Aiptasia Rock

After close inspection of my Aiptasia problem... it seems they rode in on only one of the three live rocks I recently purchased. This live rock is now in the process of becoming a dead rock. I removed it from the tank, scrubbed it, washing in fresh water, and am leaving it outside to dry ATM.

The immediate thing I noticed is that this particular rock smelled more strongly of Sulfer Dioxide than any LR I've ever delt with in the past. To me, this means this particular piece was probably not that well cared for, and lots of things in it died, hence giving rise to the infestation in the first place. The most immediate difference incidentally is that the water smells SIGNIFICANTLY better this morning than it did last night before I removed the LR.

I'm waiting to see what happens to my chem levels, (I test evening hours JST) as prior to this, I'd been needing to do 10L-20L changes daily (in a 44L tank!!!) To keep the ammonia and nitrate levels under control after adding these three pieces of LR.

The other two pieces, although they came from the same store, show no signs of the infestation and I never intentionally caused any stress to them while they were in the tank, (That one piece of LR with them on it can be thrown in an oven for all I care, and I may just do that) so I truely hope this ends it, but I'm keeping an eye out for more.

LFS sells Aiptasia Exit. Any benefit choosing that over Kalk? I know Kalk is something that my scallop would use anyway, so it seems like it's safer to apply inside the tank, so long as it's not right next to something I want to live.

Any recommendations on how to kill this now removed LR and clean it out, or should I just count my blessings if it doesn't pop up on other rocks, and throw this particular one into a hole in the ground? ;D

 

Good news. Ammonia levels are at 0, and Nitrate levels are at 0.3 mg/l Removing that one LR solved the excess nutrient problem, but it looks like the Aiptasia did in fact spread to other LR before I removed it. There's a colony of 5 small ones sitting next to the host Anemone for my clown, so I'm actually getting rather skittish about treatments. Off to read more about how to kill these pests.

 

by scrubbing the rock with aiptasia,you've spread its spors all over that rock and then dried it killing off any beneficial use to your tank it may of had.its now a dead rock with aiptasia.you need to make a thick paste with kalwasser and water and dab a bit on each aiptasia.they will all die quick.i would do it soon before they begin to grow in your pipes and equipment where you will not be able to get to them.you may have to get a peppermint shrimp to kill the babies if their all over.

 

I live in terror of these pests after seeing a beautiful 400 gal neighbors tank, with every bell and whistle to make it a dream tank, overrun by this plague.

Here is one highly recommended solution:

CONTROL OF AIPTASIA IN REEF AQUARIUMS TANKS

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In my case, it seems like this rock is a lost cause anyway. It's still sitting outside the tank, and I will not put it back in because it was spiking my ammonia and nitrate levels horribly. The Sulfer Dioxide smell was VERY apparent when it was removed from the water, and the tank water has since lost this smell and returned to normal levels. I'm considering taking it back to the store and asking for a refund, since this turned out to be a pretty useless rock - first experience of this kind.

I'm looking into getting a pair of Pepermints. Found one site listing the exact species name (which is how they tend to be labeled in japan anyway... but in Japanese phonetics, which makes matters difficult) that likes eating Aiptasia: Lysmata wurdemanni. Everywhere I've looked says "hit and miss" though, so I'll also be getting some Kalk mix, or Joe's Juice if they have it.

I'm hoping they won't be too interested in my flame Scallop, but otherwise, there's nothing in my tank they'd be interested in. (and my take isn't big enough to add much more too it since I'm configured as a Berlin right now)

 

Pepamintto Shurinpu

Peppermint Shrimp: 1900 Yen (about $17)

That's a little more than i wanted to pay for ONE shrimp, but oh well... at least he's full grown. I'll add another if it looks like he needs help. All the remainders from the bad LR are just babies, so he'll probably be OK on his own... and 44 L is a SMALL tank. 8)

Designing a new tank in Sketchup right now. ;D The wife will not be pleased. :-/ The floor will not be pleased either, but we have access to the basement, so I will reinforce it. :

Now to see if he enjoys Aiptasia. (LFS says they do... I'll wait and see) In any event, he's attractive looking, so even if I have to kill these damn things by hand, it'll be OK.

BTW, in case anyone wants to know, you ask for "pepamintto shurinpu" in Japanese. They didn't use the scientific name for this one for some reason.

 

If you do ever want to reuse the rock for anything, you could always clean it using the bleach soaking method. It will kill everything living on the rock.