Fraggin'

scott0615

In Memoriam
Wanted to start a thread about people sharing animals. In the past couple of years we have seen many new problems show up in reef tanks. Just to name a few flat worms, red bugs, nudi's [many varieties that destroy our prized animals], etc. As hobbyists isn't everyone that shares frags responsible to identify problems so they don't share them with others. After all, if the problem exists in your tank it will infect the tank the frag goes to. Retailers are crucified if a "problem" comes from their store - shouldn't the same be true of "fraggers".

Any thoughts?????

How could problems be avoided? Is it an education issue?

Some folks have wanted to sell frags to our store....should we take them???? Would we then be the infector?????

Another post from the guy the "likes to stir the pot".

Scott

As always, don't mean to offend - just asking questions!
 
Like all other purchases, it has to be buyer beware. Quarantining used to be a good idea, now its an essential. With more sharing of corals going on parasites are becoming extremely prevalent.

One could say a tank is pest free..........but thats not to say that pests are not there. They could be there but not at a density to cause problems YET.

Aswas posted on our forum (COMAS) in response to your comments regarding online retailers selling mis-identified nassarius snails, one has to know what one is getting into.

I have had frags that in the past have had montipora eating nudibranchs on them. I believe I also got redbugs from frags. I have seen red flatworms on corals purchased from stores. I have seen stores with nudibranchs present. There is only one answer and that is to insulate your tank from these pests by a serious quarantine....and then keep your fingers crossed.

Now, a store that quarantines fish for a week will get my business over a store that sells fish as they come through the door. Not for disease issues but stress related damage. Even then I quarantine.

Paul.
 
Could not agree more....not enough hobbyist "truely" quarantine animals...corals especially. Several hobbyists don't even know they have a potential problem.

My question is...should our hobby have some type of guideline for swapping or is it "buyer beware"?
 
IMO ....if you know you have a pest that might be a problem and dont let the buyer know it is very unethical....
if your selling these animals you should be aware of the potential problems and take the approiate actions to take care of them...its not that difficult to see flatworms,redbugs,etc...or the damage they can cause
sure it is up to the buyer to beware....i know i have seen flatworms at local stores around OKC and the store didnt seem to take care of there probs so i didnt buy from them .....like i said in a diffrent post you should know what your getting into

charlie
 
This is a great hobby - I love the fact it makes people turn off the television and it makes kids turn off the video games [sorry - a little problem I have with today's society]!!! I know however that people will only give a box of water soooo much $$$$ [the business side of me] that means if they are not successful, I lose as the retailer and we lose as an industry/hobby [and my opinion a society] - thus the purchase of "what the hell is that?" online purchase. Holy crap - that was a serious run-on sentence that included lots of thoughts.
 
I do believe if you pass on a pest to someone else knowingly then you need to go and fix the problem. I dont like the buyer beware policy.I guess thats why ive never purchased any animal online.I believe if you have a product you are selling or trading then you have to be responcable for the product.Thats just me I guess.
 
To many people out there don't even know about a potential problem they currently have in their tank. I guess there aren't enough of us dorks sitting in front of the computer at 12:20am doing "research" [word used very lightly due to misinformation alllll over the net]!!!!!!
 
It has to be buyer beware since so many people are unethical in what they sell. Black nassarius is just an example.

Buyer beware is our insurance policy against getting pests in our tanks. As I said before, not everyone is aware of the potential problems they may get from non-QT live stock, nor are people aware that they may even have a pest in their tank.
 
All good points. I'll personally stand up and say that if my tank was introduced a problematic pest, then it was my fault. The only person I have to blame is myself. You won't hear me bad mouthing a store or individual about pests. Honestly, I would only expect a store to get pests from wild specimens. It's just that. Wild. It happens. The more precaution a store takes againsts pests, the better. But like aquarists, sometimes they don't know until it's too late. I'm fine with the Buyer Beware. But, if for some reason standards had to be set, it should be placed on the collector or possibly the wholesaler. It's better to emliminate the problem at the source.
 
Maybe it's time to ask about ...

Maybe it's time to ask about ...

Ok the talk of all these parasites tells me it is now time to ask about something i've been curious about in my tank for sometime. I only see it in my protein skimmer which is clear (i don't know, maybe they all are). Anyway in side my skimmer stuck on the sides are all of these white stringy thing. I've long wondered if they were some sort of worms. I can take a pic and post it if it would help, but I imagine it's something that anyone that knows sw will be able to identify easily.

Anyway, thought it was time I asked.

Thanks
 
a pic always helps
but i would say they are a harmless tube worm thats just a filter feeder and that they like the low light...i have countless numbers of them in my sump

charlie
 
Ok well I really looked at the "worms" in my protein skimmer for the first time and I noticed something moving...before long I saw something similar to a feather duster...course they're small (about an inch long) and very skinny but I saw it spit out the little feathery thing, and suck it back in... so is tha a type a work or is that a feather duster which I guess is a type of worm? or is it something all together different?

And I'm sorry after looking back at this I realized I was taking this thread off topic.
 
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The worms in your protein skimmer are probably a combination of small featherdusters and more specifically, spirorbid worms.

A featherduster/tubeworm is a type of Polychaete belonging to the segmented-worm phylum Annelida. Charlie was correct, they are a filter-feeding organism and pose no real threat to anything larger than micrscopic plankton. So, unless you're a bottle of DT's I wouldn't worry about them. :D
 
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