Aiptasia Killer Experiment

[Seriak]

Anyone ever tried the following to kill Aiptasia or see any drawbacks to it other then the ones mentioned?

1) Pull rock out of tank (This may or may not be an option for some)
2) Place rock on towel (Over container of some sort)
3) Pour vinegar over the rock where the aiptasia is for 30 seconds or so.
4) Place rock back in tank

I have done this twice now and I have yet to see the aiptasia return. Any corals attached to the rock seem to be fine with being out of the tank for 30 seconds as long as they are not hit by the vinegar. I lose a few pods or mini feathers in the surrounding area, but if the aiptasia doesn't come back then I think that is a good trade off.

I have tried the injection method, peppermints, etc but everything was maybe it will work maybe it won't. This seems to work everytime if you can get the piece of rock out of your system.

What do you guys think?

[MarkoD]

Wouldn't that kill all the bacteria on the rock and cause die off?

[Spyd]

If you can get the rock out, a blow torch does wonders as well. You would just have to be extremely careful on not getting too close to the corals.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

Wouldn't that kill all the bacteria on the rock and cause die off?

yes it wll but it shouldnt hurt your tank as long as you dont overload your bio filter, a healthy tank can turn a little bit of amonia into nitrates pretty quick its when you kill off too much is a problem.


i take rocks and coral out of water all the time sometimes when im fragging ill have a piece out for up to a half hour same with the rocks its on. ive also left rocks in buckets with no water overnight and added them straight back to my tank with no harm, my tank can turn amonia pretty quick.i wouldnt try with a newer tank it wold be a bit riskay:P

if your tank is well aged and a good bio filter it should show no ill signs.


whatever bacteria the vinegar kills will be back in no time.

[lastlight]

A rock I placed into my sump months ago had a single aiptasia on it which I left alone for whatever reason. In the past few months I've seen a few show up directly on the glass in the same compartment. It's only when I get super close and really stare at the sump and single rock that I can make out a ton of these things you normally can't see. My thinking is for every one we go after (having spotted it) we have a bunch that are so tiny you can't really detect them at all. For this reason I truly believe that once infected you are then maintaining levels (either manually or with preds) not fully eradicating. For this reason I would think that while this could be effective you'll never beat the problem as tiny impossible to see offspring are all over.

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by lastlight

A rock I placed into my sump months ago had a single aiptasia on it which I left alone for whatever reason. In the past few months I've seen a few show up directly on the glass in the same compartment. It's only when I get super close and really stare at the sump and single rock that I can make out a ton of these things you normally can't see. My thinking is for every one we go after (having spotted it) we have a bunch that are so tiny you can't really detect them at all. For this reason I truly believe that once infected you are then maintaining levels (either manually or with preds) not fully eradicating. For this reason I would think that while this could be effective you'll never beat the problem as tiny impossible to see offspring are all over.

I agree 100%. The liverock was sold to me as completely pest free. (No I didn't believe it!)And for the first few months it was, at least on the outside of the rock, but then I started to see aiptasia here and there. Visibly, they were pest free, but you never know what is hanging out on the inside. But knowing I can just remove the rock and get rid of it, makes it a little easier at least until I have too many corals to do that.