disinfect aquarium

Nabber86 · 12/07/2008, 10:03 AM

We have a 75 gallon aquarium that is infected with Aiptasia and some small worms. We have tried to kill off the Aiptasia but I think there is just too much of it to get ahead of. The stupid stuff is in the sand, rock, etc. We have had the aquarium for about 5 years now. The rock also seems to be breaking down some. We want to take out everything from the aquarium and start over with new rock. How do you disinfect the aquarium and it's components? Do you run something in the water or what? We have never started over so we're open to any ideas.

We got infected with the Aiptasia by someone giving us some coral. The next time around, we will definitely quarentine everything going into the tank.

nukemdanno · 12/07/2008, 10:44 AM

Wipe the tank in vinegar/water solution. If you wanted to run the tank with the solution you'd need a ton of vinegar 25% or so.

wrott · 12/07/2008, 11:10 AM

I think bleach would be the best to use to wipe out everything in the tank. Then change water and let in run for a few weeks--all bleach should be nuetralized w/in a few days on its own. It's sodium hypochlorite, the same thing used in swimming pools to kill everything.

jaystampareef · 12/07/2008, 11:32 AM

Okay, okay... I've been there! Take a breath : ) Aiptasias are so hard to kill b/c of evolution design. You can rip them off a rock, and 5 more can grow back, (from cells left behind). Berghia's eat them, but are expensive and work slowly. This is what I did after trying everything, (including berghias): Kalwasser mixed with a small bit of fresh water into a paste applied with a childrens medicine syringe free from Walgreens. Goop it all over the rock where the anemone lives. Let it dry for a few minutes. Try to get as many as you can find. Then what I did was I put them into a large bucket with a lid (no light whatsoever) and put a powerhead from the sump to the bucket. Then the water drained back down into the sump. I let the rocks sit in there for weeks until they were aiptasia free. The system still had the beneficial filtration with the rock, but no light for the aiptasias. It worked great!

Nabber86 · 12/07/2008, 05:23 PM

We tried most of what we have read. I even got some special Aiptasia-x to kill them. There are just so many of them. Some of them are so far down that i can't get my hands in to put the stuff on it. The stuff seems to work but we have hundreds of them, not just a few. They are growing in the sand and trying to grow on the snails backs. I know, I shouldn't have let them get ahead of me but we didn't know what they were in the beginning plus I've been out of commission because of some surgery so I couldn't do much about them.

nukemdanno · 12/07/2008, 07:10 PM

Peppermint Shrimp will also eat aptaisia. They are hit or miss though. You'd have more success if you don't have fish to feed. I've had success with a situation similar to yours and the peppermints I put in wiped out all the aptaisia. Now i just keep on top of them with Kalk Paste and a syringe

Nabber86 · 12/07/2008, 08:34 PM

Do peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp get along? I also have fire shrimp but they are really submissive.

Moonstream · 12/07/2008, 09:00 PM

they should, I had one of each in my 29g and they were fine together. get around 5 peppermint shrimp and try that.

jaystampareef · 12/08/2008, 10:08 AM

Yeah, peppermint shrimp are like nukemdanno said, hit or miss. Sometimes they won't eat them at all unless they are starving, (hard to do in a food-plentiful reef tank). Don't kill everything just to kill the aiptasias. Just keep up on kalkwasser paste and siphon out the ones in the sand/ remove the ones on snail shells. You'll get the better of them soon enough. The ones that you can't reach will get bigger soon enough. Once they are bigger, they will be easier to paste over with kalk.

12/07/2008, 10:03 AM	#1
Nabber86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stalewater Kansas Posts: 408	disinfect aquarium We have a 75 gallon aquarium that is infected with Aiptasia and some small worms. We have tried to kill off the Aiptasia but I think there is just too much of it to get ahead of. The stupid stuff is in the sand, rock, etc. We have had the aquarium for about 5 years now. The rock also seems to be breaking down some. We want to take out everything from the aquarium and start over with new rock. How do you disinfect the aquarium and it's components? Do you run something in the water or what? We have never started over so we're open to any ideas. We got infected with the Aiptasia by someone giving us some coral. The next time around, we will definitely quarentine everything going into the tank.

12/07/2008, 11:10 AM	#3
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	I think bleach would be the best to use to wipe out everything in the tank. Then change water and let in run for a few weeks--all bleach should be nuetralized w/in a few days on its own. It's sodium hypochlorite, the same thing used in swimming pools to kill everything. __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

12/07/2008, 10:44 AM	#2
nukemdanno Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 133	Wipe the tank in vinegar/water solution. If you wanted to run the tank with the solution you'd need a ton of vinegar 25% or so.

12/07/2008, 11:32 AM	#4
jaystampareef Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Wesley Chapel, Florida Posts: 74	Okay, okay... I've been there! Take a breath : ) Aiptasias are so hard to kill b/c of evolution design. You can rip them off a rock, and 5 more can grow back, (from cells left behind). Berghia's eat them, but are expensive and work slowly. This is what I did after trying everything, (including berghias): Kalwasser mixed with a small bit of fresh water into a paste applied with a childrens medicine syringe free from Walgreens. Goop it all over the rock where the anemone lives. Let it dry for a few minutes. Try to get as many as you can find. Then what I did was I put them into a large bucket with a lid (no light whatsoever) and put a powerhead from the sump to the bucket. Then the water drained back down into the sump. I let the rocks sit in there for weeks until they were aiptasia free. The system still had the beneficial filtration with the rock, but no light for the aiptasias. It worked great!

12/07/2008, 05:23 PM	#5
Nabber86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stalewater Kansas Posts: 408	We tried most of what we have read. I even got some special Aiptasia-x to kill them. There are just so many of them. Some of them are so far down that i can't get my hands in to put the stuff on it. The stuff seems to work but we have hundreds of them, not just a few. They are growing in the sand and trying to grow on the snails backs. I know, I shouldn't have let them get ahead of me but we didn't know what they were in the beginning plus I've been out of commission because of some surgery so I couldn't do much about them.

12/07/2008, 07:10 PM	#6
nukemdanno Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 133	Peppermint Shrimp will also eat aptaisia. They are hit or miss though. You'd have more success if you don't have fish to feed. I've had success with a situation similar to yours and the peppermints I put in wiped out all the aptaisia. Now i just keep on top of them with Kalk Paste and a syringe

12/07/2008, 08:34 PM	#7
Nabber86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stalewater Kansas Posts: 408	Do peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp get along? I also have fire shrimp but they are really submissive.

12/07/2008, 09:00 PM	#8
Moonstream Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 2,581	they should, I had one of each in my 29g and they were fine together. get around 5 peppermint shrimp and try that.

12/08/2008, 10:08 AM	#9
jaystampareef Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Wesley Chapel, Florida Posts: 74	Yeah, peppermint shrimp are like nukemdanno said, hit or miss. Sometimes they won't eat them at all unless they are starving, (hard to do in a food-plentiful reef tank). Don't kill everything just to kill the aiptasias. Just keep up on kalkwasser paste and siphon out the ones in the sand/ remove the ones on snail shells. You'll get the better of them soon enough. The ones that you can't reach will get bigger soon enough. Once they are bigger, they will be easier to paste over with kalk.