How To Get Rid Of Unwanted Lifeforms On LRs?

[marcvelous]

Hi All,

Thanks for the help rendered on my thread in DSB.

Now that my new tank is filled withy sand and water, here comes the next step --- Life Rocks.

Just bought some LRs from LFS. Am told by a friend that red-coloured rocks are better than dull/grey coloured coz of some type of algae. How much will this redness affect my tank?

Anyways, the LRs have some weeds on them. Plucked as much as I could while at the LFS and back before putting them in my tank. Some weeds are still apparent (but darn hard to remove) and are rather unsightly. Any ideas on how I can get rid of them safely? Perhaps some fish(es) to eat them up? Will they grow back? If yes, how to prevent this?

I also remember reading/hearing somewhere that it is best to remove the various lifeforms residing within the rocks, e.g. slugs, crabs, etc. How will these lifeforms affect my tank? I managed to remove one slug-like creature from one of my rocks but one other (slug) and a tiny crab escaped into the safe confines of the rocks before I could get them.

For those interested, I am now trying to run my tank in. I have a 3 x 1.5 x 2ft tank. Sand bed (main tank) is approx 4.5 inches. Water consists mainly of seawater bought from LFS (some parts I mixed myself with seasalt). I now have approx 28kg of rocks. I hope to introduce some LS slowly in only in the new calender year after I have tested the water to be stable and alright.

Any advice is welcome as long as it is relevant and helpful!

Many thanks in advance!

[RAV-65]

Hey,

u got weeds ah? use grass-cutter or lawn-mower to remove it... or maybe pour kerosene over it and set fire lor... den all the weeds would be gone...

Wahahahahaha...

[Achilles Tang]

Hi and welcome to SRC!

Hope you have taken some time to surf this forum because these questions have been asked to death already many times.

I will give u some simple answers:

1. The redness on the rocks is coralline algae.

2. You can manually scrub or pluck off the green macroalgae.

3. Some of the hitchhikers on LR can be helpful. Best to read up about them before deciding what to get rid of and what to keep.

[blacknails]

Actually these weeds you're talking about are pretty much welcomed by most purchasers of LRs....

[alanseah]

yup...

there is nothing harmful about it...

depend on where you purchase the LR, some shop have already help you clean your LR and cycle it be4 you purchase it..

[Tanggy]

To get rid of the unwanted bristle worms, mantis shrimp and crabs. There are a number of methods.

1. Leave rock out dry for a few hours. They should vacate the rock.

2. Increase salinity to above 1.030 and soak rock for few mins. they will vacate rock.

3. Freshwater dip.

Method 1&3 will caused die off and rock need to cure.

Method 1,2 &3 will rid not just the unwanted stuff but the beneficial live form as well.

[alanseah]

well for me I dont see a need to do this..

bristle worm r very useful worker that help you clean your tank of left over food... thus reduce the need of cycling rot food.

Also bristle worm create hole in LR which allow more current to flow in LR.

As for crabs and mantis shrimp, if they r not in great amount or too big I dont see a problem..

if you want them to be under control can try introduce cleaner shrimp and boxer shrimp.. they will feed on bristle worm and crab one...

[marcvelous]

Thank you all for the useful information. Please keep it coming if anyone else has anything helpful (i.e. NOT pouring kerosene or Dettol). But I know RAV-65 personally so that's just his kiddy-ness at work. Please take no notice!

There's a reefer who mentioned in one of the threads that some of the "weeds" are a form of anemone that replicate very quickly thus my concern.

One thing that hasn't been addressed thus far are slugs/worms. As mentioned, I found one who escaped before I can capture it. Are these useful or should I try and evict it?

[AlfaRomeo]

I have read sumwhere that right after the new tank has cycled, it is best to put in an aggresive trigger to rid the tank of pests like crabs or mantis shrimps.. let the trigger do the cleansing for a week or two , then you can ship the trigger to a new tank that needs its services..

[marcvelous]

Ahhh...

But since I will have no use for the triggerfish I don't want to buy one only to have to dispose of it (humanely, of course) at a later date

[lightningstrike]

follow tanggy advice.

[Virus]

Also bristle worm create hole in LR which allow more current to flow in LR.

As for this.. i'm wondering coz i got some worms i believe in my LR that's doing the digging and drilling around.. my tank is around 2 months now and i notice that there's more holes around now...

Now.. will it come to a stage in like 1 year where these stupid worms drill so much my rock collapse one day due to weak and hollw structure?

heheh dun laugh if it's a stupid question.. coz my tank only 1.5 ft so rocks i choose not those big size type..

[blacknails]

Ermm... Actually I dun even know how accurate is the info about bristles digging thru rocks... I mean the sandbed yes they always dig thru but rocks? Hmmmm....

Well, even if they do, I doubt that they will ever totally destroy the rock structure... I've had my tank for 2years now and the rock structure still looks the same as before despite my tons of bristles....

[RAV-65]

Marcvelous,

evict the slugs/worms? wahahah , maybe a good idea is to get a warrant of arrest for them....

[blacknails]

Hey but I think that the trigger idea is pretty good...

[RAV-65]

Marcvelous,

get a few of those cuttlefishes dat you wan lor... den get your GF to keep tapping the glass until the cuttlefish cant take it, den the fella would squirt, dat might trigger a chain reaction to all the other cuttlefish to start squirting.... when your water is all black, you cant see the weeds anymore wat...

Wahahahaha....

[AlfaRomeo]

You dunt have to dispose of the trigger after its tour of duty, just put up a notice here that u have an available trigger for sale/swap/gift and i am sure sumone would want the get the trigger from you.

I personally think that i would go down this path when i get my tank settled/cycled and ready for its first inhabitant..