I recently purchased corals from members and theses were filled with pest that I've never seen that I don't want even in my quarantine tank it took for ever to dip and clean and dip and I do not want your pests in my tank before you sell anything at least have the decency to inform with covid I'm not going in your house and look at your tank it's no wonder so many are having issues they're not good reefers you have to rid your tanks of these pests and not pass them on here are some of the crap on a zoa colony and it was loaded with other pests also a frogspawn and other hammer camera couldn't take good pics
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So a bristleworm and an asterina starfish would hardly be called pests to condemn someone over. How long have you been in the hobby that you’ve never seen either of these?
but also the vermitid
You are going to get bristleworms, asterina starfish, spaghetti worms, vermitids and many other things in this hobby as this is a living hobby with things that come from the ocean at some point. No matter how clean your system is, pest exists. That is why you dip and do due diligence.
With respect to the photo- some consider bristleworms as valuable members of the CUC. Asterinas for the most part are not really a nuisance. Vermitids are taken off with a good dragging tool. So, not sure what you are trying to show us in this post
With respect to the photo- some consider bristleworms as valuable members of the CUC. Asterinas for the most part are not really a nuisance. Vermitids are taken off with a good dragging tool. So, not sure what you are trying to show us in this post
I saw it. But to me just smash and dab a bit of glue and you’re good. Pests to me would be red bugs, AE flatworms, etc. Everything in that picture that I can see is just part of the hobby.but also the vermitid
To me it's part of the hobby but agree that if a person KNOWS they are there a warning should be advised. On the flip, sometimes we dip and kill off good hitch hikers too. Furthermore, we should all follow up with comments/information commending the seller when we buy corals that are pest free and received as advertised.
We have a buyer/seller feedback section. Maybe a good idea would be as per rules you have to make a thread(if there isn't one) with the users name when you buy/trade from them and anytime someone thereafter buys/trades with them they go in that thread and leave a comment as well. That would at least make it easy to navigate and review. Could open a can of "worms" though..just a thought.
This post is rough, it makes it as if the seller was malicious in their intent. Just word of advice, assume all corals have pest and all fish have some sort of disease no matter the source and treat it that way. It'll save you a headache down the road.
Secondly, your definition of pest might not be in line with another person's definition of a pest. I get corals from friends that have all those that you have listed and they don't consider them as pest either, nor do I think they are trying to infect my system with it. Personally, the only thing I think that are pest are the vermitid snails, not that they are harmful to your corals or fish, but they are just ugly over time.
Secondly, your definition of pest might not be in line with another person's definition of a pest. I get corals from friends that have all those that you have listed and they don't consider them as pest either, nor do I think they are trying to infect my system with it. Personally, the only thing I think that are pest are the vermitid snails, not that they are harmful to your corals or fish, but they are just ugly over time.
Unfortunately we have a ton of vermited snails because when we were really new we didn’t know what we were looking for. Live and learn, I’ve read they self eradicate as the tank matures
Everything comes off the plug no matter where it comes from, except maybe zoas. Those can tolerate higher levels of peroxide. The rest get dipped and reattached to a new plug.
Take the old plugs and soak them in peroxide and allow to completely dry out before reuse.
Any detritivores, like bristle worms are cuc in my opinion.
Take the old plugs and soak them in peroxide and allow to completely dry out before reuse.
Any detritivores, like bristle worms are cuc in my opinion.
LOL, um, no they don't. They were the bane of my existence with my last tank. I didn't know what to look for in the beginning either.
This. I don’t keep any frags on the plugs they come in. I also do 50/50 h2o2 dips with zoas since they are typically attached to a rock.
I've used h2o2 concentrations up to 5%+ in saltwater and the zoa's were fine. Anything on the plug, not so much.
When I get started back up very shortly I'll be buying a gallon of 35% h2o2.
When I get started back up very shortly I'll be buying a gallon of 35% h2o2.
I’ll have to go back and find the references but because we have so many and no amount of crushing or removing or bumblebee snails or anything else seems to work I’ve done extensive research on them. I have read that with time and tank maturity their numbers decline and they eventually die off. Now how much time I’m not sure but after reading that in 2 or 3 different places we decided to stop fighting with them. And really it is always buyer beware as mentioned. I have things in my tank I said I never wanted, it’s part of the hobby IMO
Does it work on aptasia? My last filefish preferred LPS to aptasia and the peppermint shrimp don’t go near it
If you run a ulns system and have pristinely clear water they might starve. I don't run my system that way.
Vermiteds, aiptasia, manjos and most anything that retract are relatively unaffected by h2o2 and dips. That's the main reason to remove from the plug. With zoa's and euphyllia corals you need to QT them longer to look for these and kill with kalk paste or other means.
I honestly have no idea where the aptasia came in. We dip and inspect everything. Like I said we didn’t know what a vermited was until Shawn pointed on me out. I do know where the bristleworms and asterinas came from and that piece was isolated for months and it still didn’t kill them off but they aren’t out of control and don’t seem to be harming anything. Maybe our bumblebee snails have bred enough to actually be helping with the vermited. They seem to be diminishing finally. For whatever reason my tank is snail breeding heaven
Life always finds a way. No matter what.
I dipped and scrapped and popped frags off plugs since the beginning and still have spaghetti worms, bristle worms, bristle stars and those damn vermitid snails.
Luckily I have been able to avoid aptasia and asterina stars. And obviously the real bad stuff like red/black bugs & flat worms.
I agree that the tone of the OP wasn't great however I assume he/she is new and the bugs just grossed him/her out. I remember my first time seeing a big fat bristle worm on a frag plug....I almost puked. I remember who it was from too but I understood its just part of the hobby.
In my experience - bigger systems just have more bugs and zoa plugs are generally the dirtiest
I dipped and scrapped and popped frags off plugs since the beginning and still have spaghetti worms, bristle worms, bristle stars and those damn vermitid snails.
Luckily I have been able to avoid aptasia and asterina stars. And obviously the real bad stuff like red/black bugs & flat worms.
I agree that the tone of the OP wasn't great however I assume he/she is new and the bugs just grossed him/her out. I remember my first time seeing a big fat bristle worm on a frag plug....I almost puked. I remember who it was from too but I understood its just part of the hobby.
In my experience - bigger systems just have more bugs and zoa plugs are generally the dirtiest
asterina starfish, bristle worms are desired by some and loathed by another. your personal preference may vary.
as long as you don't get things like polycad worms, aiptasia, bobbit worms, zoa eating nudis, etc then i think you are good.
vermitids are difficult to spot and get rid of once in the system. it takes on miniscule vermitids to be introduced within the nooks/cranies of a frag for them to thrive in the tank.
if you want absolutely 0 pest, i would recommend getting a fresh cut....of course the risk is still there but also with the understanding that you carry the risk of corals dying during the transition from the seller's tank to your tank as oppose to letting the frag heal up over time
also an fyi, i would say no stores (online or local) can guarantee 0 pest.
as long as you don't get things like polycad worms, aiptasia, bobbit worms, zoa eating nudis, etc then i think you are good.
vermitids are difficult to spot and get rid of once in the system. it takes on miniscule vermitids to be introduced within the nooks/cranies of a frag for them to thrive in the tank.
if you want absolutely 0 pest, i would recommend getting a fresh cut....of course the risk is still there but also with the understanding that you carry the risk of corals dying during the transition from the seller's tank to your tank as oppose to letting the frag heal up over time
also an fyi, i would say no stores (online or local) can guarantee 0 pest.
