Be honest...would you do this?

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Okay, we all know coral pests get into our tanks. Whether it be monti-eating nudibranch, red/black bugs, zoa spiders, or the dreaded and my most personally hated AEFW. When I found out and confirmed that I had AEFW in one of my tanks, I didn't let another acro leave out of it in fear of it spreading to another reefer's tank. This may be my practice, but I know that there are people who 100% still sell/trade knowing they have some kind of pest. Do you or have you ever had to deal with coral pests in your tank and did you still sell/trade/give away infected corals to stores/hobbyists? What is your reason for doing so or not doing so? If an infected coral was transferred, do you let the other person know beforehand or at all?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Man when I got red Flatworms galore. 1 person was like. "Oh I know where those came from" or "I think that person knows they have them.

Red planaria really did a number on me and I never even thought about putting the blame on the person who supplied them on a coral frag back than. Not even when the person made the comments they made... after a big local swap. Lol.
It is what it is... people. Lol.
D

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Man when I got red Flatworms galore. 1 person was like. "Oh I know where those came from" or "I think that person knows they have them.

Red planaria really did a number on me and I never even thought about putting the blame on the person who supplied them on a coral frag back than. Not even when the person made the comments they made... after a big local swap. Lol.
It is what it is... people. Lol.
D

That sucks! I'd like to hear the perspective from people on the other side. Not sure how many people I'll get to comment that will admit they knowingly sold someone an infected coral.

 

[fish farmer]

Year's ago...early 2000's, were I live we would trade corals, etc. without even thinking about pests.

Now it seems LFS, local reefers get called out at the sight of a single aiptasia. I was at one of our good reef stores and thought maybe selling/trading to him, but soon realized he was a neat freak...there was a little bit of algae on some frags I wanted and he was very upset with himself for not keeping up on it.

If someone wants stuff from my tank they will get full disclosure that I have vermetids, aips, red turf algae, limpets, bristleworms, discoma mushrooms, ugly palys.

In fact I probably won't try to get rid of stuff from my tank, because a lot of folks would have a hard pass on the pests.

 

[Koh23]

Times are changed....

Way back, all of things we considered pests were just "microfauna"...

Nowdays, asterine, snails, even some sponges, or corals (xenia) are considered unwanted.... Not to mention aiptasia, flatworms etc....

Whenever i get some frags, i know theres possibility to introduce something to my system, but that dont worries me too much....

When selling i do my best to quarantine frags for sell, dip them, and do everything i can do to sell clean and healty frag...but, no guaranties....

But no, never had anyone tells me - hey, theres xy in my tank, so its possible you will get some with frags from me.....

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Times are changed....

Way back, all of things we considered pests were just "microfauna"...

Nowdays, asterine, snails, even some sponges, or corals (xenia) are considered unwanted.... Not to mention aiptasia, flatworms etc....

Whenever i get some frags, i know theres possibility to introduce something to my system, but that dont worries me too much....

When selling i do my best to quarantine frags for sell, dip them, and do everything i can do to sell clean and healty frag...but, no guaranties....

But no, never had anyone tells me - hey, theres xy in my tank, so its possible you will get some with frags from me.....

i remember someone told someone to superglue a xenia near a gorgonian and said it was aptasia. i knowingly bought my corals with some aptasia, astrenia, bubble algae, other assorted things. i have never dipped coral either. i unironically cried when i found a micro brittle because i wanted some of those. i have never seen a bristleworm in person outside of the tampa bay watch lionfish tank in st pete. its a shame cause they are so good for tanks.

 

[homer1475]

If buying from fellow reefers, and asked, I have never found one that will not tell me if they have any pests present in their tank. LFS on the other hand, not so much.

But define pests?

I don't find aips. or bryposis, or any other type of algae as a pest, or vermetid snails, or astrernia stars. They can all be treated before introduction.

Pests in the general term, flatworms, red/black bugs, etc I would like to know about, as I would treat the frag differently, but again not an issue if you know about it before hand, and know how to treat for these pests.

I have always told people whats in my system if asked. I do not sell frags, but rather give them away to anyone willing to take a drive to see me, and are willing to deal with the "pests" I have, and may be on their frag. I recently gave a frag of green slimer to someone, they knew full well I would not do a fresh cut(I hate fresh cuts, and will pass if a frag is not healed), and I was actively treating for bryopsis. They were more then happy to wait out my treatment, and for the frag to heal over before transporting it.

 

[Dburr1014]

If I sell I am always upfront what's in my tank. It's up to the buyer if they want my coral or to dip /clean what there buying.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

But define pests?

In this instance I'm only referring to coral specific pests. I don't think this is one of those things that depends on how someone defines a pest or not. An aefw is a pest to everyone, just like zoa spiders, monti eating nudibranch, red bugs, etc...

Pests in the general term, flatworms, red/black bugs, etc I would like to know about, as I would treat the frag differently, but again not an issue if you know about it before hand, and know how to treat for these pests.

This is what the post was about. If I knew I was getting a pest, I could treat properly for it or not purchase it altogether. I think everyone should tell someone if their corals are infested. It shouldn't be up to the seller to decide what's an okay pest for someone to deal with or not.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

If I sell I am always upfront what's in my tank. It's up to the buyer if they want my coral or to dip /clean what there buying.

I'm okay with this because you're up front about it. My only problem is when it's kept a secret.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

If someone wants stuff from my tank they will get full disclosure that I have vermetids, aips, red turf algae, limpets, bristleworms, discoma mushrooms, ugly palys.

This! Disclosure is all we're looking for honestly.

Year's ago...early 2000's, were I live we would trade corals, etc. without even thinking about pests.

AEFW hadn't been identified at this point, so I believe a huge part of this is that there wasn't enough knowledge about pests. If we knew then what we know now about pests, it would have been brought up quite often.