A desperate time calls for desperate measures

[whatcaneyedo]

Move your rock to a dark location for a couple of weeks. The anthelia will then easily peel off of the rock. You can do one at a time if all of them at once is not feasible. At one point nearly every exposed inch of my rock that wasn't occupied by other coral had anthelia on it. Now I no longer have any in my tank.

2007 I think


2011

[ColinD]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Move your rock to a dark location for a couple of weeks. The anthelia will then easily peel off of the rock. You can do one at a time if all of them at once is not feasible. At one point nearly every exposed inch of my rock that wasn't occupied by other coral had anthelia on it. Now I no longer have any in my tank.

Unfortunately thats not an option at the moment, still a couple months away from my upgrade. Have never been able to peel any of this off the rock, it seems to grow as individual polyps and not the mats that everyone refers to.

Daniella, I believe they are ppe's

[whatcaneyedo]

Seriously? You'd rather treat your tank with chemicals and risk a complete system crash than take out one rock at a time and sit it in the dark for a few weeks? Did you not look at my picture? I know full well what anthelia is and my method worked extremely well to eradicate it from my system. Here are some more pictures to show how infested my tank was. Anthelia is photosynthetic so leaving it in the dark slowly kills it. After a few weeks it won't be dead yet but it will have shrunk and its hold on your rocks will have weakened. At that point you'll be able to easily peel it off without leaving any pieces behind. If you have a dark unlit sump you could rotate rocks through there or you could do what I did and set up a plastic bin full of aquarium water with a heater and powerhead. Its simple, safe and inexpensive.

Have you thought about what is going to happen if you kill it all off at the same time while its still in your tank? A large amount of organic life suddenly dying will pollute your closed system very quickly. You'll need to do some massive water changes, skim and run carbon if you don't want it to crash the entire tank.

[daniella3d]

Ok but what about the corals on the rocks? They will also die for sure without light for 3 weeks or more no?

Did you not lose any coral that was on those rocks?

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

After a few weeks it won't be dead yet but it will have shrunk and its hold on your rocks will have weakened. At that point you'll be able to easily peel it off without leaving any pieces behind.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Ok but what about the corals on the rocks? They will also die for sure without light for 3 weeks or more no?

Did you not lose any coral that was on those rocks?

coralls can be removed from rocks easily enough, our systems arent as fragile as everyone thinks.

clove polyps and anthelia arent the same thing...like russell said anthelia is actuall easy to get rid of if you take away its food

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Ok but what about the corals on the rocks? They will also die for sure without light for 3 weeks or more no?

Did you not lose any coral that was on those rocks?

Like reefwars suggested coral can be cut or broken off with a sharp edge, sturdy cutters or a saw capable of cutting through calcium carbonate. They can then be reattached using a variety of means that include but are not limited to securing them with fishing line, rubber bands, marine safe epoxy, zip ties, cyanoacrylate gel and natural settlement.

The only coral that I lost was anthelia because the rest did not leave my tank.

[daniella3d]

yes but some are really fragile and break easily. I know my orange digitata is well incrusted on the liverock and it is very fragile and break easily. Yes it can be glued back but it will not look the same for sure.

Plus I don't know about you guys but my liverock is glued with epoxy so removing it would mean to thear everything out of there...yike!

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Like reefwars suggested coral can be cut or broken off with a sharp edge, sturdy cutters or a saw capable of cutting through calcium carbonate. They can then be reattached using a variety of means that include but are not limited to securing them with fishing line, rubber bands, marine safe epoxy, zip ties, cyanoacrylate gel and natural settlement.

The only coral that I lost was anthelia because the rest did not leave my tank.

[Delphinus]

Been there myself, I sympathize. You can get through this without a chemical based treatement. In my case, whatever I could I peel off glass and rock I would flush, and in the end I was able to sell the worst infested rock to FOWLR tanks where the angels and butterflies made quick work of them.

I remember someone on here a few years ago using an electric toothbrush to clean them off rocks and it working out well for them. Obviously use a cheap toothbrush and throw it out afterwards.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by daniella3d

yes but some are really fragile and break easily. I know my orange digitata is well incrusted on the liverock and it is very fragile and break easily. Yes it can be glued back but it will not look the same for sure.

FWIW, SPS of any kind are the absolute easiest to deal with. If you break a branch, just superglue it back together. It will heal up and continue to grow. If you snap a colony off a rock to relocate it, glue it back, it will re-encrust in it's new home sooner or later.

Plus I don't know about you guys but my liverock is glued with epoxy so removing it would mean to thear everything out of there...yike!

A disappointing situation for sure but it's something we all have to face sooner or later. Just think of it as an opportunity to renovate your aquascape.

[ColinD]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Seriously? You'd rather treat your tank with chemicals and risk a complete system crash than take out one rock at a time and sit it in the dark for a few weeks? Did you not look at my picture? I know full well what anthelia is and my method worked extremely well to eradicate it from my system. Here are some more pictures to show how infested my tank was. Anthelia is photosynthetic so leaving it in the dark slowly kills it. After a few weeks it won't be dead yet but it will have shrunk and its hold on your rocks will have weakened. At that point you'll be able to easily peel it off without leaving any pieces behind. If you have a dark unlit sump you could rotate rocks through there or you could do what I did and set up a plastic bin full of aquarium water with a heater and powerhead. Its simple, safe and inexpensive.

Have you thought about what is going to happen if you kill it all off at the same time while its still in your tank? A large amount of organic life suddenly dying will pollute your closed system very quickly. You'll need to do some massive water changes, skim and run carbon if you don't want it to crash the entire tank.

Yup, thats why I'm looking for the Fluke Tabs, well aware of potential outcomes as I have done my research. I've been dealing with this for a long time, even to the point where I was willing to let it grow and take over, but no more, it has to go.

Thanks
Colin

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Move your rock to a dark location for a couple of weeks. The anthelia will then easily peel off of the rock. You can do one at a time if all of them at once is not feasible. At one point nearly every exposed inch of my rock that wasn't occupied by other coral had anthelia on it. Now I no longer have any in my tank.

2007 I think


2011

Off topic... Sorry, but I freakin love your tank!