Is it safe to wash established LR in FW?

droog · 11/27/2014, 09:18 PM

Hi,

I'm considering a weekend cleanup job on my tank. Taking out all the rocks to
remove a difficult to find mantis shrimp that hitchhiked into the tank and giving the rocks a thorough clean while I'm at it.

My live rock came with a lot of hitchhikers... xanthid crabs, mantis shrimp and various pest algae that I've mostly eliminated. I keep seeing more baby crabs emerge from the rockwork though, must be ~20 baby crabs appear from my rocks in the 10 months my system has been running.

Is it be safe to give my LR a dip / soak in RODI water during this cleanup? Say a 15-30 minute FW bath. My reasoning is to get all the hitchhikers out in one go but I don't want to kill off the beneficial bacteria on my LR and risk a cycle. What about rocks that have LPS and SPS corals that attached and encrusted with coralline algae?

-droog

Dozer1one · 11/28/2014, 08:54 AM

I've done fresh water dips before without killing any LPS I would never really try it on anything with SPS on it,it may work it may not I'm not sure on that one,but LPS and softies seem to take too well I usually only do it for 5 to 7 minutes once a year.

Green Chromis · 11/28/2014, 09:20 AM

I would not rinse the rock in RO/DI or any other form of freshwater for any period of time, as this would cause a large die off of a lot of the beneficial life forms on and in the live rock. I would try to catch the Manta Shrimp and crabs with a trap first and if that doesn't work than you should try a dip for a minute or so in a hypo saline solution of .030 or maybe a little higher to dislodge the shrimp and crabs. The trap should work, is their a reason you need to remove the Manta and Crabs?

ca1ore · 11/28/2014, 09:53 AM

I wouldn't do a protracted FW dip if I were you. More likely to affect beneficial bacterial than your unwanted hikers. I have briefly swished LR in FW to remove flatworms (very effective, BTW) but nothing more than a handful of seconds.

droog · 11/29/2014, 12:43 AM

Thanks guys. I'll hold off on this, let the system sort itself out.

@GreenChromis - I think the mantis shrimp has attacked and eaten some of my smaller fish. Hard to say for sure, but I think thats what happened.

-droog

formsix · 11/29/2014, 09:33 AM

We've had decent luck taking out specific rocks and swishing them around in a bucket of tank water. This has caused many a crab to fall off into the bucket. For the stubborn ones, I've gotten some out by poking into their holes (and also semi-accidentally killed a few that way). But just keeping the rock out of water for a few seconds often causes them to try to run on the rock from one hole to another and then you can flick them off or swish them into a bucket.

We also spend a few nights crab hunting in the tank. Feeding with Rods and then going in with long tweezers works wonders to catch little hungry crabs. Doubt the mantis would fall for that, but the crabs do!

Bobbofin · 11/29/2014, 09:56 AM

Put a tall drinking glass with straight, smooth sides with the lip up against the rock work. Put some food in glass. I put the food in a pill bottle with holes drilled in it so it doesn't float out. The crabs drop into the glass and can't get out! Worked like a charm many years ago when I had a few nasty hitchhiker gorilla crabs in some live rock. I leave it in the tank overnight. It only took several days and they were all gone.

droog · 11/30/2014, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobbofin

Put a tall drinking glass with straight, smooth sides with the lip up against the rock work. Put some food in glass. I put the food in a pill bottle with holes drilled in it so it doesn't float out. The crabs drop into the glass and can't get out! Worked like a charm many years ago when I had a few nasty hitchhiker gorilla crabs in some live rock. I leave it in the tank overnight. It only took several days and they were all gone.

Thanks - I tried this before. The crab just laughed at me...

-droog

11/27/2014, 09:18 PM	#1
droog Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 736	Is it safe to wash established LR in FW? Hi, I'm considering a weekend cleanup job on my tank. Taking out all the rocks to remove a difficult to find mantis shrimp that hitchhiked into the tank and giving the rocks a thorough clean while I'm at it. My live rock came with a lot of hitchhikers... xanthid crabs, mantis shrimp and various pest algae that I've mostly eliminated. I keep seeing more baby crabs emerge from the rockwork though, must be ~20 baby crabs appear from my rocks in the 10 months my system has been running. Is it be safe to give my LR a dip / soak in RODI water during this cleanup? Say a 15-30 minute FW bath. My reasoning is to get all the hitchhikers out in one go but I don't want to kill off the beneficial bacteria on my LR and risk a cycle. What about rocks that have LPS and SPS corals that attached and encrusted with coralline algae? -droog

11/28/2014, 09:20 AM	#3
Green Chromis Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: miami,florida Posts: 640	I would not rinse the rock in RO/DI or any other form of freshwater for any period of time, as this would cause a large die off of a lot of the beneficial life forms on and in the live rock. I would try to catch the Manta Shrimp and crabs with a trap first and if that doesn't work than you should try a dip for a minute or so in a hypo saline solution of .030 or maybe a little higher to dislodge the shrimp and crabs. The trap should work, is their a reason you need to remove the Manta and Crabs? __________________ Natural Reefer Current Tank Info: 600 gallon Carribean Reef System, ETSS Protein Skimmer, 1.5HP Tradewinds Chiller, Reef Breeders Photon V2+ LED Lighting For The Refugium, Mitra LX7206 LED Lights For Display Tank

11/28/2014, 09:53 AM	#4
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	I wouldn't do a protracted FW dip if I were you. More likely to affect beneficial bacterial than your unwanted hikers. I have briefly swished LR in FW to remove flatworms (very effective, BTW) but nothing more than a handful of seconds. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

11/28/2014, 08:54 AM	#2
Dozer1one Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: levittown, PA Posts: 349	I've done fresh water dips before without killing any LPS I would never really try it on anything with SPS on it,it may work it may not I'm not sure on that one,but LPS and softies seem to take too well I usually only do it for 5 to 7 minutes once a year.

11/29/2014, 12:43 AM	#5
droog Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 736	Thanks guys. I'll hold off on this, let the system sort itself out. @GreenChromis - I think the mantis shrimp has attacked and eaten some of my smaller fish. Hard to say for sure, but I think thats what happened. -droog

11/29/2014, 09:33 AM	#6
formsix Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 341	We've had decent luck taking out specific rocks and swishing them around in a bucket of tank water. This has caused many a crab to fall off into the bucket. For the stubborn ones, I've gotten some out by poking into their holes (and also semi-accidentally killed a few that way). But just keeping the rock out of water for a few seconds often causes them to try to run on the rock from one hole to another and then you can flick them off or swish them into a bucket. We also spend a few nights crab hunting in the tank. Feeding with Rods and then going in with long tweezers works wonders to catch little hungry crabs. Doubt the mantis would fall for that, but the crabs do!

11/29/2014, 09:56 AM	#7
Bobbofin Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 137	Put a tall drinking glass with straight, smooth sides with the lip up against the rock work. Put some food in glass. I put the food in a pill bottle with holes drilled in it so it doesn't float out. The crabs drop into the glass and can't get out! Worked like a charm many years ago when I had a few nasty hitchhiker gorilla crabs in some live rock. I leave it in the tank overnight. It only took several days and they were all gone.