Powder Post Beetles

speer

New member
So I have a 50 gallon tank that I've been running for about 12 months now. The tank and it's inhabitants are doing well and my coral's (mixed reef) coloring and growth have been really taking off over the past few months. I bought the oak stand from a guy who was frustrated with the hobby and breaking down his system. I had to store the stand in my garage for a few months before setting up the tank.

About a month ago I started noticing small piles of sawdust collecting underneath the stand inside the stand. I also noticed sawdust was falling into my sump. At first I just thought it was sawdust from the pump vibrationing the stand but pretty quickly realized it was something else. I began to see small bugs inside my sump. They were dead but clearly this wasn't normal. I called out a pest control company to take a look and sure enough I have a powder post beetle infestation in my stand. No idea where I picked them up from but I'm worried about them spreading from my stand to the wood floors.

Needless to say I ordered a new stand but it's going to take about a week for it to come in so I broke the tank down and put my fish, corals and live rock in tubs with lighting and powerheads. So far everyone looks to be doing ok but I'm worried about my coral.

Has anyone heard of wood eating bugs infesting aquarium stands? I asked my local fish store about it when ordering the new stand they just looked at me like I was crazy. Also, if anyone has any good advice or tips to helping my fish and coral survive in plastic tubs for the next 1-2 weeks I would really appreciate the help. What a crazy week.
 
Powder post beetles require a damp environment like and old damp cellar. More common in the south. Either they came with the stand or you already have them in your house. By chance did the guy who you got the stand from keep the tank in the basement?
 
I would have waited until the new stand came in before breaking everything down. The nettles had been there a while a week or two wasn't gonna make a huge difference.
 
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