I read a post where Jenn's Scott dipped live rock into straight vinegar to remove aptasia. To be honest, I had thought of the same approach, but like Jenn, was concerned with the amount of beneficial bacteria I'd loose with this method. Also, I have grown a nice crop of very small serpent stars for the first time in reefing, and would like to keep them.
Keep in mind I currently have the worse outbreak of aptasia I've ever seen, due to a cracked tank issue last summer, and less than optimum makeshift conditions my rock endured until the new tank was ready. As a result of the atasia, the rocks look almost fuzzy from 10 feet away.
This may not be every one's answer, but so far, it's working for me.
This is the method I'm testing, and will post more results as they play out:
Using a very large frag plug, I cover an area of aptasia infestation. The aptasia move onto the plug in order to get to the light. After all the aptasia in that area attach to the frag plug, I remove the plug and give it a vinegar soak, rinse it in a container of tank water and replace it in the tank, over another infested area to begin the process again.
I'd have taken pictures of this, as you can now see two rough circular areas where no aptasia exsist, but to be honest, I'm just too embarrassed of my tank to take pictures right now.
I do not presume this will take care of all of them, but it's certainly making a huge dent in the population, after only a few days. If I get rid of the overgrowth, maybe the Peppermint Shrimp will have more interest in eating the younger ones that will undoubtedly pop up in the treated areas.
I'll keep you posted....
Keep in mind I currently have the worse outbreak of aptasia I've ever seen, due to a cracked tank issue last summer, and less than optimum makeshift conditions my rock endured until the new tank was ready. As a result of the atasia, the rocks look almost fuzzy from 10 feet away.
This may not be every one's answer, but so far, it's working for me.
This is the method I'm testing, and will post more results as they play out:
Using a very large frag plug, I cover an area of aptasia infestation. The aptasia move onto the plug in order to get to the light. After all the aptasia in that area attach to the frag plug, I remove the plug and give it a vinegar soak, rinse it in a container of tank water and replace it in the tank, over another infested area to begin the process again.
I'd have taken pictures of this, as you can now see two rough circular areas where no aptasia exsist, but to be honest, I'm just too embarrassed of my tank to take pictures right now.
I do not presume this will take care of all of them, but it's certainly making a huge dent in the population, after only a few days. If I get rid of the overgrowth, maybe the Peppermint Shrimp will have more interest in eating the younger ones that will undoubtedly pop up in the treated areas.
I'll keep you posted....
