Kessil

Club guidelines for DBTC and swaps after discovery of pests?

Fish Boss

Fish Boss

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I was wondering if we could work together and come up with some guidelines on how about to proceed with swaps and DBTC when we discover we have pests. DBTC is one of my favorite parts of this club, I think its so cool how you can share your corals with others, while also providing yourself a bank in case you lose yours. It was sad hearing that a lot of long time members arent too confident in the system anymore because of how many people just used the system for free coral in the past. A bit off topic, so I digress.

I have a few DBTC items now, and have some frags growing out, and was looking forward to passing some along soon! However, getting MEN recently threw a wrench (temporarily) in those plans. I want to contribute ASAP, but dont want to give anyone else MEN. Threw out my montipora and been fallow for about a month now.

Should this be a club effort? Should the frag swap coordinator decide? What does everyone think?
 
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My personal thoughts as someone who’s been around a while and probably one of the most experienced at swaps and DBTC among those still active. NOT the official Board position (we haven’t made an official Board position)-

There are serious uncommon pests, and there are manageable common pests. Both can wreck tanks if left to get out of control, so I’m not minimizing any. People may have differences in opinion on which is which but I think there’s more or less consensus among those of us with many years in the hobby.

For any kind of pests, if you are right in the middle of a big outbreak, don’t be giving out corals until you have things under control.

For serious pests you are working on but haven’t fully eradicated yet, don’t contribute frags to the masses at/on swap tables, freebie tables, or DBTC tables. A disclaimer is the right idea, but not sufficient in situations where newbies you don’t know might be picking up your frags. Personal trades/PIFs/sales where you can have a transparent personal conversation with a knowledgeable recipient about risk, it’s fine.

When is it ok to contribute to the tables after a serious pest? Debatable as to the specifics but I’d say once you are confident that the pest is eradicated fully.

For manageable common pests like GHA, cyano, Aiptasia, Bryopsis, and others (again the list will be up for debate), assuming you have it overall under control/managed with no visible signs on/around the frags/plugs you are sharing it’s probably fine to share without a disclaimer. There needs to be some middle ground compromise between absolutism and practicality or else the sharing of frags would grind to a halt.

We do it every year and every swap, but we need to continue to remind people that any frags you get from someone else, either by swap, DBTC, or a store needs to be treated as potentially harboring a pest. At a minimum I recommend dipping with one or more dips that will take out most pests (I use CoralRx and Bayer sequentially, but there are other good options), plus remove the plug it came on when possible, and look at it under a magnifying glass with bright light and/or actinic coral light. If I see any signs of a serious pest, I trash the whole frag. I don’t personally have a QT tank for coral/snails but some people do, and swear by it.

There’s significant grey area in multiple aspects I discussed above. We won’t all agree 100% probably. As far as who should decide, the best we as a club can do is make guidelines, everyone makes their own decisions. For rules about the swaps, the frag swap coordinator would be in charge. For rules about DBTC, the DBTC coordinator would be in charge. The Board could weigh in if necessary.
 
You can put together an observation or QT tank for free or under $50 with all the items in the PIF forum. That's the best way to keep an eye on things for a good week or two (or more if you're worried about fish parasites). Often times things like aiptasia won't poke out for a day or two. Some bubble algae or bryopsis won't show until larger.

Having a fully "biosecure" tank is impossible and the longer you're in the hobby, the higher chance it is you get something. Nothing short of a few things that are rare in the hobby are a death sentence to the tank either. Most are just ugly or nuisances.
 
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