chaeto dip?

[Lifes A Beach]

I purchased a bag of chaeto and was wondering if it would be a good idea to do a freshwater dip before I put it in my tank? I checked the water in the bag and didn't see any critters but you never know. Anyone have an opinion on this? thanks

 

[sunfishh]

I am not sure how it could hurt.

 

[ScarabRa]

what would be on the cheto that would be bad in the first place?
biodiversity is a good thing

 

[Red Firefish]

I too encourage biodiversity, but I always freshwater dip any macroalgae that I receive.

Years ago at a LFS we had some Banggaii cardinals in a refugium full of Chaetomorpha (~40 gallons), trying to let them breed. We'd find them dead occasionally, chewed apart. When we finally gave up and drained the tank, we found a large predatory isopod amidst all the algae; he's still preserved in formaldehyde behind the counter. Extremely large and scary.

Obviously this isn't normal, and almost certainly wouldn't happen in a small scale purchase of algae. You're probably many times more likely to find mantis shrimp in your live rock. But, it's always made me suspicious of algae from anywhere else, especially wild collected. Good luck.

Edit: Wow- this thread is pretty old. I guess it's kinda late for advice. Sorry.

 

[graveyardworm]

There's plenty of baddies that could hithike in with the chaeto, and from what I understand a freshwater dip isnt necessarily going to harm chaeto. So I would say go for it. QT'ing it probably wouldnt be a bad idea either.

 

[10" Red Devil]

How long would you dip the chaeto? I thought this species like other marine algae were sensitive to osmotic shock.

 

[SoFloReefer]

I got Aptasia from my Chaeto.

 

[graveyardworm]

Chaeto seems to be more resistant to osmotic shock than most. A couple minutes should be fine.

Caulerpa on the other hand is very sensative and a rapid salinity change can cause it to melt.