Laser pruning anyone doing it?

[Shobloth]

I know there was a thread about this a while back, but there are more advanced lasers now and even waterproof ones for scuba diving.

Has anyone found this to be a more effective way to remove pests from your tank?
Has anyone tried this on a pest crab?

If so what kind of laser are you using? I know there's 4 W ones out there now

Thanks

 

[wolfblue]

Has anyone found this to be a more effective way to remove pests from your tank?

Swinging a multi watt laser around in your living room has been found to be one of the most effective means of removing vision from your head.

 

[Shobloth]

I guess I should qualify that I would be doing it with appropriate safety glasses

 

[wolfblue]

Nobody else...(crickets). Ok, from what I read here they have been using 1w and up 445nm blue lasers to kill aiptasia and such with mixed results. Even at 1w it takes several seconds to kill one. Some have said they have eradicated them and some say they just keep coming back anyway. But a peppermint shrimp wont blind you, or the person behind you. I think it could be sometimes an excuse to buy a laser. Or as the thing that pushes them over the edge in justifying the purchase.

Back to you, even 5W wont kill a crab but you might comprise the crab by blinding it. And cheap glasses sometimes don't work. Buy the glasses but don't trust them. Everybody in the room must have glasses and still be super careful. At 1W the reflection from the water surface could give permanent eye damage. Same for the aquarium glass or even just a coffee cup. The dot from a 1W laser on any surface is too bright to look at closer than many dozens of feet. Everybody in the house must know what your doing and stay out till you come out. Children get a baby sitter to make sure they stay out. Careful careful careful. And remember FAA rules that pilots report any laser they see and they can see exactly where it comes from. So don't shoot it up outside without looking up first.

 

[snorvich]

Very dangerous and only marginally effective.

 

[Shobloth]

Sorry I keep forgetting that common sense isn't all that common; no one is going to get blinded while I do this, also was going to look In to welding gogs or whatever the best protection I could get would be. I'm asking about using this responsibly in an aquarium, I have no motive to run around like a crazed moron lasing airplanes, cops, athletes, animals or the general citizenry. Thanks for the safety tips though

 

[wolfblue]

Not welding glasses. Glasses made for the color laser you have. And with a high enough OD rating. OD1 lets 10% through, OD2 lets 1% through and OD3 lets 1/1000 of the light through. So at OD3 if you do take a hit from a 4 Watt laser it "should" be the same as taking a hit from a 4mW laser. If the lens is quality and is not destroyed by that amount of power. But now that fire starting light sabre that instantly burned a line across your wall looks like a little 4mW pointer to you wearing those glasses. These things are super dangerous and borderline illegal. If a 1 watt laser swipes across your eye you are very likely to see that line in your vision for the rest of your life.

 

[philosophile]

I bought a laser to do what you're suggesting, and it was effective, in that it killed the bubble algae that i was lasing.... But that didn't stop the algae from growing in other spots. Also it was difficult to get it in certain spots on my tank. The amount of lasting time required for killing the bubble algae required frequent battery changes and recharging batteries would take about 2 hours. So in short. It really is not worth the time and effort.

 

[Shobloth]

Thanks philosophile, that's what I was looking for. I still think it would be very cool but will likely not pursue this. I just hate to tear the rock apart to get at pests but if it's going to take more time to avoid that then ill just do the old fashioned aay

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What pests are you trying to eliminate at the moment?

 

[Shobloth]

Anemones, crabs & algae

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

if by anemones you mean aiptasia, I think fish that eat them are the best way to go. I use a Chelmon marginalis for that purpose.

What to do about algae will depend on the type you have.

I'm not sure what to do about certain crabs except trap them.

 

[MLalex]

i used and not impressed...
one aiptasia killed 3 new ones...