Chaeto dip?

[jacob.morgan78]

I'm getting some chaeto from a club member and I'm not quite sure how to introduce it to my tank? Should I dip it, rinse it, acclimation? Probably silly questions but never had it before. I would like to acquire pods with it but would be afraid bad stuff could tag along as well...

Any guidance would be great!

Thanks!

[Crooke]

I usually just dump it in. It's kind of an all or nothing scenario. If you see bad stuff, grab it manually. I think you either need to get it from a super clean source or live with the hitch hikers, much like rock.

[MarineSniper]

I take any bag of chaeto that I get, carefully open it near the sump, hold it with my left hand above the sump and in one quick motion, turn it upside down and into the refugium

I may be doing it wrong though; it always ends up as a thick mat about a month later

Seriously, though; if you're getting it from a reputable source, you should have no problems no matter how you put it in

[jeffm59]

Part of the point is to get the pods and other critters than live in the chaeto, just drop it in.

[dela]

If you don't have pests in your tank already, it's a lot easier to avoid them than it is to get rid of them.

For me, all this prevention stuff takes some of the fun out of the hobby (the instant gratification part anyway) but I admit is worth doing.

At the very least, you can examine it carefully while in the bag. You don't want to purposely introduce aptasia, majanos, flatworms, valonia, etc...

Your best bet is to set up a small holding tank and just keep it there for a little while. Cheato is almost impossible to kill off, so don't worry about that.

If you want the pods and worms that came with the cheato, you can always put the contents of your small holding tank into the display tank later.

[MentalNote]

I would recommend a manual inspection. I repeatedly rinsed mine in saltwater and used flatworm exit in a bucket to make sure I didn't introduce any pests I didn't want.

Chaeto is fairly resilient. In my opinion, it was more important to kill off any potential pests than keep the beneficial pods and critters than inhabited the chaeto. Eventually, my tank will naturally repopulate it.

[jacob.morgan78]

how should I initially introduce pods if I want to rid my chaeto of stuff (good and bad)?

[schristi69]

They sell bottles of pods at the LFS or on line. That is how I seeded my tank when I restarted it. Might want to get several types. GARF sells a package.

[dela]

If you quarantine it, you can keep it all.

If you don't want to worry about it, then just dump it in a bucket of fresh water for 5 minutes. That will kill off most of the hitchhikers.

Personally I would try and save the hitchhikers...

[NanoReefWanabe]

of all the things i have seen in chaeto, i have never seen anything bad...i have ever got was bristle worms, mysid shrimps, copepods and amiphipods, mirco stars, some asternia stars, brine shrimps etc...i usually just dump the bag in after looking at it for crabs, or pest anemones, flat worms, etc...however i have never seen them in cheato before...perhaps i just have good sources around here..

[advancebc29]

if you want to be 100% safe put it in DI water for about 20 minutes.....so you will kill the good pods off.... 100x better then getting something you dont want in your tank.

I always dip my cheato using this method.

[jacob.morgan78]

Seems to be a lot of different opinions about this one... Should start a poll or something

Thanks for all the input!!

[RotaryGeek]

I don't know about these guys saying cheato is resilient, cuz I have managed to kill off a whole lot in my old tank. It just ne'er wanted to grow for me. And 99% of stuff I have found in cheato is good for a tank, so I wouldn't even bother with dipping.

[reefer859]

i just toss it in