Zoanthid eating spiders!!

[FishyFishFish]

Probably the same R2R sale as you, the one at the end of Feb.

They have said that they have had a productive husbandry meeting to make corrections to their procedures, but with the experience of how difficult these things are to eradicate, I'm not entirely sure how they can ensure that big shipments from overseas are ever 'clean'. That is, unless they QT for a very long time and are prepared to dispose of entire shipments if they spot anything untoward.

I wouldn't have even guessed that they received big shipments from Vietnam, but every day is a school day.

They could presumably proactively let people know of the issue (a bit like a recall), but it appears they prefer to cross their fingers and hope that the issue is limited to a few people. I look forward to spending my $7 elsewhere.

 

[iMi]

Insane. I just sent them an email as well. They should be aware of the extend of damage caused. Truly disappointing.

I will say that for what it's worth, the hammer I've got from them is beautiful and doing well. I've also got a Blasto from that sale that has already grown a new head and looks like it's starting on another. So, it's not all bad.

What ticks me off is that they didn't tell those of us who purchase Zoanthid from them about the infestation when they found out. I spent at least the past few days trying to figure out why my zoas were melting and dying. Plus, I've got others in there that were doing great and growing only to close up and start dying as well. I could have moved them out right away. Do something. Instead, I tinkered with lighting and kept checking parameters, etc.

Needless to say this is the first and last time I purchase from Aquasd.

 

[ctnguye3]

That's unfortunate, I actually stopped purchasing corals from my LFS because I wasn't sure about their coral quarantine procedures and didn't want to risk getting pests so I've purchase most of my corals from 2 very popular online vendors based off their reviews and reading the forums...unfortunately one of those vendor I purchased from had monti eating nudibranch. Some how even purchasing from a reputable source, dipping my corals in Coral RX/Bayer, I still managed to get monti eating nudi's. I was able to catch them early and remove them with weekly toothbrush scrubbing but the lesson is trust no one. In my opinion, the only true way to avoid pest in your display tank is to quarantine your corals, which unfortunately most of us don't have the space or money for a second reef tank. Hopefully you guys can get rid of those nasty spiders!

 

[iMi]

That's unfortunate, I actually stopped purchasing corals from my LFS because I wasn't sure about their coral quarantine procedures and didn't want to risk getting pests so I've purchase most of my corals from 2 very popular online vendors based off their reviews and reading the forums...unfortunately one of those vendor I purchased from had monti eating nudibranch. Some how even purchasing from a reputable source, dipping my corals in Coral RX/Bayer, I still managed to get monti eating nudi's. I was able to catch them early and remove them with weekly toothbrush scrubbing but the lesson is trust no one. In my opinion, the only true way to avoid pest in your display tank is to quarantine your corals, which unfortunately most of us don't have the space or money for a second reef tank. Hopefully you guys can get rid of those nasty spiders!

I could not agree more. The little nano I have is going to be a quarantine tank moving forward. Dipping is clearly not effective for pests that are inside the tissue, like these nasty spiders. I agree it's an expensive thing to do for most, but I am learning the hard way that it's actually not. Spend a few hundred on a small, property equipped quarantine tank up front or risk hundreds of dollars (plus all the sweat and tears) in corals going down the drain later.

 

[Unregistered1]

Wow....that really stinks

 

[iMi]

The morning catch

All came from the infected frags. They don’t seem to spread as fast to others as I thought. I’m still pretty sure the island is free of them.

 

[ctnguye3]

The morning catch

All came from the infected frags. They don’t seem to spread as fast to others as I thought. I’m still pretty sure the island is free of them.

Yikes! Those little things do look creepy! I hope I don't ever have to deal with those, some of my zoas are attach to large rocks and would be a PITA to remove and inspect daily.

 

[iMi]

AquaSD responded right away by the way. They refunded all zoas and apologized for the problem. All other corals I bought from them look very good. I love the hammer I've got from them. I think they are genuinely concerned and have already addressed their quarantine process to prevent this from happening again. I'll give them another chance in the future.

 

[ubasu]

Im glad to hear @AquaSD Is refunding you guys. I would think it would be in their own best interest too 1) Send an email to their customers 2) Post on this thread and explain how they are going to prevent this in the future.

 

[iMi]

Im glad to hear @AquaSD Is refunding you guys. I would think it would be in their own best interest too 1) Send an email to their customers 2) Post on this thread and explain how they are going to prevent this in the future.

100% this right here. I would be way more understanding if they were being proactive. That email a few days ago could have saved some of my zoas. I spend days trying to figure out why everything is doing well, water parameters are spot on and zoas that were growing suddenly started dying. I messed with the lighting and did massive water changes. Agh...

 

[Viva'sReef]

Buyer beware......they have a sale running on Zoa's right now. That's pretty messed up

 

[mdb_talon]

I know everyone has heard it before, but still going to put a plug in for a QT should be a part of every budget to get into the hobby if you dont want to deal with this. $200 is a small amount compared to the value of a tank full of coral(not even considering the hassle). If i did not have the space i would be throwing away clothes just to fit a 10g in the closet I am dealing with spiders myself at the moment, but since it is in QT it has been pretty easy and no stress about my other tanks.

Spiders are hard to get with dips alone, but most pests are similar when considering the eggs that dips dont normally kill.

 

[iMi]

I know everyone has heard it before, but still going to put a plug in for a QT should be a part of every budget to get into the hobby if you dont want to deal with this. $200 is a small amount compared to the value of a tank full of coral(not even considering the hassle). If i did not have the space i would be throwing away clothes just to fit a 10g in the closet I am dealing with spiders myself at the moment, but since it is in QT it has been pretty easy and no stress about my other tanks.

