Aptasia is truly a bummer

[MasterBlaster]

Cycling the rock? The only cycling I'm aware of is fresh LR, or the water in a new tank. This rock will be dead, I'm assuming it will have a minimum affect on the tank. Am I wrong?

I'm guessing my protein skimmer will take care of that. I will place it back in service once I've determined the aiptasia is gone.

[Sueet]

The rock is going to need to be cycled again, because you have created the same situation as in the original 'cycling' process... That is, dead and dying organisms in and on the rock. Since there is very little chance of anything left alive in it after what you've done to it, the cycle should be much shorter, since you wont have new things dying as a result of the ammonia... but the smell... that just means the dead things are still in there, and still rotting. You could try boiling the rocks..... but that seems like alot more trouble than its worth, especially if you have large pieces. (and even that might not completely eradicate the smell)

Course... I'm just a new-b so what do I know?

[MasterBlaster]

I think I will just let them have an extended freshwater soak. Then maybe saltwater. Then the tank.

[MasterBlaster]

Well, it all looks like base rock now. The smell is almost gone. Sunlight helps, along with a good brushing. I might take it and blast it with compressed air... I dunno. That might be overkill.

I'm still coming across 1 or 2 baby aip's daily, so the battle ain't finished yet.

[Reefland]

Make sure you get rid of them all before you put the rock back in the tank or else you'll be facing the same thing in a month.

[MasterBlaster]

Well, I've had nothing in the tank this whole time except a few crabs. Crabs, LS, and tiny aips that won't go away. I try to scrape em off the glass, and pinch em outta the sand, but there are always babies springing up from somewhere.

I DO NOT want to kill my LS.

Sooooo, today I bought a CB butterfly and 6 Peppermints.

Should I starve them, and not feed them anything in the hopes that they will start on the aips? Or, what?


Man, this has been a long, drawn out bummer.

[Ninong]

I wouldn't be too concerned about feeding the shrimp, I'm sure they can find something to eat, but I think I would want to try to feed the Copperbanded Butterflyfish something to see if it will eat in captivity. Try frozen mysis and/or frozen brine. If that doesn't work, get a few clams from the supermarket and place an opened clam on the sand bed.

Most Copperbanded Butterflyfish will eventually eat Aiptasia but it sometimes takes them several weeks to realize that Aiptasia are tasty. In the meantime, I think I would be more concerned about the survival of the Copperbanded Butteflyfish.

Keep us posted on the behavior of the six peppermint shrimp. See if you can spot any of them chowing down on any Aiptasia.

Good luck,

[MasterBlaster]

Thanks, bro.