question about live rock treatment

H

haven283

AC Members
Nov 20, 2008
27
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Canada - SW Ontario
Hi everyone!

I just removed a small bit of LR that had a rather large glass anemone (aiptasia) living on it. I found the aiptasia when I relocated the rock from the bottom of the tank. My peppermint shrimp was not eating it, it was probably too large?

anyway, I did the hot water treatment on the rock, just with no turkey baster. I just soaked it in boiling water.

I'm not terribly afraid to part with the rock. . . But if I don't have to throw it out, can I save it somehow? I haven't found much literature on this.
 
By boiling it, you've essentially killed everything on it that made it live rock. But, all is not lost. You can still use the rock, but would now need to treat it like a piece of dry (dead) base rock you might buy online or at a LFS. At this point, depending on the size of the rock and how much other live rock you have in the tank, you can begin to make it live again buy curing it in a separate vat / tank / Rubbermaid / etc. container with a small amount of known live rock or just place it back in your tank. If it's a significant portion of the rock that was in your tank, you wouldn't want to add it directly back into the tank, as it would likely cause at least a small (but potentially harmful) ammonia spike from the dead organic matter in / on the rock. This would be the case where curing it in a separate container would make more sense. It will take a good bit of time, but it will once again become live rock.

Almost forgot... Yes, it's common for peppermint shrimp to not eat larger aiptasia.
 
for the next time, I'd suggest not boiling the whole piece of rock for some aiptisia. I've seen some in my work tank and in my home tank.. I think losing a rock would hurt more than having to deal with a bad anemone.

but that's just me.
 
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