I mix-up kalkwasser to a thick consistency then I put it in a syringe and I very slowly release it over the top of the aptasia and they just seemed to shrivel up and I never see them again this works for me if anyone wants to try it I recommend turning off all the pumps for about 30 minutes the kalkwasser will harden up slowly I usually do two apptasia at a. Time. Every other day I don't want high pH spikes into tank seems to work very well for me with or without harming any of my fish or Coral when you do this try not to get the kalkwasser on your corals
Thanks for the shoutout!! Please please please, anyone that tries this, be super careful. When I use it, I shut the flow off for 10 min. If corals are below the aiptasia move them or cover them with Glass or plastic bowl. Scott, for your mushrooms, if you use Kalk paste and inject the shroom in the mouth they will start to disintegrate after a couple of days and you can pick out the rest with tweezers or hemostats. 👍
Instead of water (which SH absorbs), use Propylene Glycol in a 10:1 ratio. (10 parts PG to 1 part SH) The PG acts as a binder/surfactant and coats the aphasia with very little solution. Quite literally a single drop with kill a 1"+ aptasia within a minute. The PG makes the SH "sticky" underwater, which also aids in protecting nearby corals as you have much more control over the solution then with a water mixture. (less "floaters") Powerheads should be left off for about 15 minutes after application. pH is also only minimally impacted as the SH is encased in PG... so it mixes less with water.
Sodium Hydroxide is definitely scary. It is extremely exothermic. I wouldn't necessarily say you need gloves and a respirator. But I would recommend immediately washing your hands if you get any of it on you. It doesn't burn, but it does make your skin extremely slippery as it dissolves your skin. Fortunately you can just wash it off. What I find dangerous about this is the extremely hot water as you said (very exothermic). But I use sodium hydroxide instead of calcium hydroxide in my kalkwasser reactor. I've been able to peg my PH within 0.02 PH consistently for months on end with a cup of sodium hydroxide dosed at a few ml/min with my peristaltic pump.
I'm late to the party but I've been in the hobby since 2003 and can count on one hand how many aptasia I've had. I have no idea how I got so fortunate... Vermited snails are a whole other story... But anyway lemon juice in a syringe has worked for me anytime I have had an aptasia. If you can take the syringe and stick it right in the mouth and blast it with the lemon juice you should be all set. Non-toxic and cheap.
Glad that the sodium hydroxide is working for you Scott. The only thing I would recommend to people is not use too much of it at one time as it can raise your pH quickly. This product is strong and very effective
The clear gel is magnesium hydroxide precipitating from your tank water it goes away as it goes back into solution. Just need to be careful and the sodium hydroxide will dramatically increase your ph and alkalinity! I prefer using sodium hydroxide for my alk dosing over soda ash.
@@MileHighReefers and i used that same bottle you have. 232 grams per gallon of DI makes a solution that alkalinity wise is a 1:1 ratio as Soda ash mixed to Randy’s recipe & BRS Soda Ash.
@@poor_mansreef8908 thanks for the info! I’ve looked into sodium hydroxide as a Alk supplement. For now sticking with Kalk but maybe if I get to the point that Kalk can’t keep up sodium hydroxide might be a good addition or replacement. Kalk is so easy and safe to handle. The safety concerns make me hesitant to use it.
Excellent video Scott. I’m thinking of trying it out but I’m also nervous. But I may need to because I can’t figure out a way to kill the aiptasia that hangs upside down off the rocks!
What about if you would use it with your flow off, let it sit and saturate on the corals for an hour or so and then vacuum out water with a hose around those corals that were saturated to remove the remaining residual solution. Would that reduce the floaters around the tank once the flow is turned back on so as not to affect surrounding corals?
It’s definitely something to try. At the time I was trying it I was mostly concerned with keeping it from settling on coral that I didn’t want it on. I’ll be using it more and perfecting my method
I used NaOH a few years ago and although it works, my fish would always peck at that precipitate and I had some unexplained fish deaths so purely anicdotle but to be safe I quit using it inside the tank.it also works on problematic algae which is what I started using it for. I have used it as a high ph alk supplement though with no ill effects other than some percipitaion when I over did it.
This should likely be a hard "No" for 90% of the people who stumble into watching this. However, it is very interesting. You hit those Aptasia with either pH 13 or pH 14 solution, given how you're mixing it: a 5% solution is at pH 14 and more caustic than Lye. It's one of the most alkaline substances on the planet, and a true "caustic" meaning it will destroy soft body tissues resulting in a deep burns. Skin damage varies depending on the length of contact, but can easily lead to 2nd or 3rd degree burns; while inhalation or ingestion can be sever and even fatal. And yes, it will cause sever permanent damage to the eyes. What it does is literally break the bonds in proteins. That's why the Aptasia "melted". It can melt fingernails and hair in about 24 hours of prolonged exposure. And it's more dense than water, which is why it stays put. I can't fault you for using it. You were responsible in not recommending it, and using it at your own risk with appropriate safety equipment. And it's really cool how effectively it nuked the pests. But this really isn't something that should be used at a hobby level. Certainly not in a full tank with live stock, likely not with family members in the house, and definitely not without PPE. Perhaps, in the yard (on a calm day), with all the right PPE on, and with the offending rock in a bucket... Then maybe... But man was that cool.
