Disposing of Aiptasia!

[Drew]

Hi Guys,

I have 3 aiptasia's growing on this peice of live rock I have.. the rock is also covered top to bottom in zoanthids which I will miss sadly... but I can't find any peppermint shrimp and don't want to risk the aiptasia spreading to a rock that I am unable to remove from my tank.

How should I dispose of the coral/rock.. i live next to the beach but don't want to put it in the calm shallows because i worry the aiptasia might spread out there.

should I just put it in a bin?

or should I ask LFS..

or does somebody else want it?

[huxford88]

sorry for being a dope but wat is Aiptasia

[Batty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiptasia

[Lucifer]

Don't put anything that you have in your tank into the ocean. You might be putting disease into the ocean from your tank.

Best thing to do is cook the rock for about 10 min in boiling water. Let it cool down and then give it a good rise before putting back into your tank.

Another way is to inject them with vinegar.

If you want to keep the zoas from the rock, scrap them off with a blade then superglue them onto another rock. Wear safty glasses when you doing this because the juice from the zoas can burn your eyes. You can wear rubber gloves to be safe if you have any cuts on your hands.

I have seen some peppermint shrimps at Auburn Aquarium, but at $49.95 its pricy. Call around the shops, I am sure someone will have some. You will only need one in your 130l tank. They will get rid of your aiptasia slowly.

[Drew]

well I have looked at other shrimp (Cleaner etc) and they are nearing $180

I have taken the small peice of rock with the zoas and aiptasia into my isolation tank but I have no heater in there so no idea how long it will last (although water in all my tanks stays around 28 normally anyway hence why i keep a ready supply of ice to keep it cool).

thanks for the advice I will get a syringe and get to work. I have another tiny rock with zoas on it however I think I will have to take them out soon my hammer coral has grown an unbelievable amount in the last month and has totally obliterated them.

I got a few more additions to replace the large lot of zoas. A starfish, as well as an elegance coral and a hard brain coral (I think) -I have put them at 3 totally seperate parts of the tank because I can see the size of the hammer and think the elegance may easily get to an equal size. The hard brain coral I have read only comes out at night but am waiting to see it come out at some point!

[Lucifer]

Dont bother with other shrimps, they not going to get rid of your aiptasia.
I will PM you if I spot any around the LFS.