Pest free Chaeto?

[reeferfoxx]

Does it exist and where to buy?

My 2,000th post...

 

[Brew12]

Or any other macro algae that one could add....

Maybe Humblefish will market some when he starts up his pre-quarantined fish store!

 

[mcarroll]

Hm...are you thinking of a specific pest? ...or something more like "sterile algae"? Being a carrier of any given pest is always possible, but unlikely. The later is impossible AFAIK.

I know people who buy macro to help seed their tank, but not the opposite....sorry.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Hm...are you thinking of a specific pest? ...or something more like "sterile algae"? Being a carrier of any given pest is always possible, but unlikely. The later is impossible AFAIK.

I know people who buy macro to help seed their tank, but not the opposite....sorry.

I came across a thread where someone acquired a handful of chaeto. Ended up getting flatworms and aiptasia. I would like to avoid those things?

What is AFAIK?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Does it exist and where to buy?

My 2,000th post...

Congratulations!

And no i dont know. I like "pests" though. FWIW Ive never gotten anything weird from macros. all the store /internet bought stuff Ive gotten only had pods/bristle worms.. if your trying to stay clean that's the way id go. I wouldn't take chato from craigslist, and I wont give mine to anybody.

and aiptasia are not pests they are a blight

 

[cmcoker]

There is bottled Cheato you can buy now, I don't know if it's sterile per se. But article claims it to be pathogen and pest free....

http://m.ebay.com/itm/DTs-Live-Mar...-sp-Chaeto-Reef-Refugium-Plant-/162150441517

http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/08/30/sustainable-aquatics-expands-dts-live-feeds-line/

 

[Irsug1]

I'm pretty sure if you rinse it and shake it in some water, then inspect. You would be ok. Flatworms can't really hold on and if you saw any aptasia you could break that part of the algae off and toss it.

 

[cmcoker]

AFAIK = As far as I know

 

[mcarroll]

I came across a thread where someone acquired a handful of chaeto. Ended up getting flatworms and aiptasia. I would like to avoid those things?

What is AFAIK?

Sorry about that...."As Far As I Know"

You should be able to see aiptasia, so inspect your stock. Have some AiptasiaX on hand to nuke any that you see as soon as you see them. If you can't do this level of inspection and treatment, then adding new livestock of any kind should probably be reconsidered or delayed.

And flatworms of the bad variety should be extremely rare. Like hit the lottery rare....I don't think you can do much planning around such an unlikely possibility.

It definitely helps if you can get macro's from a system you know has no problems with those things.

Also, remember that you can grow the macro in a secondary tank for containment (will need a little fertilizer) and then harvest some clean bits for the main system. It literally takes no more than a strand to propagate, so simply take the cleanest strand(s) you see for the main system and leave anything questionable growing in the secondary tank. Sooner later you'll see pests or you won't. Either way, you have a source for pretty clean stock.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Awesome advice here! I am being a little anal-retentive here. I do like the idea of propagating a strand and/or ...

There is bottled Cheato you can buy now, I don't know if it's sterile per se. But article claims it to be pathogen and pest free....

http://m.ebay.com/itm/DTs-Live-Marine-Macro-Algae-Chaetomorpha-sp-Chaeto-Reef-Refugium-Plant-/162150441517

http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/08/30/sustainable-aquatics-expands-dts-live-feeds-line/

Thank you for this!

 

[Dapperjman]

I just wanted to bump this, where did you end up getting your macro? I contacted SA and they are out of stock. Just got some chaeto from my LFS, and it has flatworms and aiptasia [emoji50]