Transplanting LR between tanks

[MLHoenig]

I’ve got a NanoCube 29g that’s just under three years old and a 75g that’s about 2½ years old. Both tanks are clear, clean, and healthy.

In my 29g I have a large piece of LR with a nice montipora and a very large, expanding colony of zoas.

I want to move this rock into the 75g and exchange a similar size rock back into the 29g.

My biggest concern is that there’s quite a few bristle worms living in the 29g, and I don’t want to introduce even •one• into the 75g.

I’m contemplating suspending the rock just under the surface of some water drained from the 29g at my next WC in order to lure the worms with some food on the bottom of the bucket…

Has anyone tried this? Does it sound like a reasonable course of action?

I suspended a rock in the sump of the 75g about 2 years ago to lure out my large brittle star, so my gut feeling is that it oughtta work…

I realize this could be up to a 2-3week process so the worms will all have plenty of time to venture out & fall to the bottom of the bucket…

How far should I pursue this idea?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Sniperhank]

Dunk the rock into some ro/di water. Whatever is in there will come rushing out to their demise. I’d want to keep them myself, but to each his own.

 

[MLHoenig]

Dunk the rock into some ro/di water. Whatever is in there will come rushing out to their demise. I’d want to keep them myself, but to each his own.

Thanks for that; I’ll give it a try soon!

Will I have enough time to save at least five or six micro brittle stars?

 

[Sniperhank]

If you pull them from the water, you might be able to.

 

[MLHoenig]

So I just gotta be quick…

Thanks again!

 

[MLHoenig]

Welp, we’re not gonna be selling the 29g; Mama decided to take a joke seriously and the tank is now in the bedroom…

The monti is now in the 75g until I get the 110g set up on Thursday evening. Didn’t get a good opportunity to do the RO/DI dip.

 

[Sniperhank]

Glad things worked out, but why would you need to do an ro/di dip?

 

[MLHoenig]

I wanted to get rid of bristle worms; part of the original scheme…

 

[Sniperhank]

Ensuring there aren't lots of uneaten food and poop in the system will take care of bristleworms on its own. They will be small and in small numbers. A freshwater dip will only get rid of ones in a piece of rock.

 

[MLHoenig]

Thanks!

I was gonna dip the rocks before moving them into the big tank, but didn’t do the dip…probably got some new immigrants in the 75. I haven’t seen any before, but likely to now.

 

[Wwidener]

So I want to learn something new...

You have a bunch of bristle worms in a LR and want to get rid of them before moving the rock to a 75g tank. Dipping it for a few minutes into RODI water will take care of the problem? Easy as that?

 

[MLHoenig]

So I want to learn something new...

You have a bunch of bristle worms in a LR and want to get rid of them before moving the rock to a 75g tank. Dipping it for a few minutes into RODI water will take care of the problem? Easy as that?

That’s what I was told, earlier in the thread…

But, as I mentioned in the follow-up, I didn’t make time for it, so I simply swapped some rocks between the 29g & the 75g…

 

[Wwidener]

Huh, that's interesting. I guess the lack of salinity causes them to freak out?

 

[melosu58]

If you have some bristle worms deep in the rock a water dip will not work. I have several in my tank and they are great janitors.