Scrutinize places to buy livestock?

[jbdreefs]

Is it 5:00 on Friday yet?

I went somewhere today and had intended to buy some livestock. However, when I was observing the selection, I couldn't help but to notice that the tanks appeared "dirty". I saw lots of green algae and even something that looked like red algae. Would that be cyanobacteria?

During my visit, I thought to myself, "I hope my tanks never look like this." Then my gut told me to not buy anything because i may just transport this stuff to my tank. So, I didn't buy anything...

Was my gut feeling a legitimate concern? This is in regards to buying/trading livestock from a LFS or other members.

Should I also consider the setup? For instance, I highly doubt that there was enough light over the frag tank.

Thanks!

 

[cr500_af]

I don't worry about that stuff with fish, since you don't want to put ANYBODY's store system water into your reef. Just look at the condition of the fish... and I assume you know the importance of a quarantine, so I won't preach that to you.


Corals are another story altogether. If there is green hair algae (or God forbid Bryopsis) in their tanks, you don't want that stuff in yours. I dip my corals anyway, but I wouldn't ever buy a frag with that stuff on it knowingly and then trust the dip to kill it. The red was probably cyano, and I don't think you can avoid getting that stuff at some point.
Just my .02

 

[jbdreefs]

Coral dips will kill algea and bacteria? I guess I thought it just killed bugs, worms, etc. Which one do you use?

 

[cr500_af]

Seachem Reef Dip and CoralRx.

 

[jbdreefs]

Is there a reason you have two dips other than the fact that maybe you wanted to try a different one. Would you mind elaborating on when you use each? Both at the same time?

 

[cr500_af]

I bought the Seachem when I was out of CoralRX and the LFS didn't carry it. No real reason other than that. But no, not at the same time.

 

[kirkwood]

I had a good experience at Pure Reef in Alpharetta last time I was there. The have a very nice F/O and Reef system

 

[jbdreefs]

Pure Reef is the store I frequent the most because of work. It is very nice, and the people are friendly and helpful.

 

[morganatlanta]

I have seen at least one with what looked like bryopsis all over their corals, but I hear people say good things about them here. Maybe no one has traced their infection back there, but I personally wouldn't risk it. I did get a bryopsis infestation from another member. It was just one strand on a coco worm tube, and I had no idea what it was, so I didn't do anything about it.