Pests are the best part of this hobby

[dvgyfresh]

I was wanting to start a little aptasia/bubble algae tank in my office actually ;Smug

Lol I feel this , I want a pest anemone infested tank bring on all pests!

 

[Llyod276]

In the end it depends on what the consumer considers a pest. An aptasia bubble algea tank would at the least be unique. Good luck!

 

[Carl Eckelman]

I’ve been very overwhelmed with setting up a coral qt and I got to thinking— maybe the possibility of pests isn’t such a bad thing?

Having the perfect “pest-free” tank with 100% assurance feels a bit....sterile. In a sick way, I kind of enjoy the slight possibility. Pest prevention practices should always be implemented of course, but the certainty takes a bit of fun away from me I guess.

What do you guys think? Please watch before you maul me! I promise it makes a bit of sense ;Facepalm

I like solving problems, so does nature. So pests elevate my reefing to either figure out what I’m doing wrong or add one of nature’s problem solvers ? A fish a bumblebee snail the right water parameters?
I love a good fight

 

[squidarcher]

I turned my first tank into a pest tank. Good enough for me. Baddies all go out of the main DT

 

[Queenofreef]

I know exactly where you're coming from, and couldn't have said it better myself. Part of the enjoyment and sense of satisfaction associated with this hobby is overcoming the challenges that present themselves as our tanks evolve.

There is also the simple fact that I don't have the time, space, inclination, or money to set up multiple quarantines for everything I intend to introduce into the tank. Am I headed for a crash? Quite possibly. But I got into this hobby/lifestyle with the realization that I was walking the razor's edge.

When/if the big crash comes, I'll pick myself up, do what needs to be done, and start over. Even with the best of precautions, there are no guarantees.

If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. And if it can't go wrong, it will anyway. Murphy's law (revised)

This sums it all up better than my attempt in the video!!

 

[Goaway]

I just love pests. And buying chemicals to kill them. And searching for solutions when said chemicals fail.

 

[davidcalgary29]

My IM40 has become overrun with aiptasia. I got my aiptasia-eating filefish today, and, after acclimation, sat down to watch it gorge on the pests. It swam slowly around...zeroed in on a rock...and devoured my orange clove polyps in a few seconds. The aipstasia remain unmolested. Le sigh.

 

[Squidward]

I don't keep corals anymore but when I did coral qurantine, it was mainly to kill off the ich in the qurantine tank. So yes having no ich feels a million times better than having ich.

 

[mdb_talon]

To me this thread seems to be a huge conflation of ideas. Pests and diversity/hitchhikers/etc are not necessarily the same thing. So all pests may be hitchhikers, but not all hitchhikers are pests.

Anyone who thinks that there is some thrill or excitement from dealing with AEFW/monti nudis/zoa nudis/zoa spiders/etc I would argue either has a few screws loose or has never dealt with them in an established well populated system.

Several posts also seem to argue that eliminating pests eliminates diversity which i think is complete BS when it comes to coral. In fact i would argue if it is truly max diversity you are after then start a QT for your coral and stop dipping them. Dips kill many things even if there are no pests. QT on the other hand can allow you to observe and only dip/treat if pests are identified...which despite what some believe is essentially impossible without an extended time period. Dips generally do a very good job of killing adult pests and generally ro a very poor job of killing eggs. Even with a microscope it is very easy to miss the eggs of some pests.

 

[mdb_talon]

I meant this video/post to be a lighthearted thing and I didn’t intend to offend. I just meant that excessive coral quarantine (microscope, etc.) isn’t always necessary when you follow a strict protocol of dip/inspect. I very much so believe that doesn’t apply to fish— fish must always go through strict quarantine.

If your protocol for coral is dip/inspect, but no QT then eventually you will likely run across some devastating pests. Personally i went several years without any major pest battles and had a tank full of thriving acro colonies. One frag with AEFW led to a multi-year battle where i lost many of the colonies and most of those i did not lose were fragged into much smaller pieces. I was able to manage the outbreak eventually with constant attention, but never eliminate until i setup a second tank and over the course of about 18 months moved several pieces at a time into a bare QT and then once i was positive those pieces were clean move them into the new display.

 

[BourbonLegend]

I started in this hobby over 20 years ago and honestly the what the heck Is this hitchhiker factor was amazing to me when I started. I will admit I am less adventurous now but we are building biomes and sometimes the what the heck is what keeps it interesting. Fun topic, I have seen some ****!

 

[Tired]

If organisms are doing something you like, they aren't pests.

Hitchhikers are great! Pests are not. I use "pests" here to mean fish parasites, red bugs, and various other things that are inevitably detrimental.

Hitchhikers come in five rough groups.
The first group is harmless and beneficial creatures, like barnacles and micro brittles. These are the ones that just about everyone wants, except people who are scared of crawly things.
The second group is iffy creatures, like many urchins and pistol shrimp- often neat, but potentially trouble. These are common in "pest" tanks. They do fine in some tanks, and cause trouble in others.
The third group is frequently unwanted creatures, like bubble algae and aiptasia. Some people keep these on purpose, some people have them not causing any trouble in a main tank, but most people find them to be a problem.
The fourth group is things that are always pests, like red bugs, AEflatworms, ich, and so on. Interesting from a certain perspective, but nobody's keeping these on purpose, and they tend to directly eat and destroy desirable organisms.
The fifth group is very small, limited to things that are extremely destructive, but also very neat- bobbit worms, polyclad flatworms, probably a couple others. Most people don't want these, a few would love one. Mantis shrimp are either here or in the second group, depending on the species, and on how much trouble it causes when they eat the tank's cleanup crew.

 

[Bleigh]

Haven’t had a chance to watch the video yet.

