New rock with some issues.

[Bosco83]

My wife and I are working on getting a tank setup for her now and we just got an awesome deal on some live rock. We got 80lbs of very nice rock for $100 from craigslist because they said the rock has aiptasia on it but I'm not sure if that's what they are. Here are some pictures let me know what you think. The rock also has hair algae on it what will eat that?

 

[tat2z_21]

Possible Mejano's they look to bulky and stout in the polyp section to be the dreaded aptasia. However both are just as fiendish and absolute terrors in the tank.

 

[Bosco83]

that is kinda what I was thinking they might be. They almost look like a cross between manjano's and aiptasia.

Brian

 

[Ellylove]

I got a piece of rock covered in hair algae and my Mexican Turbo Snails mowed the thing in 3 days. My hermit cabs picked at it too, but didn't make near as big of a dent as the turbos.

 

[OCDreefer]

first off beautiful rock.... sweet deal there.

My recommendation is to take out the rock scrub the hell out of it with a steal wool brush. or even boil it. All rock will become 'Live rock' once your tank has properly cycled.

Another side recommendation is to make it so you have easy assess to clean the sides, even if you have to go with less rock. ( I have about 30Ibls in my 40) I personally like the less rock look.... more room for corals

 

[Chichas01]

Yep boil it. Kill the little bas#!@$%!!

 

[Bosco83]

I was thinking about boiling it or what about pressure washing it? The rock in the middle is all one piece so it won't even fit in a crab pot cooker. She is going to do a fowlr tank so we can have some of the fish that we wanted to put in our reef tank.

Brian

 

[sandswhitson]

I will be tagging along with this as I have some rock that I am thinking about cooking. If you cook it how long do you need to cook it? Also how long would it need to cycle once cooked or would it be considered dead then. I would think that there would still be bacteria and life forms leaching out of the rock for a while after the cooking.

 

[Bosco83]

I will be tagging along with this as I have some rock that I am thinking about cooking. If you cook it how long do you need to cook it? Also how long would it need to cycle once cooked or would it be considered dead then. I would think that there would still be bacteria and life forms leaching out of the rock for a while after the cooking.

Here is a good description on how and why to cook live rock.

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=330445

 

[Scooterman]

Cooking & boiling is two different methods.
In severe cases would you want to boil, bleach rock.

 

[alki]

copperband or raccon butterly?? They should eat majano and aiptasia. Your tank is big enough. And it would be fun to watch.

 

[Bosco83]

copperband or raccon butterly?? They should eat majano and aiptasia. Your tank is big enough. And it would be fun to watch.

We picked up a Klein's Butterfly yesterday

 

[alki]

We picked up a Klein's Butterfly yesterday

Make sure you get rid of him before you get any sps, zoas, or lps. Otherwise its just really expensive food.

Much better and cooler than boiling or pressure washing your rock. lol Not to mention easier.

 

[Bosco83]

Make sure you get rid of him before you get any sps, zoas, or lps. Otherwise its just really expensive food.

Much better and cooler than boiling or pressure washing your rock. lol Not to mention easier.

She is going to do a fowlr so we can have some fish that aren't reef safe.

Brian

 

[Bored4ever86]

for the algae problem i have to say go and buy like 2-5 emerald mithrax crabs, cool to watch, the ones (2) i had cleaned my ~15lbs of rock overnight they love the stuff and once they finish that off they tend to go after leftover food and i've yet to see them harm a snail or anything else (did watch one steal a dead snail from a hermit, the hermit had killed it and was chowing down when the emerald came over and beat him up and stole his food)

 

[Bosco83]

for the algae problem i have to say go and buy like 2-5 emerald mithrax crabs, cool to watch, the ones (2) i had cleaned my ~15lbs of rock overnight they love the stuff and once they finish that off they tend to go after leftover food and i've yet to see them harm a snail or anything else (did watch one steal a dead snail from a hermit, the hermit had killed it and was chowing down when the emerald came over and beat him up and stole his food)

Yea we will have to get a couple emerald crabs. I will be on the hunt today(I'm off on Wednesdays) for emerald crabs and some peppermint shrimp to help out the butterfly.

Brian

 

[Bosco83]

Boiled our live rock

Today we decided that we were tired of watching the aiptasia take over the tank they were multiplying like crazy. The Klein's Butterfly picked at them but there were just too many. So people say to squirt them with boiling water well how about a boiling bath :evil: I pressure washed all the rock and then boiled all of it for 15 minutes. We should have done this on day one so much crap came out of the rocks when we washed it. So we will see what happens here are some pictures.

Brian

I pinch