Spiders are hard to get with dips alone, but most pests are similar when considering the eggs that dips dont normally kill.

You are absolutely right. Let this be (another) cautionary tale.

 

[DWPhilli]

Ugh, zoa spiders creep me out.

 

[ubasu]

Ugh, zoa spiders creep me out.

I received my ASD order a week or so ago. I did not order any zoas, but got a zoa frag as a freebie. It was dipped already, and gonna dip it again even though I do not see anything and it looks pretty healthy.

Wow that seems extra insulting if the freebie gave you zoanthid spiders....

 

[FishyFishFish]

As already mentioned, I did quarantine and I did dip; they still got through.

I would also be interested in their plan as to how they are going to address the problem in the future, as I don't understand how they can have a cost-effective way to quarantine whole shipments for long enough to confirm that they aren't affected. If they do quarantine and find one that is affected, are they going to dispose of the whole shipment? It seems that this issue can take weeks to surface so a quick frag, check, dip, ship won't work.

The only way that I can see that they can prevent this in the future is to start off with small 'clean' colonies and grow and frag them in house, which is what I thought they did do until recently. I certainly didn't realise they were importing big shipments of corals from overseas.

I'm hoping I got off fairly lightly but a simple refund of the affected frag is a somewhat flippant resolution and is not going to entice me to shop there again. At the very least I think that they should offer the option of a replacement with a confirmed pest-free Zoa with shipping at their cost, or sufficient store credit (with free shipping) to buy something else. If done correctly this would help to restore confidence in them and might encourage me to place further orders in the future. However, I would not be interested in them just replacing the affected Zoa with another one from their stock, that might also have spiders, as then I would be right back where I started. I almost certainly won't be able to get another Zoa elsewhere for the money that they refunded me (shipping alone will be 4 times the cost of that Zoa), unless I find something cheap in the bargain bin in my LFS.

If they know where the spiders originated, as they appear to, then surely they know which tanks those frags were in and what/who else might be affected? Maybe they are just crossing their fingers and hoping that either the problem is limited to just a few people, or that by the time people realise they have them, they won't know where they came from.

 

[iMi]

As already mentioned, I did quarantine and I did dip; they still got through.

I would also be interested in their plan as to how they are going to address the problem in the future, as I don't understand how they can have a cost-effective way to quarantine whole shipments for long enough to confirm that they aren't affected. If they do quarantine and find one that is affected, are they going to dispose of the whole shipment? It seems that this issue can take weeks to surface so a quick frag, check, dip, ship won't work.

The only way that I can see that they can prevent this in the future is to start off with small 'clean' colonies and grow and frag them in house, which is what I thought they did do until recently. I certainly didn't realise they were importing big shipments of corals from overseas.

I'm hoping I got off fairly lightly but a simple refund of the affected frag is a somewhat flippant resolution and is not going to entice me to shop there again. At the very least I think that they should offer the option of a replacement with a confirmed pest-free Zoa with shipping at their cost, or sufficient store credit (with free shipping) to buy something else. If done correctly this would help to restore confidence in them and might encourage me to place further orders in the future. However, I would not be interested in them just replacing the affected Zoa with another one from their stock, that might also have spiders, as then I would be right back where I started. I almost certainly won't be able to get another Zoa elsewhere for the money that they refunded me (shipping alone will be 4 times the cost of that Zoa), unless I find something cheap in the bargain bin in my LFS.

If they know where the spiders originated, as they appear to, then surely they know which tanks those frags were in and what/who else might be affected? Maybe they are just crossing their fingers and hoping that either the problem is limited to just a few people, or that by the time people realise they have them, they won't know where they came from.

In the email response I received, they said that shipments from different suppliers or regions are held in separate containments. There is no cross contamination between them, so not all zoas were impacted. Only some. They also said they have implemented some, unspecified changes to ensure this does not happen again. I don't expect them to disclose details. No one would. It is a trade business after all.

Like I said before, I only have one main problem here. Lack of transparency. Those of us who may have received a shipment of infested zoas should have been notified immediately so we can take steps to mitigate the problem before it destroys entire colonies or other frags.

 

[ubasu]

In the email response I received, they said that shipments from different suppliers or regions are held in separate containments. There is no cross contamination between them, so not all zoas were impacted. Only some. They also said they have implemented some, unspecified changes to ensure this does not happen again. I don't expect them to disclose details. No one would. It is a trade business after all.

Like I said before, I only have one main problem here. Lack of transparency. Those of us who may have received a shipment of infested zoas should have been notified immediately so we can take steps to mitigate the problem before it destroys entire colonies or other frags.

I guess its a "trade secret". But I wouldn't order from them until they explain how to prevent this from happening again.

I agree the bigger issue is the transparency 100%.

Even a simple FYI we are getting reports of Zoanthid spiders from our recent customers. Here are list of things to look for etc...

 

[ubasu]

Also @AquaSD Is bumping their sales threads and ignoring the notifications they are getting from this convo. So thats nice. lol.

 

[iMi]

Also @AquaSD Is bumping their sales threads and ignoring the notifications they are getting from this convo. So thats nice. lol.

I'm sure this isn't easy on them, either. It has been my experience that people in this business don't really get into it for the money. They do it out of the passion and love for the hobby and the community around it. I consult on branding as one of the things. It's not always the best idea to respond immediately. Especially in a forum where controlling the message can be difficult. They are a business, regardless. I hope they take the right steps to rebuild the trust and restore confidence. I suspect and hope they will.