I don’t LIKE “pests”, but I have tried to come to a point where I’m okay with management as I just don’t think prevention is possible with my set ups. If someone can do proper prevention, I think they should. I’ve had monti eating flatworms. And they set me back a lot. So that definitely changed my approach to new corals. I also try to have as balanced of an ecology as possible. I realize things are going to get in my tank that I don’t expect. Some of those things will be good and some will be bad. Spending too much time and energy on preventing all the unexpected feels soul sucking to me. Pests are in reefs. I assume they play a role. I’d prefer them not play a starring role in my tank though.

 

[Russell Casey]

I’ve been very overwhelmed with setting up a coral qt and I got to thinking— maybe the possibility of pests isn’t such a bad thing?

Having the perfect “pest-free” tank with 100% assurance feels a bit....sterile. In a sick way, I kind of enjoy the slight possibility. Pest prevention practices should always be implemented of course, but the certainty takes a bit of fun away from me I guess.

What do you guys think? Please watch before you maul me! I promise it makes a bit of sense ;Facepalm

I used to not care about pests, would qt fish/coral but live rock, macro algae bring it on. I got aiptasia did I say I got aiptasia. The more you killed the jerks...the more they made babies. One night I awoke from a slumber and like someone fighting in a war I got up to get my weapon. Aiptasia X and Franks Aiptasia Killer.

I spent hours and killed at count 17. I was proud of myself the enemy was dead. I could go get some R&R and hit on chicks or as I tell it they get the opportunity to possibly meet me , but the enemy had started a underground tunnel to get to our position in the bunker .. It wasn't two days later more and more and more. After screwing with them including putting boiling peroxide laden water down the overflow as there were aiptasia in there as big as my hand. Siphoning it out so it wouldn't go in sump, taking the dang pipes off found them in there as well. I got nudibranch berghia and it took them five months but the jerks are dead. Never never never again. Screw them aiptasia. In that time I lost three fish not from boiling the aiptasia none of that water got in the tank, my guess is the aiptasia got them but I could be wrong. Did I say never again? I served my reef tank, everything gets qt. I just purchased macros from algaeba.....they are supposed to be pest free? I put it in a 10 gallon qt tank set up. No issues, life was good, two weeks later as I hold macro algae 21 days) I see a majano on the tank wall. This tank was new and set up for the qt process so it didn't come from me. A week later two more majano's so the point is qt is sterile I get it. It isn't real life but you have a contained system some things are good but like the guy that posted about having a mantis shrimp that sob will kill all his fish and did . To me that is why qt is so important. AS if he just put the rock in a spare tank and let it sit for a week likely the mantis shrimp be dead perhaps 10 days. As if there is nothing to eat it can't survive.

Thank you for the question I was in the fetal position rocking back and forth for hours just thinking about this situation .

Russell

 

[Russell Casey]

Exactly! Pests/algae’s are obviously terrible and prevention is necessary, but I’ve learned so much from my mistakes and fixing them that I don’t think I could’ve truly understood otherwise

I think many reefers don't understand the morphology of bristle worms. I have heard reefers say, "....there are bristleworms everywhere in my tank it is so disgusting." Yet, they don't go to the problem, they are focusing on the symptom. Dissolved organics is to high if you have a ton of bristle worms. They won't do what humans do and just reproduce to reproduce or get to drunk and wake up the next morning thinking this isn't good (lol). They only reproduce when their is plenty of food (dissolved organics) available. Many people kill bristleworms, but bristleworms are one of the only creatures I know that eat fish ****. If you don't want a ton of bristle worms get rid of your DO by feeding less, getting phosphate/nitrate down.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

This is just an attention-grabbing post by a wanna be reefer who has never experienced marine velvet or other tank-ending disease.

 

[Vyper]

Bristleworms are free CuC!

I used to think that but sand dwelling fish are doomed. I lost a red scooter blenny to a bristle worm attack and recently noticed my yellow watchman goby had bristles on her. She has her paired monster pistol shrimp that I am assuming protects her to a certain extent. They are inseparable.

 

[Bleigh]

Just went back and watched the video. I feel like there is a lot of over thinking going on. I think that sometimes we build up the idea of a project and it becomes more stressful than the project actually is.

If you can do a qt, I think you should. You’re never going to be able to ensure your tank is pest free, but with each layer of redundancy you add, you decrease the chances of introducing a pest. I don’t have a coral qt, cause I don’t have the space for it. If I did, I would. Same with inverts. I do the best I can. I feel like you have the ability to step up your game more than I can, so taking advantage of those options would be beneficial.

I also think lots of things can go wrong in a tank beyond just pest introduction. @Dana Riddle quotes someone (I can’t remember who) who says that reefing is the chess game you’ll eventually lose. Problem solving will always be part of the hobby. If that’s the part you enjoy the most, setting up a coral qt isn’t going to stop that. If anything the coral qt is a problem solving method.

let me know if you want to talk about any of these things!!!

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I think biodiversity is the best part of this hobby, not necessarily pests
Btw, love the vids!

 

[stacksoner]

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen posted here. This is like saying STD's are the best part of dating.

Not sure if you're just trying to get video hits or what...the truth is that reefers would have a difficult time realizing our tank goals without the existence of potential parasites in our tanks.

Tank pests make our fish suffer from horrible, agonizing deaths and can make tens of thousands of dollars of coral acquisitions rot away in a matter of days.

All of the time and energy one invests in tank husbandry goes out of the window when a pest infestation makes its way into one's tank. They introduce emotional trauma for serious reefers who look to this hobby as a source of peace, and even cause many people to quit the hobby altogether.

I appreciate you trying to make a name for yourself in the social media reefing world, but do it the right way, by posting quality content instead of shock & awe nonsense.