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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Jan 24, 2013 23:19:19 GMT -5
We all know about the good little critters that can hitchhike in on the stuff we put in our tanks. When we buy online we have no control over what small headaches we may be inadvertently buying. On the other hand any time we buy a rock, coral or anything alive from any of the many local fish stores, we have the opportunity to really check everything over. Don't be afraid to look close and ask the owner of employee to have a piece turned or moved so you can fully see it. Even the best or most well known reef stores have pest problems like flat worms, aptasia bristle/fire worms, and so on. I've even seen predatory nudibranchs eating crocea clams at one place. The moral to the story is there's nothing wrong with buying online or locally but when you do buy locally, don't just think about the good hitchhikers you may get. Pay carfull attention to the possibilities of the bad ones that could cause you loads of headaches down the road.
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 25, 2013 7:12:33 GMT -5
I dont trust buying rock from a pet store! I'd honestly rather pick a random person on CL and buy theirs! (hahaha Ry) but I almost feel i have better chances. The LFS get a lot of things in and out of their tanks and GOD only knows what kinds of things go through there.
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Post by gotareef on Jan 25, 2013 9:39:42 GMT -5
lfs separate their live rock from their other tanks. and places like deep sea get most of their rock,corals.... from reefers like you and me
but everything that goes into my tank gets either a fw dip or a formalin dip!
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 25, 2013 17:45:00 GMT -5
Ahhhh, just when you think you're starting to get it, theres more LOL. I don't know about dips...theres sooo much to this hobby!!!
Sent from my Desire HD using proboards
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Jan 25, 2013 21:51:04 GMT -5
yea after I bought a large mushroom rock a while back and ended up with a case of flat worms and a few aptasia, I've started doing fw dips and really looking everything over before it hits my tank.
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Post by lesserof2weevils on Jan 26, 2013 8:05:22 GMT -5
There are a few hitch hikers that are desirable. I always liked to get acropora crabs. They are very small, usually white crabs that pretty much stay within the branches of an acropora colony.
I don't think a fw dip is going to faze aiptasia or majano anemones at all. Even undesirable crabs will survive a fw dip.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Jan 26, 2013 10:11:43 GMT -5
Yea I pick off any large critters that I don't want with tweezers or with a razor blade.. I do the fw dips to make any flatworms fall off. Acro crabs are always cool.
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