Anthelia Trimming

[dochoot]

My Anthelia is taking over my tank. How do I thin it out with out causing harm to the water quality? Do I just pull it off or cut it?

Much of it is on large rocks. It is not practical for me to sell or give away (flat worms in tank)

Thanks in advance

 

[McBeck]

You can chisel away a teeny bit of the rock w/ the anthelia attached to it. The rock is soft and you can "slice" off a thin layer pretty easily.

This will remove a hunk of anthelia without fouling your tank. You could probably get rid of all of it this way and it shouldn't regrow b/c you aren't leaving any remnants.

 

[dochoot]

I am concerned with the amount that I have. How do I chisel? What kind of tool would you use?

 

[McBeck]

A chisel...

Seriously, you can use a regular, small chisel and a small hammer. This requires removing the rock from the tank, but I don't recommend "pruning" anthelia inside the tank b/c you'll likely end up with anthelia settling everywhere.

It's a lot easier than it sounds. You just start chiseling on the side of the rock, just below the anthelia. You'll basically "skin" off a thin slice of rock and take the anthelia with it. Some people can do it w/ an exacto knife but those make me nervous.

I've also heard people have used Joe's Juice and/or kalk paste on it, much like trying to get rid of aiptasia. Your results may vary. If you go w/ kalk paste, you should probably work on small patches once a week so as not to foul the water or spike your pH.

 

[dochoot]

I need to post a picture to more fully clarify the issue. The rocks that it is on are huge and can't be taken out with out taking the entire tank apart. Mabe an exacto knife type thing in the water?