know. I have no fish in the tank, just snails and sand that has been there for 1 year and full of other weird critters. Think I will be ok? May cycle im sure.

Attached was a pick of my infestation, now it's just the rock with no aiptasia.

 

[Readingexcalibur]

Going to check for an ammonia spike today!

 

[Sniperhank]

Since you are cycling this is a simple fix! Congratulations, you are one of the few that gets to go the easier root with aiptasia. Take the rock out and burn them with a lighter or a torch. Rinse away their remains. Replace in tank.

If you ahve any show up while your tank is up and running, aiptasia-x works great. It has solved all of my aiptasia problems, even in close proximity to my corals.

 

[Readingexcalibur]

Do you think my "live" rock will be ok. I just read an article that seems to tell me live rock is only good for the filtration aspect. This is the link. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/rock.html . Im also curious of my sand which has been in the tank for a year, would it colonize the base rock I put in with bacteria. I mean, in reality that's all I need I think. I'm holding back, but realy am excited for the corals!

Those aiptasia are extremely hardy when they get big apparently. So I figured I'd sun bleach them out. I wonder if there spores could live in the sand and "infect" the new rock.

 

[Sniperhank]

If there is nothing in the tank it doesnt matter. Your rock becomes live through the cycle. So since you are cycling if there is die off it will only help feed the cycle.

 

[Sniperhank]

And yes aiptasia can live in sand. Ive seen outbreaks bad enough that they were growing out of hob filters.

 

[carey]

I hate to say it but 2 days in the sun might not kill them all. I had a similar issue, i left the rock in boiling regular water for two days and then rinsed them and spread them out in the florida sun for a few days. wouldnt you know it, after the rocks went back in there were aipastias. :-(

I ended up nuking my tank with pure ammonia and let it sit for a couple days. Then did like 4 or 5 90% water changes and they were gone and stayed gone.

I had no livestock at all though so it worked for me. Also ended up cycling the tank with all that ammonia LOL.

These anemones are brutal and nasty so try your best to get them off the rock outside of the water. They burrow deep inside the rocks nooks and crannies....

Good luck, i hope you get the nasty buggers

 

[Newfiereefer]

Do you think my "live" rock will be ok. I just read an article that seems to tell me live rock is only good for the filtration aspect. This is the link. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/rock.html . Im also curious of my sand which has been in the tank for a year, would it colonize the base rock I put in with bacteria. I mean, in reality that's all I need I think. I'm holding back, but realy am excited for the corals!

Those aiptasia are extremely hardy when they get big apparently. So I figured I'd sun bleach them out. I wonder if there spores could live in the sand and "infect" the new rock.

That article is , in my opinion , is a lil shady , live rock is a essential source of biological filtration , but says base rock with bacteria is not live rock since it has to have things living in/ on the rock , well my LFS will mix his base rock in with his live rock for a nice cheep price ( 4$/ LB On all rock) , but I still come home with small snails and brittle stars and pods all over the rock , so since this base rock has things living on it , according to this article it would be considered live rock.

 

[Readingexcalibur]

I hate to say it but 2 days in the sun might not kill them all. I had a similar issue, i left the rock in boiling regular water for two days and then rinsed them and spread them out in the florida sun for a few days. wouldnt you know it, after the rocks went back in there were aipastias. :-(

I ended up nuking my tank with pure ammonia and let it sit for a couple days. Then did like 4 or 5 90% water changes and they were gone and stayed gone.

I had no livestock at all though so it worked for me. Also ended up cycling the tank with all that ammonia LOL.

These anemones are brutal and nasty so try your best to get them off the rock outside of the water. They burrow deep inside the rocks nooks and crannies....

Good luck, i hope you get the nasty buggers

I hate those anemones! Lol. What you think if I just leave them out of the tank for a month? I bought new live rock (hoping its still alive) anyhow.

 

[Readingexcalibur]

That article is , in my opinion , is a lil shady , live rock is a essential source of biological filtration , but says base rock with bacteria is not live rock since it has to have things living in/ on the rock , well my LFS will mix his base rock in with his live rock for a nice cheep price ( 4$/ LB On all rock) , but I still come home with small snails and brittle stars and pods all over the rock , so since this base rock has things living on it , according to this article it would be considered live rock.

Well being a newbie to the saltwater life I wanted to be sure. Let me ask you this. Not that I did. But what if you added all lace rock to live sand. Could you still eventually add some corals? For example. I have three prices of lace rock and 3 pieces of live rock. I want a torch, hammer, some polyps, and a brain. Think they would be fine on the lace rock?

This is how I redid the rocks. I have acrylic stilts underneath holding the whole pile up creating a complete cave and access to all the sand. The dark rocks are the lace rock.

 

[Newfiereefer]

Really as long as you keep you levels in check and stable with a good biological filter , base rock / live rock really wouldn't matter , I don't think , I mean its all about creating a stable environment for the live stock..... I'm still pretty new at this also , but I've read a lot, and ask a lot of questions. My LFS just set up a desolate tank using all base rock siliconed together , he cycled it for 4 weeks , seeded it with sand and dead shrimp , now he has like 20-25 different corals in it

 

[Readingexcalibur]

Really as long as you keep you levels in check and stable with a good biological filter , base rock / live rock really wouldn't matter , I don't think , I mean its all about creating a stable environment for the live stock..... I'm still pretty new at this also , but I've read a lot, and ask a lot of questions. My LFS just set up a desolate tank using all base rock siliconed together , he cycled it for 4 weeks , seeded it with sand and dead shrimp , now he has like 20-25 different corals in it

Alright! I feel this is exactly right. On another not. Another anemone popped up over night! I have no idea how it grew so fast but it must have grown an inch overnight? More likely an awesome hiding place! I held a syphon over it and grabbed it with tweasers! It busted up into a lot of piece but the syphon grabbed it!