Rocks

I lost my battle with Aptasia and Majano anemone. I am thinking of taking all my rocks out and letting it dry for a few days and then recure it into tub of salt water mix. Then take all my fishes nad place in a temporary storage container and remove my sand bed while at it. After that i will recycled my tank and redo som plumbing.

Will air drying kill off al lthe aptasia and majano's i have infested on over 180 lbs of LR i have currently? What will be the best way to guarantee i don't have these little buggers again. I think my tank needs a major over hauling since i neglected it for a few years. starting from scratch seems the best solution.

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks

 

This might help

http://www.3reef.com/forums/live-rock/reusing-old-live-rock-37810.html

 

I would try to scrub lots of the anemones off after drying for a few days, then try to recure, or the bleach thingie

 

can i propane torch each rock to kill these buggers off ?

 

^Me thinks it just may work... seriously.

The only problem is the same as baking, you may crack the rock from water still inside it.

 

The only way to prevent aiptasia is:

1. Do not bring "live" rock and/or "live" substrate into your system.
2. Do not bring any living organism (coral) attached to a piece of rock into your system.
3. Do not allow any amount of water from another tank to enter your system as an aiptasia spore may be present.

This basically leaves only fish and some inverts (I have seen aiptasia on a snail). Kind of narrows it down allot, doesn't it!?

As far as cures are concerned, there are many methods which have been used, some more effective than others in ridding this nasty pest, albeit none are guaranteed to exterminate aiptasia 100%.

Good luck with your present situation. I wish you success.

 

Thanks everyone. I was thinking of torching these majano's and aptasia off the rock thus preserving my rocks living bacteria. Still debating if i want to make all 180lbs of my LR into dead base rock using the methods of chlorine and baking soda baths for the next week or two.

 

I know it is a tough decision my friend, and I am sad to see you in this spot. Sometimes it just happens and there is nothing you did wrong and other times we learn what we did wrong and then try to make up for it.
Either way let us know what you try and how it works out for you.

jim

 

i am in the process of bleaching hte rocks right now. It's been in the bleach for 2 days and today i will empty it and put it in fresh water for 2 days. after that i'll take it out and scrub and rince them in fresh water again and let it sit in bucket for another 2 days. after that it's the baking soda time and let it air dry.

After air drying are they ready to go back into hte tank and be reseeded without any cycling ?

 

That's a really good question. It all depends on if every trace of soft, organic flesh or plant matter is removed. If so, then yes. If not, it wouldn't hurt to QT the rock for a few weeks first to ensure complete dyoff.

Good luck!