Cadlights 42 Versa

The rock was boiled

Are you aware of the wonderful benefit of Peppermint Shrimp? They eat Aiptasia and then, even though the Aiptasia are completely eliminated, the shrimp remain perfect tankmates.

Please forgive me but I feel that I must say something. Another person returned here to the forum recently after being away from the hobby, saying that they bought an existing tank and had already set all the rock out to dry, specifically to kill Aiptasia. I held my tongue on that one, mostly because it was too late, the deed was done. In this case, because you have been receptive to other advice and because only one rock was killed, I thought it might be good to offer this little tip about Peppermint Shrimp. I believe I posted a thread of the discussion regarding Aiptasia and Peppermint Shrimp in the Reefkeeping Tips, ...Yes, it's there. Please take a moment to read it.

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, but I consider Live Rock just the same as a live coral or a fish. It makes me hurt when I hear these reports about killing LR. In the very moment, it may not come to mind that we have an answer here, but I sure do appreciate the hobbyists that do ask before taking action. I post my phone number often and it's also posted in the Reefkeeping Tips. I am always willing to answer a phone call/text to help out right on the spot when possible.

Aloha,

Mark 

bstuver wrote: Yeah if you were just using the pump that it came with you definitely needed more flow.

Churchtown wrote: I get that your trying to help the guy out, but maybe he just wanted the satisfaction of killing something that pissed him off. The "rocks are people too" is a bit much.

I'm not on the same page as Mark either I get what he's saying because there is a ton of live stuff in our rocks but I wouldn't go as far as to feel bad for it. However I would agree that peppermint shrimp are an excellent way to help rid a tank of aiptasia. My other concern would also be that I am doubting that one little aiptasia killed your duncan. I have two different duncans and they pack a pretty good punch themselves killing anything around them. I guess it could have irritated it to it's death but I am guessing seems it was one of the first corals you had that maybe it just slowly declined, a coral can go really fast or it can take weeks to months to slowly die off. Hopefully things are getting better with more flow and tank maturity. Did you start out with all live rock?

bstuver wrote: I'm not on the same page as Mark either I get what he's saying because there is a ton of live stuff in our rocks but I wouldn't go as far as to feel bad for it. However I would agree that peppermint shrimp are an excellent way to help rid a tank of aiptasia. My other concern would also be that I am doubting that one little aiptasia killed your duncan. I have two different duncans and they pack a pretty good punch themselves killing anything around them. I guess it could have irritated it to it's death but I am guessing seems it was one of the first corals you had that maybe it just slowly declined, a coral can go really fast or it can take weeks to months to slowly die off. Hopefully things are getting better with more flow and tank maturity. Did you start out with all live rock?