Freeze curing LR infested with aptasia

leslie hempel

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hey guys

i moved a tank for a guy and couldent get all the LR into containers with circulation and heat but noticed that the next morning alot of the aptasia had detached from the rock.. i checked the water and recorded a temp of +-10 deg celcius..

i then left them out again the next night to see more polyps fall off and die.. some were sliming..

i have simply been draining the bucket and replenishing with new salt water daily.. i have discarded the rock of hundreds if aptasia..

so my question is is: it not better to put these buckets in a freezer to help with the eradication of the aptasia?

so far i am having success and the rock is looking good.. i understand that the anerobic function of the rock is affected by the flushing of the drums daily but it will re-establish when put back in the tank..

has anyone heard of the opposite to "cooking" as in "freezing" LR..

should we term it "Freezcooking" LR? :lol:
 
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this sounds interesting
When i move from my 6ft to my 2m tank i will cool my live rock down
 
For the new guys. If you do this with matured live rock, you need to realise that some of the life, like pods and maybe some bacteria, will die because of the low temperature. That means that the tank will cycle a bit longer if ALL the live rock was done at once, to give the bacteria and pod population a chance to multiply again ;)
 
Its such an interesting post. The crux is loosing the life within the rock from the process. But would you loose less with freezing than boiling? I starting a small colony of aptasia which I'd like to get rid of before it infests everything but then again its an excuse to get a butterfly.
 
tobes rock in the condition this stuff was in is barley useful in its origional stste.. so if i loose almost everything except the bacteria or even lower the bacteria levels right down again and am successful the rock can be used again..

i doubt it will lengthen the cycle longer than the 30 day cyucle we have been practicing over the past few decades since it will have some bacteria.. as for pods etc. those kinds of things will need to be re-seeded buy purchasing a kg or 2 of cured Lr from the LFS nd having a little patience to let it bloom.. which will mean not adding any pod munching fish for 6 months or so

i cant really see a down side to this method..
 
No downside, not at all. What I mean is if a new guy have a tank filled with LR and it's full of aiptaisia and it is basically cycled already and he then removes all the LR to "freeze" and then put back, he might have a small cycle again or lengthen the cycle.
 
No downside, not at all. What I mean is if a new guy have a tank filled with LR and it's full of aiptaisia and it is basically cycled already and he then removes all the LR to "freeze" and then put back, he might have a small cycle again or lengthen the cycle.


cool now i understand your angle :)
 
Would Peppermint Shrimps not take care of aptasia?


Some do some dont, its a catch 22...this experiment was done as i am trying to rehabilitate the rock for resale, and had nothing to loose really as it is not really of use for a reef tank, but could probably still be used for a system containing butterflies etc (FOWLR).
 
Would Peppermint Shrimps not take care of aptasia?

Yes they do, but not always easy to get. And some places sell shrimps looking like a peppermint but is not the true peppermint, so they won't eat aiptaisia. The true one is the Lysmata Wurdemanni

Hope I spelled it right :p
 
Thanks guys, got 2 of these guys on saturday but researched what they looked like and what their characteristics were, they are definitely peppermints. Gonna wait n see if they get to the rock with aptasia, as I wanted to take it (LR) out of tank as a last resort. i have been nukin with Joes but as 1 is killed, another pops up on a different end of the rock. Hopefully, my battle will soon come to an end!! :thumbup:
 
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