Kill Majanoes!

What a better way to start off the New Year than with a new commitment to eradicating the reef tank of all Majanoes? My supply of Aiptasia-X has run out, so I'm going to use the Kalkwasser method, instead. Both of these methods seem to work equally well with the permanent death of the Majanoes and the temporary relief of the Aiptasia which tend to grow back more often than not. I would agree that the Aiptasia-X product is less toxic, but I don't have any "prize winners" in my tank to worry about. Come to think of it, I don't know if prize-winning corals exist, yet.

Here are my easy steps to using Kalkwasser to knock out unwanted pest anemones in a 110 gallon mixed reef tank:

1) Add 1/2 teaspoon of Kalkwasser (or Mrs. Wages Pickling lime) to a small glass or porcelain container. I'm using some sort of finger bowl I found in the kitchen.

2) Add RO water in a 1:1 volume ratio. Don't breathe in the dust (calcium hydroxide) or get it in your eyes! You want to keep the solution dense/concentrated so that when you apply it in the tank, it will sink down on to the pests.

3) Heat the solution in a microwave on high. Use 10 second intervals and stir. You want the vessel to get hot to the touch, but not crazily steaming and boiling!

4) Turn off main pump and all power heads in the aquarium.

5) Use a syringe with a wide bore needle to draw up a volume of the kalkwasser. I used the left-over syringe and needle that is found in the Aiptasia-X box.

6) Cover each pest with the sinking solution. I tend to keep the needle from touching the pests because they can clog up the syringe with some sorta goo. (using a finer needle, I've read that some people inject the solution into an Aiptasia -- I haven't tried it, yet). The solution may damage your larger animals, but they'll soon recover.

7) Leave all pumps off for at least 20 minutes. After the main circulation pump is turned on, I don't turn on my power heads until an hour or so later.

8) After you run out of solution and you still have pests left to treat, you may want to give your tank a week's break before going for another round of treatment.

Here are some before/after pics of today's treatment:

My battle is far from over; I've got Majanoes in places inaccessible to me and my syringe. But, at least I can provide some relief to my favorite corals. I plan on moving some of the live rocks to get at the remaining Majanoes at a later time. As for the Aiptasia, I'll be adding some peppermint shrimp to help out with that problem.