Is it an insult to ask a hobbyist seller or any vendor/LFS if they have any coral pests?

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I'm curious how people feel about this. I asked a hobbyist seller based off of a blurry photo if they have any kind acro pests because the blurry photo made it look like there was a possible bite mark. He was offended I would ask him that, sent me photos of his LPS (not sure why) and 2 SPS colony pics, told me that's the first time anyone has ever said that and he wasn't going to sell any more. I was a bit taken back. I made sure to mention the photo wasn't very clear and it was hard to really tell. I figured that would be a reasonable question to ask, but maybe I'm in the wrong. Is asking someone if they have coral pests akin to asking someone how much money they make?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Nope, not insulting at all. Some folks have different definitions of "pests" and you won't know if you don't ask.

 

[Spare time]

No, but take what they say with caution. All corals I get go through a strict qt and observation process.

 

[Tired]

I think that guy was just easily offended. I wouldn't be insulted if someone asked that, and I imagine you wouldn't be, since his reaction seems to have surprised you. Any seller who reacts like that is probably not someone you want to be buying from- imagine how he'll react if something goes wrong.

(also, IMO, "how much money do you make" shouldn't be an insulting thing to ask. Mostly because free and open discussion of wages helps prevent companies underpaying people. But I digress.)

Nope, not insulting at all. Some folks have different definitions of "pests" and you won't know if you don't ask.

This is a good point. I have a few things running around (acoel flatworms, bristleworms) that I know some people consider pests, but I wouldn't say I have pests in my tank, because these have been harmless for me.

 

[Tegridy Reef]

I don’t think so who would wanna buy a pest with the corals and some stuff is hard to get rid of

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

That would be called Doing your Research and Is highly recommended..

Do you have ick in your tank, do you have vermited snails, ever had AEFW issues are all valid questions . .


If someone was Offended by the question, they need to pull their big boy or big girl panties on and get over themselves.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I think that guy was just easily offended. I wouldn't be insulted if someone asked that, and I imagine you wouldn't be, since his reaction seems to have surprised you. Any seller who reacts like that is probably not someone you want to be buying from- imagine how he'll react if something goes wrong.

(also, IMO, "how much money do you make" shouldn't be an insulting thing to ask. Mostly because free and open discussion of wages helps prevent companies underpaying people. But I digress.)


This is a good point. I have a few things running around (acoel flatworms, bristleworms) that I know some people consider pests, but I wouldn't say I have pests in my tank, because these have been harmless for me.

Same. I have bristleworms and vermetid snails, but the only pests I care about are the coral killing kind.

Edit: I am also open about how much I make and I'm curious what others make in their fields, but there are some who don't want people to know. You never know who is okay with it or not.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

That would be called Doing your Research and Is highly recommended..

Do you have ick in your tank, do you have vermited snails, ever had AEFW issues are all valid questions . .


If someone was Offended by the question, they need to pull their big boy or big girl panties on and get over themselves.

I 100% agree. I've had aefw before and it wiped out my tank. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, so I'd definitely make someone aware of that if it became an issue again. I wouldn't even sell/trade them actually.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

No, but take what they say with caution. All corals I get go through a strict qt and observation process.

This. They can tell you whatever you want to hear, it may not be the case. Or it hitchhiked on the frag from a wholesaler/reefer that sold it to them and they don't know about it.

Got aiptasia from a frag and I only buy from two sources. Can't see aiptasia in the frag tanks in either sellers case, but they could be using whatever method to eradicate and I wouldn't know.

Always cavet empetor.

 

[fish farmer]

I'm curious how people feel about this. I asked a hobbyist seller based off of a blurry photo if they have any kind acro pests because the blurry photo made it look like there was a possible bite mark. He was offended I would ask him that, sent me photos of his LPS (not sure why) and 2 SPS colony pics, told me that's the first time anyone has ever said that and he wasn't going to sell any more. I was a bit taken back. I made sure to mention the photo wasn't very clear and it was hard to really tell. I figured that would be a reasonable question to ask, but maybe I'm in the wrong. Is asking someone if they have coral pests akin to asking someone how much money they make?

I tell everyone what "pests" I have....probably why no one wants anything from me.

I see enough posts here about LFS's with aips, etc to where folks have a "hard pass" on buying from them so seeing that various pests are take seriously by many and I personally know some are a pain to eradicate in an established system, I tell what I have if asked.

I almost thought of doing trading/selling stuff to one of my local shops, but realized he seemed to take pests seriously. I didn't bother to bring it up.

FWIW, I work at a government trout hatchery, disease classification A (3 plus years clean), anyone who receives eggs from us can get a copy of our recent disease testing. It's pretty much SOP for professional fish hatcheries.

 

[Tamberav]

I'm curious how people feel about this. I asked a hobbyist seller based off of a blurry photo if they have any kind acro pests because the blurry photo made it look like there was a possible bite mark. He was offended I would ask him that, sent me photos of his LPS (not sure why) and 2 SPS colony pics, told me that's the first time anyone has ever said that and he wasn't going to sell any more. I was a bit taken back. I made sure to mention the photo wasn't very clear and it was hard to really tell. I figured that would be a reasonable question to ask, but maybe I'm in the wrong. Is asking someone if they have coral pests akin to asking someone how much money they make?

Nah, you are fine. That person sounds overly sensitive.

