Partial tank reset- how best to kill aiptasia?

[SallyWho]

I let my tank go and have nobody to blame but myself. As part of getting it back together, I had to remove a bunch of dead coral, which laid bare some large pieces of my scape. They coincidentally have some of the largest aiptasia in my tank- the peppermint shrimp eat the little ones but the big ones flourish. I've decided to remove those two pieces to kill some of those aiptasia off but want to know the best way to do it. Soak in vinegar? Soak in a bleach solution? Dump boiling water on them? (All of this will occur outside, and to my knowledge no zoas have been within a foot of these rocks.) How would *you* destroy some aiptasia in such a way that I can return the pieces to the tank in a day or two? Thanks!

 

[ilikefish69]

@brandon429 this guy can help u with tank reset

 

[Spare time]

Aiptasia eating nudibranch/slug/hare (I can't remember which one it's called haha)

 

[tripdad]

Simply soak the rocks in freshwater for a day or two, rinse well, dry in sun.

 

[SallyWho]

Aiptasia eating nudibranch/slug/hare (I can't remember which one it's called haha)

I had some berghia for a while! They ate a couple and then disappeared.

Simply soak the rocks in freshwater for a day or two, rinse well, dry in sun.

And that'll take care of 'em? Sounds pretty simple! I wonder if freshwater and sun-drying will kill off some vermetid snails too!

 

[Spare time]

I had some berghia for a while! They ate a couple and then disappeared.

And that'll take care of 'em? Sounds pretty simple! I wonder if freshwater and sun-drying will kill off some vermetid snails too!

If you bake the rock in the sun you will have to cure the rock in a separate container as everything will need to rot off. They will come right back though since that won't remove them from the tank. Killing the rock should be the last resort

 

[Susan Edwards]

I use aptasia x. It kills them.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Trust me! One Copperbanded Butterfly fish. Mine is a “star”!!!

 

[xCry0x]

If you are pulling the rock out you can just cut them off, use a butane torch, toothbrush, etc.. lots of direct removal options with the rock removed.

In tank, kalk paste or aptasia x both work.. but for me they also both seem to result in rapid spread of aptasia. So good for the big ones coupled with peppermint shrimp to eat the new ones.

I've always had success with peppermint shrimp from reefcleaners.

 

[Dburr1014]

Aiptasia eating nudibranch/slug/hare (I can't remember which one it's called haha)

The peppermint shrimp will eat them.

Just a few rocks? Bleach, rinse, and sun dry. Won't take long to repopulate bacteria in the tank.

 

[SallyWho]

Thanks everyone! To follow up: I don't see any small aiptasia around in my tank because the peppermint shrimp take care of them. There are a couple of medium sized ones on a rock with a lot of coral attached, but they're on a vertical surface and my aiptasia killer of choice (Frank's, which on horizontal surfaces is 100% effective in my tank!) doesn't work so well when it can't set. I'll worry about those later I guess. The two large pieces of rock I removed have the biggest ones. I'm currently soaking them in freshwater in a bucket for a couple of days on my kiln of a back porch. I dumped the water and refilled this morning- lots of bristle worms in there too! I'll pull them out tomorrow and set them on the railing to dry for a day or two, then take some tweezers and remove as many of the vermetid snail tubes as possible before returning them to the tank. I do know they'll repopulate eventually because the whole tank won't have been nuked for aiptasia, but I'll have gotten rid of the biggest ones and all the new ones are peppermint food. It's good enough for me for now. I'll worry about the aiptasia more later, after I get my phos less than 2....