melev

A few weeks ago one of the local fish stores posted to our club forum indicating that anyone wanting to purchase a laser to zap aiptasia could be added to their waiting list. I'd already read threads about using lasers before, and watched some videos. Sign me up! I've used all sorts of products over the years to get rid of pest anemones, but not a laser beam.

Last Friday I got a call letting me know mine had come in, and Sunday I made the drive to Dallas North Aquarium to pick it up. It resembles a flashlight, so I had the basic shape in mind. When they pulled out a small metal suitcase, it was a James Bond moment to be sure.

I wanted them to demonstrate it before I left since this store is an hour from my house, but with only one pair of protective goggles they didn't want to do it. We discussed some of their suggested practices, and I asked some questions like is there any danger to video-ing the process, and about their experiences using them on their service tanks. Biggest point is wear eye protection around it.

When I got home, I had to try it out. There's no name brand. It's 1200 milliwatts, and the spectrum is blue at 450 nanometers. The two batteries deplete after a few minutes of continual use, but recharge in about three hours. A second pair of rechargeable batteries would be useful, I'd imagine.

There are five tips you can add for some cool decorative effects, but useless for my purposes.

The front of the laser can be twisted to focus the beam to a precise pinpoint, and I'm told anything within the first foot of the aquarium can be zapped successfully. I'll be using it over the next week, and release a video showcasing those efforts and more thoughts. For now, here's a fat aiptasia I decided to use for my first test subject.

My fishroom is filled with ambient equipment noise, yet I could hear the crackling of the aiptasia being cooked over all that sound. The fish heard it too, as they quickly retreated to their rockwork quite skittish of the sound. I watched to make sure none swam in my way (like curious Spock and Crown Royal) and was ready to shut it off to avoid hurting them. This aiptasia was hit for about 60 seconds, twice. I had to stop and take off the red goggles to see what kind of progress it had made thus far. Gotta love the quality of an iPhone picture - it looked like a shriveled mess to my eye.

Stay tuned.