Would I be crazy to try this?

[tesfeld]

Someone posted a couple weeks ago about their coral eating chocolate chip starfish. I have been procrastinating for almost a year about removing all of the rock with gsp, xenia, palythoa, and yellow polyps on it to cook it off. I was considering getting a CCSF and letting him work his way through it for me. My only softies and gsp that I care about are out on the sand freestanding or on island rocks. If I babysit him and ban him to the sump when I can't watch, is it a crazy plan?

 

[fish2morow]

Is that all they feed on? Sounds like a great idea with very close supervision. Let me know if you try it and if it works. I have the same problems here!!!

 

[tesfeld]

Only two issues I've come across. One is that they'll eat my herms and snails if they catch them. Two, they'll eat a BTA. Easier to remove those things than 1/3 of my rock...

I guess another option is to keep him in the 20L in my garage and put rock in there one at a time so he can clean it.

 

[Ashlar]

Tony, I was thinking the same thing.. put him and the rock in your prop section, or sump, or.. somewhere..

 

[Misty]

I used to do something similar with peppermint shrimp. Since my Bangaii's were into fresh peps for a while, I put the peps in the fuge and moved pieces of rock down there one or two at a time for them to eat the aptasia.

 

[Serk]

I like the "move the rock to be cleaned to an isolation tank" idea too... They'll also eat clams, from the lil' research I did, I just wouldn't trust him in my main tank... "bad" things have such skill at disappearing when they want to, ya' know...

 

[Serk]

Oh, another thought! If he's in an isolation tank "cleaning" the rock, if he's too slow, tape pictures of Harlequin Shrimp to the sides of the tank to motivate him! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[tesfeld]

Brian, remind me to never work for you

 

[fish2morow]

@Serk wrote:

Now thats a great idea! haha

Well if you have to remove rock then you might as well just replace it with fresh rock, less risk of anything regrowing later on....

 

[tesfeld]

except for that well known hassle of having to pay for new rock

 

[bimmerzs]

@tesfeld wrote:

I'm sure you can find folks who will trade with ya :wink: :wink:

Cheers!

 

[Breezy]

need fresh rock? I have about 90 lbs of "base Rock" that is Dry marshall Island. Plus I don't mind trading rock out of my Tank for rocks with bother some outragous growth of gsp and the other nasty buggers you want out of your tank. LMK Breezy