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View Full Version : Freshwater dip for LR...


Avalon_Princess
06/30/2009, 05:41 AM
I have two types of LR in my tank, one type in the relatively dense Tonga which as far as I can see only has the small benign critters but the other type has been no end of trouble. It's just two large rocks but first there was the giant worm, then the mantis, then the eunicid worm, oh and the six or so crabs, and the aiptasia, and the majano anemones and the list goes on. I can't trap/kill it all without totally nuking the rest of the rock and to be honest it's gotten to the point where it's just giving me the creeps, I don't want to look in the tank and see yet another large worm/claw or something else that creeps me out. I am squeamish I'll admit but i got a tank for corals and this is just driving me crazy. The LR does have coral on it, but none of the coral is what I planned to keep in the tank so i can handle losing it.

So if I dunk the LR in freshwater until I see all the little wormies/crabs/mantis leave and then leave it in fresh saltwater to cycle will that be okay? There's no actual livestock in the tank so taking some LR out won't harm anything. I'll leave the Tonga branches in the tank and keep an eye on it but from what I've seen I'm fairly sure most creatures are centred in the two main large rocks.

ReefingintheUSA
06/30/2009, 07:27 AM
Hmmm.. I did a dip of distilled fresh water on a small piece of Live rock yesterday for less than 5 minutes. It made the bristle worm come out and also killed a brittle star :(

You can also dip the rock using REVIVE - it'll get rid of all that junk.

Let me know how it goes. you can revive at the LFS usually.

I know people say those worms are good, but I don't like them either! I know mine got too big and i saw him eating a crab and a red mushroom coral. Then I sought vengence and won!
I got to where if i put food in the tank at night, i'd be prepared with tweezers.... and when the worm stretched out i just reached down and grabbed it out. I don't know about the mantis though -
let us know how it goes.

Percula9
06/30/2009, 09:19 AM
Not only do you kill the critters in the rock, unfortunately you also kill the nitrifying bacteria. You defeat the purpose of live rock. The rock of course will repopulate with bacteria.

Avalon_Princess
06/30/2009, 02:47 PM
I know it defeats the purpose of liverock, but it's either dunk it in freshwater or get rid of it, i am sick of looking in the tank to see yet another pest go past, the small bristlworms I can live with, but the eunicid worm and whatevers killing my inverts needs to go.

So I think I'll dunk it in freshwater and then return to the tank and wait out the cycle from the die off...