Jestersix

Reminder to All: Acropora Eating Flatworms!

It also helps to do recurring dips. To get any flatworms that may have survived the dip or eggs that have hatched.

Dont dip too often as it may stress the coral.

At cali reef co they dip all their sps corals in their systems twice a week. Thumbs up. Despite that, i would still dip.


But the take home message for all this is:

Dip your corals no matter what store or person you get them from. And watch out for eggs too. Scrape them off or replace the frag plug if possible.
 
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gaberosenfield said:
For the record, the guys at Diablo did say they dip all new arrivals. I guess they don't have proper QT for corals at least. I think they thought they got all the pests like AEFWs. I don't think they were intentionally not treating their corals and spreading pests to their customers. I got the feeling that they were going to do something about this problem now that they know about it.
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Yeah, OK, they gave you a good spiel, but I really just have a hard time buying it. If they haven't bothered to set up a simple quarantine tank for new corals, then I can't possibly be expected to believe that they are going to do what it takes to rid their system of the pests that they do have, which is FAR more difficult and expensive than a quarantine system would have been.

I used to give our LFS's a pass on quarantine because we are all cramped for space here in the Bay Area which makes having an extra quarantine tank difficult. But all our LFS's (except Lucky Ocean and Ultimate Aquariums) are now in big industrial buildings where they have tons of space that most of them aren't even using. It just seems like they should be doing better on quarantine/treatment of livestock than they are at this point.
 
Never assume a store is going to do anything other than take your money for corals. Even if they say they dip, QT, etc... assume they are lying to your face, and only telling you what they know you want to hear. And after the frag swap, assume every coral you have has every disease imaginable and then think if you really want to put all your faith that a dip managed to take care of any problems present and future for that coral.

I'm in no way bad mouthing any LFS or person, but the fact of the matter is I've been in this hobby long enough that I realize that most people do not have any sort of quarantining procedure for their livestock, and that most definitely includes stores. With that bit of knowledge... do you think even if they dip everything new they get that their systems are pest free? (think again)
 
Nav said:
Last week I got a Mille from Neptunes and went through the same trouble :( I couldnt notice any dead tissue at the store but closer inspection before my dip, I saw a small portion of skeleton and knew something is wrong.

Dipped in Coral Rx and within minutes I got 5 AEFWs!!! Did some reading about the eggs, inspected closer and didn't find any. I removed the frag from the plug, glued over & around the dead tissue & entire base and stuck on a piece of rubble, dipped again for longer in Rx and then added to my DT. I hope no eggs made it in!!!

Here's a macro pic of the AEFWs I got rid of!

View attachment 1974
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Yikes, although the I'm not at all surprised. I was just at Neptunes this afternoon. I saw quite a few SPS corals that were showing signs of AEFW and too many dead fish and aiptasia/majanjo's to count. Also, a tang covered in ich in the tank with the SPS frags. Figured nothing there was worth the risk.

I also enjoyed the drug deal that happened on the corner as I was leaving, no doubt paid for by the car that had its window smashed in while I was inside. Nice neighborhood.

Enderturtle said:
At cali reef co they dip all their sps corals in their systems twice a week.
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Remarkable to hear. This is probably the best "LFS" in the area at this point. It's a shame they are so far away from SF, otherwise I'd go there way more often than I do.
 
At cali reef co they dip all their sps corals in their systems twice a week.
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Dipping frequently and dipping corals already in your tank makes good sense for a store that is constantly adding new stock, but I'd think that doing that to apparently healthy colonies in a personal tank would slow down their growth. Plus it isn't really possible to break off an encrusted colony from your rock for dipping. Now dipping frags in a quarantine tank weekly or biweekly makes good sense to me.

Sounds like I need to drive down to Fremont and check out Cali Reef Co.

It does seem strange that LFSs don't quarantine all new arrivals... Think about how much the stock in our tanks is worth. Their stock are probably worth much more than most of ours!

But the take home message for all this is:
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QUARANTINE ALL NEW ARRIVALS!!!
 
Great discussion here guys! Its important to think about all this critically and realistically at the same time. Why we would like to see happen and what really goes down are often not the same things. That's why we need to protect ourselves (and our tanks) to the best of our abilities without being overly paranoid. Tough balancing act for sure!
Speaking of qt tanks...anyone have one and space to house some frags until the swap? A couple volunteers have offered frags but I do not have the space to hold them quite yet myself...
 
Coral reefer said:
Great discussion here guys! Its important to think about all this critically and realistically at the same time. Why we would like to see happen and what really goes down are often not the same things. That's why we need to protect ourselves (and our tanks) to the best of our abilities without being overly paranoid. Tough balancing act for sure!
Speaking of qt tanks...anyone have one and space to house some frags until the swap? A couple volunteers have offered frags but I do not have the space to hold them quite yet myself...
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ok... so there is my answer :)
 
Hehe Mike, talked to Jon too. I would but I don't have a light to put over the tank yet. I'm digging through my old junk to see if I can make something work though.
 
but seriously. if you need a light i could hook you up. but hey, this thread is about AEFW's
I got rid of them over 5 years ago. :)
Set up 215 gallon March 2009
Red bugs May 8, 2009 http://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/red-bugs.6398/#post-105414
Monti eating Nudis May 24, 2009 http://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/monti-eating-nudibranch.6541/
AEFW November 1, 2009 http://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/aefw.7709/

lol
There are two kinds of reefers. Those that have had pests and those that will get pests:D...
 
Frag tank is only 30" x 16" so something small will be fine (no 250w metal halides!... besides I have those). So let me know.

And yes pests! Never had AEFW, but I have had red bugs (those are a snap to kill off, and aren't really that much of an issue), Montipora eating nudibranchs are not too fun, but real easy to spot if you QT your corals.

Point of the matter is QT your corals.
 
If you are worried about disease and pest transmission, and you should be, set up your own QT system. Learn how to run it.

My LFS is like a show and tell for fish disease. All the SW fish are on the same system. The manager said it was all good because they have a UV. It was hard not to laugh out loud at that! I do get fish from them. If I'm not in a big hurry, I have them order the fish and call me the day it comes in. I get it before it has been in their tank soup. Then I QT for 6-8 weeks. During QT I prophylacticly treat for internal parasites (PraziPro), Brooklynella, Ich and Velvet (Chloriquine phosphate). I haven't found a way to treat for carpet surfing. :)

IIRC we had a 'LFS should QT' thread a couple of years back.

Repeating my thoughts from back then...

It's way too expensive for a store to do a proper QT. If it's not a proper QT it's not worth anything. I don't trust any store to do a proper QT. I'm not saying the LFSs are bad or evil, it's just not possible with the economics of the whole LFS system to do it right.

It wouldn't be just another frag tank or a couple of fish tanks either. Let's assume a LFS sells 20% of it's stock per week and reorders that. If they QTd for 4 weeks (too short, IMO), it would have to have a facility of similar size to their retail store. It would have to be inaccessible to the public because you know some bozo would stick their hands in the tanks. The staff should also be restricted because you know they will, not through malice, move between tanks without properly disinfecting themselves.

There is also the expense of housing and holding livestock that long. LFSs need to sell what they buy fast. The longer they hold it the more money they loose!

BTW, doing it really right requires off site QT. There is evidence that diseases can be transmitted thru the micro droplets common around aquariums.
 
You certainly make the LFS not QTing issue sound hopeless aqua-nut! Maybe you're right. I guess it makes no difference either way, since it will always be necessary to do your own QT if you want to be sure not to introduce diseases and pests into your own aquarium...
 
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