Couple questions, advice please...

[bennyd]

Well I'll start here... I just got some live rock from a friend of mine, he's had this 50g setup for 3 years and didn't want it anymore so he gave me his sand and rock and 2 fish. (just a damned damsel and some sorta clown, gotta look it up to be sure.)

Well, there is aiptasia on it. LARGE ones, medium ones, and small ones... quite a few. I have not put these rocks in my 120, they are setup in a 20g...

Will these peppermints from AT eat them? What is the best way to get at them? Some of them are in crevices and what not where you can't get to or see the mouth, they just have long tentacles hangin out.

Next, I'm going to be moving my 120 to my new house next weekend, but it's not getting setup right away. I plan on throwing all of my rock into a 90 and a 30, and keeping my 2 fish and CUC in my 40 sump/fuge until I get done with my 120 mods.

What should I do with all of the sand? I have probably 140lbs in the display.. and a 5" DSB in the fuge... Will it be ok to just take all of the sand out, and place it in the tanks with the rock and then place it in the 120 or will all the stirring be a not so good thing?

Would it be best to just take all of the sand, put it in buckets, and run water in them until the water runs clean? Just not sure what I should do with it. I am sure I could always get a cup of sand to seed with from someone so keeping it all alive really isn't that big of a deal...

Any and all advice is much appreciated

 

[rwp1202]

Well, here's my 2 cents and I am sure others will have advice as well.

Aptasia - I would kill as many as possible using kalk paste or joe's juice. Then let your peppermints get after the small ones you missed.

In my opinion, you should never disturb a DSB because there is so much nasty stuff trapped inside. Since you are moving and have no choice I would save a few cups of substrate and put it in the 90/30 and trash the rest. You could try to rinse the sand if you want to, but if you use fresh water, all the good stuff will die anyway and you may still release some nasty stuff into your new setup. If it were me, I would replace the substrate.

 

[Aadler]

I used sand from a deep sand bed after a move, didn't have problems, but that was JME, I have never read the horror storys but feel like I have heard about them. So that is a call you have to make, if it stinks real bad, i would want to wash it myself.

peps might work, but also nuke them with Mrs T pickling lime from walmart. make a paste out of it and warm water. just need to drop it on them, since rock is not in a display you could do this all at once, give it a few days then put a few peps in to finish them off. a few weeks later you should be good to go.

 

[mike660r]

The peppermint shrimp are hit and miss for the smaller aptasia. Your best bets is just pull the rock and let it dry out for 2 weeks. Rinse it with bucket dips in any type of water you choose, tap or R/O. Let it dry out for a few more a days and then you are good to go.

As for the sand, rinsing it out in buckets and then laying it flat on some plastic in the sun should work.

 

[mike660r]

I'll share one of my sayings that I use in this hobby. Nothing is free, its what you pay in the end that requires the thought. Sure, you can spend all kinds of money on snake oils and possible solutions. If you want complete erradication go for they solutions that will provide that at the least cost to you.

 

[bennyd]

Yea, I'd like to not kill the rock, since it has been established for so long. Meh....

Guess I have some decisions to make.

Thank you all for the info/advice.

 

[hllywd]

You can always "cook" the rock, but that takes several months. I've done some in an empty tank, but RubberMaid tubs are probably best since they tend to block a lot of light. All you need is a power head and a small heater. Cover and keep in a dark place. Siphon any junk that comes out every couple weeks and replace with new water. Three tubs will allow you to move rock from dirtier water to cleaner. It takes minimum 4 months if I remember right, but mine went a lot longer and ended up nice and white again. Only thing left is some feahter dusters and bacteria... If the aptasia are still there, they're invisible...

Tim

 

[princesuhaib]

I Just get 3 peppermint shrimp for my 75 gallon and as soon as the lights go out! they go out on a feeding frenzy! and eat em all up!
Now I can not see any more aptasia anywhere in my tank!

I also got mine from Aquatic tech