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l Morphine

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So, I noticed little things growing out of my zoa rock and another rock right below it. I think its aiptasia. I took both rocks out and Im leaving the zoas in a bucket of water with a heater and powerhead. The other piece of rock I soaked in burning hot water for like 10 minutes. Do you think I will be okay? Im gonna buy some peppermint shrimp from liveaquaria that they guarantee will eat aiptasia. What do you guys think?
 

DallasNYC

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Manhattan
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If you can isolate the rock like you have, then I would try to kill the aiptasia with chemical means. ( Kalkwasser, Vineager, lime juice, etc.)
I see peppermint shrimp as a control method.
Best to eradicated aiptasias if you can.

You should never boil live rock or coral, as they say that the corals could leach out deadly chemicals, especially the zoas and palys.

If you don't mind killing everything in your rock, than you can ..
Let it dry out and leave it dry for a week or so..
Soak in Bleach ... but then you will have to rinse and air dry to get the bleach out.
Soak in hydrogen peroxide...
Do some forum searches for the proper amounts to use per gallons for both above, and how to prepare the rock afterwards before putting in the tank.

Once you've killed the rock, putting it back in might cause an ammonia spike based on how much you killed in the rock and it's size and how much other filtration you have in the tank.

To rid the rock of some of the dead organics before putting it back in the tank you can cycle the rock on it's own.
You can cycle rock for a few months in the dark (called 'cooking' the rock) which is probably overkill in our case.
Or some people soak the rock in vinegar or a mild acid over night.\
Again, do some forum searches on how to treat rocks to get rid of dead organics.
 

l Morphine

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Staten Island
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Alright. Yeah the zoas I didnt boil. They are going to my LFS tomorrow. I will soak the rock in vinegar overnight. IS that enough? Also do I just do a really good rinse after? The tank is 30 breeder, and the rock probably weighs about 4 pounds. I have another 35 pounds in the tank. Also I have an aquaclear 70, fluval 306 and plenty of powerheads. Ill also buy another rock in the meantime to help keep up the load. My ammonia is 0 atm.
 

l Morphine

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Staten Island
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This is a picture of the aiptasia on my zoa rock. Let me know what you guys think.
dg776c.jpg
 

DallasNYC

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Location
Manhattan
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Personally I don't like to do anything major to the tank at night, because you may wake up to problems. Best to do it in the morning, so you can keep an eye on the tank thru out the day.

So yes, a vinegar soak, or even just a nite in a bucket of salt water wouldn't hurt.

With that said, I really wouldn't expect anything drastic to happen given your set up.
 

l Morphine

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Staten Island
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Yeah. I mean the rock is back in my tank for now. The aiptasia havent shown up yet... They prob pissed off or melted. I work all day tomorrow so if I see them back in the morning, Ill soak it in a bucket with vinegar for the day. If I dont see them I may just wait
 

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