Been following this one and have wanted to add to the discussion with out sound self promoting being a vendor myself. Not sure if thats even possible but ill try to give it a whirl. I have no intention of any hostilities towards any other vendor or hobbyist in any way:angel:. These are simply my thoughts
I have had the conversation with many customers and they can all attest to my own passion on the subject. Pest control is something i take very seriously. I can completely understand ronnies point of view as someone who has also had and lost a thriving sps tank to flatworms years ago. If you have not had them then you really just don't fully understand of the scope of the damage that they can cause. Even if your tank manages to seem ok, in the long run its just completely deflating as a hobbyist. The delight you once had looking at your acros is replaced by disappointment and paranoia.
AEFWs are by far the most underestimated and most damage causing pest out there. My heart still flutters a little when I see one fly off a new wild piece during inspection. the fact is that these things are one of the absolute worst aspects of the hobby. Untill some millionaire to be invents an in tank treatment we are stuck with them.
As a vendor I get asked very often by customers if they should dip there order. My answer is always the same and goes something like this.
"while I struggle to exhaust every effort and take an extremely aggressive approach to pest control in my own system I still could never suggest that someone not at least dip any new arrival with out exception. Full QT would be better" Anyone who has asked me this can attest to the following lecture they got from me about my obsessive methods on how i manage to do it and offers of how and what my exact methods are in detail. Granted i am a small timer vendor and do not have even remotely the volume of in and out type of sales as the larger guys but my operation is as such that if I contracted them in any of my systems it would be devastating. So its in my own extreme best interest as a business owner to keep them out at all costs. My inventory is comprised mostly of mothers grown from frags and are not easily replaced. its as simple as that. I DO NOT want them in my system. My efforts do not translate to higher costs. it's just what i need do to keep my mothers healthy long term.
Having said that, I can't say that I have ever had an order of wild pieces come in without at least one worm tucked somewhere and trust me if they are on them I WILL FIND THEM. I honestly can't see how any other vendor that is moving more could ever rid there system of them. They have them now and that is that. I would be even more suspicious of larger places that have been around longer. All it takes is one egg and the system is contaminated. To believe that any wholesaler is selling pest free sps is not realistic or even practical in any way. I would even go as far as to say impossible on that scale.
I, just like any hobbyist simply assume that any acro i buy has them and treat them as such. So its a fine line for sure. If you want to blame anything blame yourself or the explicative worm! In the end its the hobbyist or vendor(whoever is buying the corals) responsibility to keep them out of their own systems but the more aware people are of how to treat and effective QT methods, the less of a problem they will be with any luck.
FWs are just one of those things that you don't realize are as horrible as they are until you have them. I can feel it in the tone of some of the posters in this thread who have clearly been through it. Its a terrible experience and has a way of leaving scars. With any luck we will have a proven treatment eventually and discussions like this will be a thing of blissful nostalgia.