Got all the gear but ur still touching all around your face when u mess with your mask. I've been burned with caustic at an old job. Ate through my Achilles heel a little. (Bead got stuck in my boot) It hurt. Lol
almost forgot... BTW my filefish and longnose take care of any aiptasia. my emerald grab - bubble algae and tangs all the hair algae... I'm a bit of a lazy guy 🙂 my snails are lazier though, I still have to clean the glass by hand!!!
My suggestion is your experienced excess coral tissue death because obviously its floating around but i would start off with 100 grams per gallon of water. You’d be surprised how strong it will be, when i seen that little spoonfull in a couple ml’s of water i said holy cow thats gonna be hot lol
I mix-up kalkwasser to a thick consistency then
I put it in a syringe and I very slowly release it over the top of the aptasia and they just seemed to shrivel up and I never see them again this works for me if anyone wants to try it I recommend turning off all the pumps for about 30 minutes the kalkwasser will harden up slowly I usually do two apptasia at a. Time. Every other day I don't want high pH spikes into tank seems to work very well for me with or without harming any of my fish or Coral when you do this try not to get the kalkwasser on your corals
Thanks for the shoutout!! Please please please, anyone that tries this, be super careful. When I use it, I shut the flow off for 10 min. If corals are below the aiptasia move them or cover them with Glass or plastic bowl. Scott, for your mushrooms, if you use Kalk paste and inject the shroom in the mouth they will start to disintegrate after a couple of days and you can pick out the rest with tweezers or hemostats. 👍
Love it man thanks! I’m really impressed with how well the sodium hydroxide works on them
Good advice Phil. I keep my pumps and power heads off for 20-30min myself. This stuff mixes super hot 🥵
Do fishes try to eat the gel after it stay on the rock ??
if they do nip at it then does it have any negative effects ??
Instead of water (which SH absorbs), use Propylene Glycol in a 10:1 ratio. (10 parts PG to 1 part SH) The PG acts as a binder/surfactant and coats the aphasia with very little solution. Quite literally a single drop with kill a 1"+ aptasia within a minute. The PG makes the SH "sticky" underwater, which also aids in protecting nearby corals as you have much more control over the solution then with a water mixture. (less "floaters") Powerheads should be left off for about 15 minutes after application. pH is also only minimally impacted as the SH is encased in PG... so it mixes less with water.
Sodium Hydroxide is definitely scary. It is extremely exothermic. I wouldn't necessarily say you need gloves and a respirator. But I would recommend immediately washing your hands if you get any of it on you. It doesn't burn, but it does make your skin extremely slippery as it dissolves your skin. Fortunately you can just wash it off. What I find dangerous about this is the extremely hot water as you said (very exothermic). But I use sodium hydroxide instead of calcium hydroxide in my kalkwasser reactor. I've been able to peg my PH within 0.02 PH consistently for months on end with a cup of sodium hydroxide dosed at a few ml/min with my peristaltic pump.
Thanks!
Keep up the great work
Thanks man 😊
I'm late to the party but I've been in the hobby since 2003 and can count on one hand how many aptasia I've had. I have no idea how I got so fortunate... Vermited snails are a whole other story... But anyway lemon juice in a syringe has worked for me anytime I have had an aptasia. If you can take the syringe and stick it right in the mouth and blast it with the lemon juice you should be all set. Non-toxic and cheap.
Glad that the sodium hydroxide is working for you Scott. The only thing I would recommend to people is not use too much of it at one time as it can raise your pH quickly. This product is strong and very effective
Thanks for the recommendation! Sodium hydroxide is really cool stuff
@@MileHighReefers it is and I’m glad that Reefkpr advised me to use it as well.
The clear gel is magnesium hydroxide precipitating from your tank water it goes away as it goes back into solution. Just need to be careful and the sodium hydroxide will dramatically increase your ph and alkalinity! I prefer using sodium hydroxide for my alk dosing over soda ash.
I’ve heard of a lot of people using it for that. Are you doing by hand or with a dosing pump? I’ve heard it’s pretty hard on the lines.
@@MileHighReefers dosing pump, RO tubing is my choice. It will eventually kill dosing lines but over how long? I have no idea.
