What is the WORST pest in the hobby?

[elysics]

The worst pest for me has been this red encrusting sponge. It is taking over my tank. Every sps is turning white at the tips. The tips turn pink shortly after, which I assume is the sponge growing on the exposed skeleton. ICP test shows everything acceptable. Assuming the sponge is releasing some type of toxin. Recently changed carbon and have been running a poly filter. Nothing has helped as I watch my reef slowly get destroyed.

Now I half want to have it for the sake of having it lol. Probably couldn't trust myself though to not one day put it next to the dreaded black sponge I tamed and watch my reef crash

This thing sounds like a proper biological weapon from your description

 

[Rogueaquariums]

I would have to say that dino flagellates & Aptasia were the most common items I’ve had to deal with. Keeping a good nutrient balance has helped me to keep in check the Dinos & as far as Aptasia goes I’ve remedied the situation by using berghia nudias as well as Aptasia X ( limited success) & F Aptasia ( with better results)

 

[WallyB]

Having battled Bryopsis, Cyanobacteria, red bugs, Acro eating flatworms, Regular “planaria” flatworms, aptaisia and Dinos over the last 15 years of reefing I can tell you without a hint of doubt:

Dinos are by far the worse!

Ok. I now don't feel so bad about my Cyano disgust.

I've been struggling with a Never Ending Cyano outbreak for over 6 months. I almost win, then it comes back.
Every time I blow the cyano off when I get fed up, the tank looks so perfect.. Nothing but pure Purple, Blue, Pink Coraline.
Few days later all the rock are bloody red.

I want to end the Cyano Naturally since when I treated in past with ChemiClean something using it messed up my SPS.

Never had Dino's and never want them.

 

[Fuppets]

Because you tried everything and nothing worked and you had a real problem with them killing your corals, or as a convenient excuse for the upgrade? Im in quite a few local whatsapp groups and you are the first time i hear about someone doing this pretty much since i started a couple years ago, only ever as horror stories of the past and in old books

Now that I'm reading up on how to prevent them getting into the new tank, I think I probably could have beat them. I've been out of reefing for 10 years, that's just what we did back then...

 

[Dolphin2409]

I don’t care what anyone else says; if I get a bobbit worm, I’m burning my house down.

I hear ya!
In fact I just went through the experience
I am currently logged on via my phone sitting in a cardboard box on the side of the road as I burned my house down!!!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/zoa-eating-culprit.818820/

 

[Paul B]

I don't remember ever having a pest that I thought was a real pest. Not "in" the tank anyway.

 

[KingTideCorals]

There have been some great answers! Keep em coming! What BUGS you! LOL

 

[sam.veilleux30]

Ok. I now don't feel so bad about my Cyano disgust.

I've been struggling with a Never Ending Cyano outbreak for over 6 months. I almost win, then it comes back.
Every time I blow the cyano off when I get fed up, the tank looks so perfect.. Nothing but pure Purple, Blue, Pink Coraline.
Few days later all the rock are bloody red.

I want to end the Cyano Naturally since when I treated in past with ChemiClean something using it messed up my SPS.

Never had Dino's and never want them.

Only thing that worked for me was removing the sand.
Did it last spring and haven't seen cyano since.

 

[fcmatt]

Bubble tip anemones. Yea.. I said it. Might as well be aiptasia at this stage in reefing. Just more colorful. Constantly splitting, roaming when they want, sting coral, and all around frustratingly beautiful

 

[nels]

Aiptasia

 

[EvanDeVita]

I haven't had to deal with any coral-eating pests in my time, but overall Dinos are the worst.

 

[WallyB]

Only thing that worked for me was removing the sand.
Did it last spring and haven't seen cyano since.

I've been glass bottom for years. Yes, when I switched from Sand Bottom it did end Cyano for a long time.

I don't know what's causing my Endless Cyano this time. My flow is ridicuously high. The Cyano even attaches to live rock in high flow spots. It does blow off if I sweep a maxijet narrow jet flow directly over the cyano carpet.

I recently swept my Sump from all the fine dust and detritus. Hoping that helps.
I also loaded my sump as much as I could pack into it with Very Old Aged live rock.

Could it be my fish have never been trained to eat Pellets and I stricly feed frozen?
Possibly too much frozen food?
I try pellets but back off since it polutes the tank. or feeds the CUC.

 

[drblank1]

Tang police!

 

[Jekyl]

The worst pest in this hobby is us..... little bit of algae, DUMP IN EVERY CHEM YOU CAN FIND! Little aiptasia, MORE CHEMICALS! New fish, BLAST IT WITH MEDS! Ich in the DT, MORE MEDS, GET EVERY FISH OUT FOR 6 MONTHS! Our predisposition to freak out over every minor things makes it worse for us and our new friends.

 

[mattdg]

for me, it was hands down monti eating nudibranchs. I had these in a previous sps heavy system. I had no idea how much I loved my digis, until these little pests were introduced. The only solution, ditch all of the stuff they liked and start over. Fortunately, this kind of coral grows relatively fast.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Asterina starfish. I had ONE that I brought home from my brothers tank before I knew they were terrible. It multiplied into thousands. I used to pull a half cup of them from my biocube a day a few years ago. It took me YEARS of hand removal to kill them all. Couldn't have a harlequin shrimp because of my engineer goby. He was almost 2ft long and most inverts would be ignored but shrimp were food.

 

[metzer]

The worst pest, a reefer who keeps putting his/her hands in the tank and constantly tweaks stuff .

 

[ZoWhat]

Newbies who don't do a lil research before asking questions

 

[Sharkbait19]

Newbies who don't do a lil research before asking questions

+1 on that, I used to be one of them! lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Aptasia- Just when you think you got the last one. . . . . "WHERE DID THIS ONE COME FROM " !!
.

Flatworms - Those eggs they lay are too darn tiny to see