What did I get with my "clean" Chaeto?

matthias_bln · May 8, 2020

I pulled out the Aiptasia and do not believe that's what I got from AlgaeBarn. The Aiptasia was too small compared with what I put in last night. However, still no luck finding what it was. It disappeared into the vast aquascape in the QT.. (haha). I'll report back in case it shows itself..

StatelineReefer · May 8, 2020

Watch it be an 'accidental' colorado sunset...

matthias_bln · May 8, 2020

StatelineReefer said:
Watch it be an 'accidental' colorado sunset...

Would love to believe that!

Chefwheredyougo · May 10, 2020

any updates? Also did you contact @AlgaeBarn about the issue?

matthias_bln · May 10, 2020

I have not yet contacted them and I have had no luck finding the nem.. have my hands full with Mother’s Day today, will probably reach out to AlgaeBarn tomorrow..

Jaebster · May 10, 2020

When I read the first post, the first thing that jumped in to my mind was - aiptasia.
When aiptasia withdraws, they are quite puffy, as long as they dont expel water. It would have been ideal to slightly irritate the aiptasia (or feed it something very tiny like fish food juice) on the glass to make it withdraw to see if it is the same size as the thing that came on the chaeto. Guess we'll never know now.

Keithb22 · May 11, 2020

I feel ya man, my clean chaeto had two separate Aiptasia that were that size. Definitely was not clean. Best of luck and happy reefing.

AlgaeBarn · May 13, 2020

Hello!
We absolutely go through a number of extra steps to ensure a clean product, and grow our chaeto in environments which are 100% disconnected from any fish or invert systems, we are happy to go ahead and replace anything that is found. As for the animal shown in the OP, I am positive this is not majano or aiptasia. I do not think we have ever encountered this during initial chemical cleaning (a proprietary blend of safe to use cleaners), or during manual (by hand) cleaning which is done every sunday to help reduce the possibility of this kind of issue! We absolutely and deeply apologize for any issue this may have caused, but assure you that we clean thoroughly for everything from aiptasia to spirorbids to medusa worms before a single leaf or jar leaves our doors! If you do not have the rogue animal anymore that is fine, we have your AoA claim and are happy to replace this for you. Also, we will talk to our macroalgae team right away and have them go over their chemical AND manual cleaning process to see if we indeed find anything similar!

Silver14SS · May 13, 2020

AlgaeBarn said:
Hello!
We absolutely go through a number of extra steps to ensure a clean product, and grow our chaeto in environments which are 100% disconnected from any fish or invert systems, we are happy to go ahead and replace anything that is found.

AlgaeBarn said:
While we treat all of our macros thoroughly and often grow our own in environments that have never seen a tank, or fish, or any envrionment with potential for aiptasia, we also provide our satisfaction guarantee for all of our products.

Algeabarn?

#teefsquad, What are your thoughts? Are their macro truly pest free or has anyone had any bad experiences? Thinking of purchasing some pods and Macro

www.reef2reef.com

Is the chaeto grown in disconnected systems always or often?

matthias_bln · May 13, 2020

AlgaeBarn said:
We absolutely go through a number of extra steps to ensure a clean product, and grow our chaeto in environments which are 100% disconnected from any fish or invert systems, we are happy to go ahead and replace anything that is found.

Despite the extra steps, I understand that things do happen and slip through. I would however appreciate a language which is closer to "We make our absolute best efforts to provide a clean product", instead of a "this is 100% clean" on the package or "pest free" on your website, which it clearly is not.

I can say with absolute clarity that the animal came with the Chaeto due to the fact that no other life organism had been introduced to the system (bare bottom, dry rock, clean sump) and I discovered it right there in the middle of it an hour after. Introducing Chaeto at that stage of the system actually makes little sense - however that's a different topic

As for where the animal is right now I am out of luck. It managed to slip through quite small slits in the cup I tried to contain it in when putting it into QT. I found the single aiptasia the next morning, however don't want to make that direct connection.

I filed a claim on your website, which is still unanswered - however I assume you're going to respond soon.

therootcause · May 13, 2020

That first photo looks so much bigger, and like a majano. Its probably stuck under your frag rack. Seek and destroy!

AlgaeBarn · May 13, 2020

Silver14SS said:
Algeabarn?

#teefsquad, What are your thoughts? Are their macro truly pest free or has anyone had any bad experiences? Thinking of purchasing some pods and Macro

www.reef2reef.com

Is the chaeto grown in disconnected systems always or often?

Our Macro Algaes are are grown in their own systems 100% of the time!

AlgaeBarn · May 13, 2020

matthias_bln said:
Despite the extra steps, I understand that things do happen and slip through. I would however appreciate a language which is closer to "We make our absolute best efforts to provide a clean product", instead of a "this is 100% clean" on the package or "pest free" on your website, which it clearly is not.

I can say with absolute clarity that the animal came with the Chaeto due to the fact that no other life organism had been introduced to the system (bare bottom, dry rock, clean sump) and I discovered it right there in the middle of it an hour after. Introducing Chaeto at that stage of the system actually makes little sense - however that's a different topic

As for where the animal is right now I am out of luck. It managed to slip through quite small slits in the cup I tried to contain it in when putting it into QT. I found the single aiptasia the next morning, however don't want to make that direct connection.

I filed a claim on your website, which is still unanswered - however I assume you're going to respond soon.

I there! It looks like one of our team members has responded to your claim! I am so sorry you encountered a problem with your order and we are glad you have given us the opportunity to remedy the situation!
Please let us know in email to [email protected] if you have any further concerns and we will be happy to assist you!!

matthias_bln · Jun 10, 2020

I just wanted to provide an update on the topic.

Algaebarn has provided store credit for the Chaeto, however I also have realized in the meantime that it was definitely Aiptasia despite what was being said in this thread previously. I have found at least 10 aiptasia all over the tank over the last weeks. I have used Aiptasia-X to kill them off, but am also quarantining a filefish to deal with the issue.

Two clown fish have made their way from QT into the display a few weeks ago, however other than that there were no additions of anything living.

Bottom line: I was planning on doing everything right - corals, inverts, fish are quarantined. However, I still ended up with aiptasia even before my first fish thanks to the Chaeto. Learning: QT everything. EVERYTHING. Do not believe anyone who says their stuff is clean.