@@MileHighReefers and i used that same bottle you have. 232 grams per gallon of DI makes a solution that alkalinity wise is a 1:1 ratio as Soda ash mixed to Randy’s recipe & BRS Soda Ash.
@@poor_mansreef8908 thanks for the info! I’ve looked into sodium hydroxide as a Alk supplement. For now sticking with Kalk but maybe if I get to the point that Kalk can’t keep up sodium hydroxide might be a good addition or replacement. Kalk is so easy and safe to handle. The safety concerns make me hesitant to use it.
@@MileHighReefers ohhhh dont get me started on using it with kalk, thats my favorite combo 🙃
Excellent video Scott. I’m thinking of trying it out but I’m also nervous. But I may need to because I can’t figure out a way to kill the aiptasia that hangs upside down off the rocks!
There even a pain with the sodium hydroxide, it just falls off
The aiptasia that is hanging off the rocks I think I’ll wait to see if my filefish and copperband eat them. 😊
What about if you would use it with your flow off, let it sit and saturate on the corals for an hour or so and then vacuum out water with a hose around those corals that were saturated to remove the remaining residual solution. Would that reduce the floaters around the tank once the flow is turned back on so as not to affect surrounding corals?
It’s definitely something to try. At the time I was trying it I was mostly concerned with keeping it from settling on coral that I didn’t want it on. I’ll be using it more and perfecting my method
Cool stuff! Probably good to kill of small patches of algae. I wonder how it would do on cyano?
Someone just mentioned this for algae, might be an interesting way to deal with some small patches
I used NaOH a few years ago and although it works, my fish would always peck at that precipitate and I had some unexplained fish deaths so purely anicdotle but to be safe I quit using it inside the tank.it also works on problematic algae which is what I started using it for. I have used it as a high ph alk supplement though with no ill effects other than some percipitaion when I over did it.
Great feedback! I hadn’t thought about using it to clear algae
Hello. Did tank kh ingrease?
I didn’t test it before and after. Sodium hydroxide is a product people use to boost their Alk
This should likely be a hard "No" for 90% of the people who stumble into watching this. However, it is very interesting.
You hit those Aptasia with either pH 13 or pH 14 solution, given how you're mixing it: a 5% solution is at pH 14 and more caustic than Lye. It's one of the most alkaline substances on the planet, and a true "caustic" meaning it will destroy soft body tissues resulting in a deep burns.
Skin damage varies depending on the length of contact, but can easily lead to 2nd or 3rd degree burns; while inhalation or ingestion can be sever and even fatal. And yes, it will cause sever permanent damage to the eyes. What it does is literally break the bonds in proteins. That's why the Aptasia "melted". It can melt fingernails and hair in about 24 hours of prolonged exposure. And it's more dense than water, which is why it stays put.
I can't fault you for using it. You were responsible in not recommending it, and using it at your own risk with appropriate safety equipment. And it's really cool how effectively it nuked the pests.
But this really isn't something that should be used at a hobby level. Certainly not in a full tank with live stock, likely not with family members in the house, and definitely not without PPE. Perhaps, in the yard (on a calm day), with all the right PPE on, and with the offending rock in a bucket... Then maybe...
But man was that cool.
Sodium hydroxide calcium hydroxide and magnesium chloride that’s what I dose to Keep my pH high
Just use F aiptasia....with flow off....aiptasia has never been a problem for me ....plus peppermints....that stuff gonna cause some issues for sure
Got all the gear but ur still touching all around your face when u mess with your mask. I've been burned with caustic at an old job. Ate through my Achilles heel a little. (Bead got stuck in my boot) It hurt. Lol
I noticed that too when I was watching it
literally just ordered a file fish
Fantastic way to go might pick at some coral. I kept one in my frag system for years
I wouldn't lye to you either - hahaha 🙂
almost forgot... BTW my filefish and longnose take care of any aiptasia. my emerald grab - bubble algae and tangs all the hair algae... I'm a bit of a lazy guy 🙂
my snails are lazier though, I still have to clean the glass by hand!!!
@@spicyreef Love it! I’ve had the file fish and they can be great! I kept one in my frag system for years
👊🏼👍🏼🔥🔥
My suggestion is your experienced excess coral tissue death because obviously its floating around but i would start off with 100 grams per gallon of water. You’d be surprised how strong it will be, when i seen that little spoonfull in a couple ml’s of water i said holy cow thats gonna be hot lol
That’s stuff is crazy hot I almost need a chemistry beaker
Aptasia file fish rid my tank that was full of aptasia. In 2 days. Jim Fisher
This... is a chemical burn
One of my favorite movies
nope nope nope. can't believe the fish didn't get scale burn haha. even if it works nope nope nope