Boil my LR?

[firegarden]

I've got a small piece of LR in my 45 gallon with Aptasia and Hair Algae. My Flame Angel won't touch the algae because of the Aptasia. I'm thinking about boiling the rock to get rid of the entire problem...It started out a minor nuisance, it's becoming an issue now!
Since boiling kills everything on the rock, should I 'cure' the rock before putting it back into the tank? I'm not sure how many pounds the rock is, but in the overall scheme of things, it's not significantly large.

 

[wamp]

Boiling the rock will kill the apstasia but also everything else.
The hair algea is a sign of a problem, not the problem. Nutrients, poor light, over feeding are all causes of algea. You need to find the problem and fix it.
What are your water levels?

 

[waterwolf]

As long as you are not overfeeding your tank, pepermint shrimp do a good job of controling apstasia. As for the hair algae, that can be corrected by improving water quality. I had a flame angel and several other tangs that wouldn't touch any nuisance algaes and would only eat macroalgae. Check your nitrates & phosphates.

 

[dreeves]

After you boil your live rock..it will be rock, or dead rock...as mentioned.
Curing would not be required as there is nothing left on the rock which may have suffered die-off...as you had already killed it and probably sterilized it during the boiling process.

 

[firegarden]

I'm afraid to get Peppermint Shrimp because I have a CBS and a Long Nose Hawkfish...
The hair algae came about following a disaster several months ago (my heater malfunctioned and wiped out my entire tank, except a False Percula Clown). When I re-stocked several weeks later (I almost sold my tank, it was horrific) my Flame Angel devoured the hair algae, with an exception of the algae surrounding the Aptasia.
That was several months ago, now the Aptasia is growing and I still have this 'tuft' of algae. The tank is at my business, I'm doing routine maintenance late this afternoon. I will be sure to see all readings are in check!
Either way, is boiling the rock to drastic?

 

[goldrush]

You are right,the long nose will eat the peppermint shrimp.Have you tried boiling water with a turkey baster right into the aptasia.Works for me every time.Others say a kalk paste works,but I never had to go that far.Squeeze the bulb on the baster and then when you release the bulb you can suck them right into it.

 

[krishj39]

before you go as drastic as boiling the whole rock, you could also try packing salt onto the rock where the aptasia is. take the rock out of water and put a layer thick layer of salt over all the aptasia. let it sit for 15 minutes or longer and then rinse it off again with saltwater. this will kill everything on that part of the rock (quite possibly the hair algae too, but i'm not positive on that), but shouldn't kill off everything on the entire rock like boiling would.

 

[timo]

There are additives that you inject into the problem anemone. Called aptasia away or the like. There are many alternatives. One is to secure a 1 inch straw over the top of the anemone, and eventually it will crawl to the end of the straw to feed. Then remove the straw.
HTH
Some people leave them if they're not doing any harm.

 

[firegarden]

Thanks ya'll!
I removed the rock yesterday and simply wiped off the algae I couldn't believe it came off that easy!
As for the Aptasia, I'm to squeamish to blast it with anything, but I found a friend that will. Simply dropping it in boiling water is quite different! It's growing pretty big, and there are three of them on the rock now...I'm thinking I better do something before it continues to multiply...