help with cheato

[lionbacker54]

i ordered some chaeto on ebay last week, and it got stuck in transit. it was in the mail 5 days instead of 2, and when it arrived today, it was the foulest thing i've ever smelt. like concentrated sewer.

i am hopeful this is just the dead baby snails and micro brittle stars that the seller threw in for free, but have no way to tell if the chaeto is still alive or not.

any advice on how to salvage it, or whether it's even worth trying? i've rinsed it out with tank water three times now, and can't seem to see any dead animals come out. smell is better, but still plenty rank.

i'd like to salvage if possible, since it is hard to find around here (hence, ebay). but i don't want to risk my tank.

[justinl]

think about how much the chaeto cost you then think about how much everything in the tank right now cost you. I don't think it's a difficult decision to trash the algae.

[Koshmar]

Well since you washed it out already I think most of the life in it is probably gone so might as well trash it. Might want to get some advise from the macro algae/plant forum on this site. If I were you I'd give the shipping company hell.
What color is the chaeto now?

[lionbacker54]

don't know, because i flushed it.

[lionbacker54]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13950452#post13950452 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinl
think about how much the chaeto cost you then think about how much everything in the tank right now cost you. I don't think it's a difficult decision to trash the algae.

chaeto = $6

everything else =$ 270

point taken

[Koshmar]

Be careful about flushing things, especially macro algae. I never flush anything, if something dies in my tank or I need to get rid of runner clippings I always make sure the item is dead. I take the macro and put it in a plastic baggie without light and water. After a few days, when I know it is truely toast, I will toss it with the regular trash, still sealed in the baggie. You don't want any diseases or introduced species getting out into the wild through flushing. Look at Florida.

[justinl]

mhm, very good point koshmar. lots of alien species get introduced via plumbing. invaders really are a problem that is not dealt with well. Also, flushing things can easily clog a toilet. I knew a guy who flushed a fish (a tang i think) and next thing he knew the toilet clogged and after two days, he finally managed to pull the thing out of the pipes. needless to say, dead stuff goes in the trash.

[Guygettnby]

here ya go. cheato for cheap...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1530071

[lionbacker54]

well, after this experience, i would like to avoid shipping if possible. i joined the local reef club, and three people offered to share some of their chaeto in the past 24hrs. very nice folks.

in a way, the fact that the chaeto smelled so incredibly bad was helpful. i did not actually "flush" the chaeto. i just threw it out in the little bottle it came in. i was careless with word choice. can't say i did this because of careful consideration of the consequences as you did koshmar. it was instead just because it honestly smells so horrible that i couldn't bear the thought of opening that little bottle again.

[Koshmar]

Well it's the outcome that matters most. RIP for the chaeto!