Apitasia gone ?

Ziva

New member
Hello all, Got to say I love this forum. Been following a bunch of threads and have learned so much! With that said, my 29 gallon has been up and running for a month everything is great my 2 mocha clowns are doing wonderfully. I have (had) 22 to 24 lbs of cured live rock in it. A week ago I noticed some dreaded apitasia starting to pop on one piece. I removed it boiled a gallon to ro/DI water and slowly poured it all over the rock it soaked for about 5 minutes and then I removed it from the bucket. For a couple of days it smelled fishy. The odor is gone and now the rock is completely dry. So how much longer should I wait before returning it to the tank?
 
Boiling isn't a good idea really. Some polyps & even some algae can emit a powerful toxin when vaporized. The rock can also crack. The now possibly dead organic material on the rock may kick off a small cycle & add ammonia to the tank. I'd watch for that by putting it in a bucket with powerheads running & do some testing.

I'd use Ailtasia-X or Kalk slurry in a syringe to knock out any future aptasia. It's easy & quick but don't ignore them & let them get out of hand. Keeping nutrients & disolved organic matter under control helps keep their numbers down.
 
Being that you were able to remove the rock with ease you could have just burned the Aiptasia off with a cigarette lighter. This only takes a few seconds to do. The rock will become a little scorched, but this usually rubs off with a little water.
 
Funny you should mention the toxin thing, Reef Frog. Shortly after the post I read the toxin, poisoning, hospital sticky. I think it should be a mandatory read for all newbies. I never realized these creatures possessed such powerful toxins. I thought eventually I'd get a couple of corals but now I'm re-thinking the whole thing. I'll go back to my alligator wrestling, cobra rescue and land mine retrieval . They seem safer. So what about the rock? Should I just let it sit for a few months and then return it to the tank? Or is it a done deal?
 
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