live rock full of pests!

[anen]

I bought this rock off some guy that I thought looked nice (the rock not the guy) and put it in the tank I'm setting up. After an hour, I start observing the rock. First I see some pink tentacle looking things and then realize its aiptasia. Then I observed some more and noticed bristle worms. I then immediately pulled the rock out of the tank, and put it in a bucket.

Now I'm deciding what to do.... should I boil this thing? Should I put it back and try to fight off all the pests? I don't have anythign in this tank yet except my other rock and sand. It's going to look pretty sterile if I boil it though. It has some nice green and purple corraline.

 

[johnny roastbeef]

Kill the aiptasia, and feed the worms. The worms are good.

 

[Dre]

Well thank God it's a new tank.I would suggest remove every piece of rock very carefully.What to do with it ?I don't know.:happysad:Aiptasia is very very hard to kill.Do you have pics?

 

[anen]

I tried to snap pics but I can't get my camera to focus. I think it's too late for the bristleworms... I put the rock in some hyposalinic water with coral revive and flatworm exit. I'm worried about the aiptasia though...
I've heard the horror stories of people losing tanks to those damn things so not sure what to do.

 

[fcamargo6thave]

you will be fine if you dont want the bristleworms ill take them i like seeing them come out at night and as for the aptaisa get some aptaisa x it works very well at least it worked for me

 

[masterswimmer]

Kill the aiptasia, and feed the worms. The worms are good.

+1

.....no pun intended, but you're opening a can of worms with this. I like bristleworms in my tanks....not everyone does :banghead:

swimmer

 

[Reef Reaper]

+2

 

[e.muehlbauer]

I love bristleworms. Unfortunately, I no longer seem to have any. I believe they disappeared due to a series of wrasses over the years...no longer have any wrasses, (all went skydiving)..in fact I only have 2 fish now...so hopefully if any are left, they will repopulate the tank.

 

[Dre]

Sell the rocks !Let it be known that the rocks have Aiptasia though.

 

[TrIsTaTe05]

aptasia x works wonders is there alot of aptasia on the rock? also i understand what your saying im anal as well if i seen that i would sell it do to the fact thats its not perfect. First off the person who sold to you should of been honest with you not so much about the worms but the aptasia.

 

[Dre]

I bought this rock off some guy that I thought looked nice (the rock not the guy) and put it in the tank I'm setting up. After an hour, I start observing the rock. First I see some pink tentacle looking things and then realize its aiptasia. Then I observed some more and noticed bristle worms. I then immediately pulled the rock out of the tank, and put it in a bucket.

Now I'm deciding what to do.... should I boil this thing? Should I put it back and try to fight off all the pests? I don't have anythign in this tank yet except my other rock and sand. It's going to look pretty sterile if I boil it though. It has some nice green and purple corraline.

Btw,how much lb.of liverock are you talking about ?

 

[reefnhard]

how new is your tank .......if its ready to have livestock in it i would recommend Berghia Nudibranchs...unlike other nudibranchs there not toxic or harmful in anyway...they sole diet is aiptasia

 

[dubs]

i like bristle worn too .... kill the aiptasia and u will be fine

 

[NL146]

Read the original post. He bought one rock from a guy that looked nice (the rock, not the guy). He's already taken it out of his tank.

I am using aiptasia-x. The first time I used it I noticed more aiptasia in the tank. Perhaps I didn't cover the discs completely. I used it again about three days ago in much more liberal portions and this time it looks like even the foot's gone from each of them. If you're going to use aip-x I think you should treat the rock while in the bucket and put it in the tank only when you're sure they're all gone.

 

[Dre]

Wise guy ,i read his post and no where he said one rock.I asked who much pounds.
Btw it takes about 6-9 months to determine if these produces really rid a tank of aiptasia.Not because you don't see them that doesn't mean they are gone for good.A tiny piece can float off and form another Aiptasia some where else in the tank even if you squert some crap on them.Why do you think they are so hard to kill and so easy to spread?

 

[NL146]

I bought this rock off some guy that I thought looked nice (the rock not the guy) and put it in the tank I'm setting up. After an hour, I start observing the rock. First I see some pink tentacle looking things and then realize its aiptasia. Then I observed some more and noticed bristle worms. I then immediately pulled the rock out of the tank, and put it in a bucket.

Now I'm deciding what to do.... should I boil this thing? Should I put it back and try to fight off all the pests? I don't have anythign in this tank yet except my other rock and sand. It's going to look pretty sterile if I boil it though. It has some nice green and purple corraline.

The highlighted words suggest it was one rock. Please note that this is by no means either a serious or antagonistic defense, just in a good mood. By the way, my wife thinks I'm a wiseguy too! Go figure. I'm thinking though that if you zap the aips and try to make sure everything is gone, perhaps washing off the rock too and suctioning off any remains of the aips (before putting the rock back in the dt) that you'll make good progress. Of course you'll have to weigh the risks of having aips spreading throughout your dt. On the other hand, as I said, I'm still guaging the success of aip-x in my tank.

 

[ming]

I'm a believer bristleworms are good for the tank, but I still will not hesitate to kill one when I see it. I'm not going to go out of my way searching to kill them though, but they just better not come out in front of me. As for the aiptasia, If I can remove a part of the rock with coral cutters that the aiptasia is on, I would, otherwise if you can put superglue gel on it, then thats my second option. Otherwise, I'd try taking it out of the tank and squirting some vinegar and stuff on it to try kill it, and finally rinse in saltwater before putting it back in the tank. Since nothing's really in your tank now, not much to worry. If it was a small rock in a fully established large tank, I wouldn't worry again. If its a small tank fully established or a very large rock, you may cause an ammonia spike.

 

[anen]

To clear some things up, it's a new tank. It was a 10 lb rock that I liked the shape of. I suppose I can just chuck the rock and cut my losses, but I like the shape of it. The more I think about it I should just get another piece.

 

[loneracer05]

hey man if u wanna meet up ill barrow that rock and my copperband wit rid you of your aiptasia nd then u could have it back

 

[TripleT]

To clear some things up, it's a new tank. It was a 10 lb rock that I liked the shape of. I suppose I can just chuck the rock and cut my losses, but I like the shape of it. The more I think about it I should just get another piece.

I wonder what the chances are that new rock that you buy will have it too.

You could wind up throwing out lots of rock.

If you think you might want peppermint shrimp in your tank, I'd get some and see how they do before getting rid of the rock.