jbrady429
Well-Known Member
I've been fighting with aptaisia for some time. After having no luck with chemical treatments, I decided to try something I saw on YouTube: a class IV hand-held laser.
I used a 1 watt blue laser from Wicked Lasers with a 125mm focusing lens. All aptaisias that I could get directly at the base with the laser (either dead-on through the oral disk or from the side) were very quickly turned into a fried blob of ex-aptaisia jellly. All traces of the former pests has completely disappeared within a day or two. I must say that this is an extremely effective method of eradication!
There are a couple of very important safety items to mention, though. First, if you're going to try this you MUST use safety goggles specific to that type of laser. Everyone else in the room must wear them as well whenever the laser is on. These types of lasers WILL cause serious and permanent eye damage, including blindness. This can result even from reflected and scattered laser light. Second, you must be extremely careful not to hit your fish, corals, or other inverts (with either the direct or reflected beam). They will experience much more serious damage faster than you will.
Given the proper safety precautions and careful use, I highly recommend this method! Check out the videos on YouTube (posted by others--not me) if you're interested. Just search for "aptaisia laser".
Happy reefing!
I used a 1 watt blue laser from Wicked Lasers with a 125mm focusing lens. All aptaisias that I could get directly at the base with the laser (either dead-on through the oral disk or from the side) were very quickly turned into a fried blob of ex-aptaisia jellly. All traces of the former pests has completely disappeared within a day or two. I must say that this is an extremely effective method of eradication!
There are a couple of very important safety items to mention, though. First, if you're going to try this you MUST use safety goggles specific to that type of laser. Everyone else in the room must wear them as well whenever the laser is on. These types of lasers WILL cause serious and permanent eye damage, including blindness. This can result even from reflected and scattered laser light. Second, you must be extremely careful not to hit your fish, corals, or other inverts (with either the direct or reflected beam). They will experience much more serious damage faster than you will.
Given the proper safety precautions and careful use, I highly recommend this method! Check out the videos on YouTube (posted by others--not me) if you're interested. Just search for "aptaisia laser".
Happy reefing!
