Korpi
New Member
I have only been in the hobby for about 2 months. I started the good old fashioned way... I purchased somebody else's tank stand sump etc when they upgraded to a larger tank. After bringing it home back from the 250 mile road trip to pick it up, I began assembling it, that night it was up and running. Within the week of the move i started to see these "cool little plants" starting to grow. At first I was stoked but as they started to propagate and spread, I recalled being a kid and working in the garden, and my Grandma and Mother both explaining that if it grows easy.... it is a weed. So I called my friend Brock (Badger 126) and asked him to come and take a look, and alas, Aiptasia. He told me about Pickling Lime and I did some looking around the web to learn about treating them as well. Unfortunately, they are not like weeds in the way that you can reach in and give them a tug and the weed is gone. That will only make them frustrate and reproduce at a faster rate ( I know this the hard way) so the best treatment is to go and buy a syringe from your local druggie (just kidding about the druggie) and treat with what you feel you want to use. There is the boiling water technique, lemon juice, some pet store treatments and then my favorite, pickling lime. I like pickling lime because you can determine how thin or thick to mix it.
First I turn off my powerheads and return pump, and let the tank settle.
Second, and this is the point I am writing this to share, is I take a dry erase marker and mark on the glass in front of where i can see the aiptasia. Then as you treat, erase the marker on the glass. Before I marked i had a tendency to get started do everything that I can see and clean up only to discover that I missed the ones that inspired me to do the treatment. This is kind of a simple solution, but one that I think is worth sharing.
Third, I like to mix the treatment into a thin paste. So, a little thick, about 1 teaspoon pickling lime powder (kalkwasser) to 1-1.5 tablespoon of water. This makes it so that I can inject the mixture into the aiptasia and then as it retract cover the hole its hiding in with the mixture. Due to the density of the kalkwasser it is pretty good at sitting where you treat. Then I clean up and turn on the return pumps and the power heads.
Do use caution. Most homemade treatments will effect your pH levels, as our friend Wy Renegade pointed out "If pH is going up, it is becoming more basic, not acidic (true of Kalk paste). If the tank is becoming more acidic, pH is going down (true of lemon juice)" Thank you Renegade for your clarification and help.
I hope this helps
First I turn off my powerheads and return pump, and let the tank settle.
Second, and this is the point I am writing this to share, is I take a dry erase marker and mark on the glass in front of where i can see the aiptasia. Then as you treat, erase the marker on the glass. Before I marked i had a tendency to get started do everything that I can see and clean up only to discover that I missed the ones that inspired me to do the treatment. This is kind of a simple solution, but one that I think is worth sharing.
Third, I like to mix the treatment into a thin paste. So, a little thick, about 1 teaspoon pickling lime powder (kalkwasser) to 1-1.5 tablespoon of water. This makes it so that I can inject the mixture into the aiptasia and then as it retract cover the hole its hiding in with the mixture. Due to the density of the kalkwasser it is pretty good at sitting where you treat. Then I clean up and turn on the return pumps and the power heads.
Do use caution. Most homemade treatments will effect your pH levels, as our friend Wy Renegade pointed out "If pH is going up, it is becoming more basic, not acidic (true of Kalk paste). If the tank is becoming more acidic, pH is going down (true of lemon juice)" Thank you Renegade for your clarification and help.
I hope this helps
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