I wouldn't want to give my money to someone who can't answer simple questions without being dramatic. When we buy a used tank, people generally ask about scratches or leaks, people have questions when they buy a used car. If I bought a puppy, I would ask about what vaccinations it received and it if was de-wormed.

F that guy

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm curious how people feel about this. I asked a hobbyist seller based off of a blurry photo if they have any kind acro pests because the blurry photo made it look like there was a possible bite mark. He was offended I would ask him that, sent me photos of his LPS (not sure why) and 2 SPS colony pics, told me that's the first time anyone has ever said that and he wasn't going to sell any more. I was a bit taken back. I made sure to mention the photo wasn't very clear and it was hard to really tell. I figured that would be a reasonable question to ask, but maybe I'm in the wrong. Is asking someone if they have coral pests akin to asking someone how much money they make?

With the price of coral and treatments, you have the right to know

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

With the price of coral and treatments, you have the right to know

This! My last shipment of acros for this tank comes in on Tuesday. I've spent over $1,200 so far. That's a drop in the bucket compared to some people's tanks, but it's still not cheap.

 

[LOVEROCK]

no I don’t think so , for some odd reason when people get pest from vendors , I ask which vendor , they don’t want to disclose where the frags came from .

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

no I don’t think so , for some odd reason when people get pest from vendors , I ask which vendor , they don’t want to disclose where the frags came from .

I've also seen this. It's weird to me.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

no I don’t think so , for some odd reason when people get pest from vendors , I ask which vendor , they don’t want to disclose where the frags came from .

That's also a double edged sword. Letting people know, may also run up against that vendor being a paying partner on here and that isn't treated too kindly as in ( this belongs in vendor feedback {where nobody will ever see it})

 

[xCry0x]

I wouldn't take someone's word for it.

I've had all sorts of nasties fall off frags during a dip - frags coming from very nice looking systems.

I learned the lesson early on. Wrasses that eat pests can do a really really good job making a system appear pest free. My tank was great until I got rid of my six line wrasse. Next thing I knew I had every pest imaginable.

 

[Tired]

I like to vigorously pipette my frags in a cup of clean water first, then put them in a mild iodine dip and do more squirting. It gets the iodine into all the crevices and sends any pests scattering, and you can use the pipette to catch anything you don't want to kill and pop it into a cup of clean water. Got some cute little sand skater isopods recently (harmless scavengers, look a bit like flatworms at first glance) by doing that. They're welcome in the tank. The actual flatworms that came off the frag, on the other hand, got pipetted into a 'kill these' cup so I could be sure they wouldn't grab back onto the frag.

 

[ying yang]

I think it's like anything in life where 2 parties are involved ,what I try do is be nice as I can and try check my behaviours / actions.
Like if I said " hey that's a nice coral and am Interested,could you tell me the price and any information on the coral you may have,and also have you any coral pests or have had coral pests in the past" I would deem this ok but if I said something like " hey that's a nice looking coral,could you tell me price and any info on it,but also I see a potential problem with bite marks on coral so I'm going need some discount on this coral,as I can do an intensive qt/dip protocol but others may not" as you said it may look like a " possible " bite mark but picture was fuzzy to be sure,then I'd ne looking at my motives in this second scenario I gave as I think to possibly fabricate or exaggerate something to get a discount is wrong.

But the way you explained you asked about something that is very reasonable to ask, I don't think there's anything wrong with asking and getting as much info as possible especially if had precious problems yourself in the past.
As other posters have said,the other person maybe super sensitive person or maybe just having a bad stressful time in life who knows, as mentioning no one has ever asked him before and he thinking of stop selling coral frags is an over reaction imo.

So if we try our best to be nice and look at our behaviours/actions then that's all we can do right .
And again I think what you asked is ok and 2 examples above wasn't me thinking about you and you wrong, they just simply examples to help me explain what I'm thinking ( sometimes I'm bit weird ha ha)

So did he show you any clearer pictures and will you or have you bought the coral ?

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I think it's like anything in life where 2 parties are involved ,what I try do is be nice as I can and try check my behaviours / actions.
Like if I said " hey that's a nice coral and am Interested,could you tell me the price and any information on the coral you may have,and also have you any coral pests or have had coral pests in the past" I would deem this ok but if I said something like " hey that's a nice looking coral,could you tell me price and any info on it,but also I see a potential problem with bite marks on coral so I'm going need some discount on this coral,as I can do an intensive qt/dip protocol but others may not" as you said it may look like a " possible " bite mark but picture was fuzzy to be sure,then I'd ne looking at my motives in this second scenario I gave as I think to possibly fabricate or exaggerate something to get a discount is wrong.

But the way you explained you asked about something that is very reasonable to ask, I don't think there's anything wrong with asking and getting as much info as possible especially if had precious problems yourself in the past.
As other posters have said,the other person maybe super sensitive person or maybe just having a bad stressful time in life who knows, as mentioning no one has ever asked him before and he thinking of stop selling coral frags is an over reaction imo.

So if we try our best to be nice and look at our behaviours/actions then that's all we can do right .
And again I think what you asked is ok and 2 examples above wasn't me thinking about you and you wrong, they just simply examples to help me explain what I'm thinking ( sometimes I'm bit weird ha ha)

So did he show you any clearer pictures and will you or have you bought the coral ?

No. He cut off communication after I asked. I was already getting them for a great deal and I said as much. I wouldn't have asked for a discount as instead I would have passed on the purchase. I don't have the space for a setup to quarantine. The conversation never got to that point unfortunately.