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View Full Version : Reef Tank Plagues


Tradewinds
03/24/2013, 02:31 PM
What are the things that you wish had never been introduced to your tank, either on purpose or as a hitchhiker?

I'll start the list with Blue Clove Polyps.

Mikefallen13
03/24/2013, 02:40 PM
One word, bryopsis!

beanoil
03/24/2013, 03:35 PM
Vermetid snails put an end to my tank. Thousands and thousands of them.

birdman1979
03/24/2013, 03:38 PM
+1 on the vermetid snails.

buildinboats
03/24/2013, 04:10 PM
Mushrooms and zoanthids

Spyderturbo007
03/25/2013, 08:01 AM
+1 on the vermetid snails.

+2. I wish I would have known better and just went with dry rock. :facepalm:

I spend about 30 minutes a week with a dental pick trying to smash them all.

vair
03/25/2013, 08:43 AM
Mushrooms.

And speaking of mushrooms anyone know if cooking live rock 100% kills mushrooms?

sanababit
03/25/2013, 09:04 AM
Mushrooms, xenya, gsp, thats about it, at least the mushrooms are out of control in my tank, i cut them every so often or do a kalk paste on top of them

Sana

GroktheCube
03/25/2013, 09:22 AM
What's so bad about the vermetid snails? If there are too many of them, can't you just toss a 6-line int to eat them?

heritage
03/25/2013, 09:38 AM
What's so bad about the vermetid snails? If there are too many of them, can't you just toss a 6-line int to eat them?

No guarantee that they will eat them. Plus six line trend to be bullys, as well as they can go after some of your inverts.

The Curious
03/25/2013, 11:15 AM
One word, bryopsis!

Yup...and Kenya tree.

Also I can't seem to get my arm outta there...it went into a tank about 10 years ago and I haven't been able to get it out fully to this day. I can't say that I wish I never introduced it to the tank...but my girlfriend would love if anyone has advice that could help.

uny2bld
03/25/2013, 12:36 PM
Vermetid snails put an end to my tank. Thousands and thousands of them.

I have never heard of these and I get all sorts of stupid pics when I do an image search for these in google (pics of clams and everything reef related) so i can't find anything that shows exactly what they look like. I have a thousand little snails in my 29 biocube that only have one half-circle for a shell... tiny things but they don't seem to harm anything... Is this what you are talking about?

Spyderturbo007
03/25/2013, 12:42 PM
Nope they are snails that live in small tubes. The cast out a sticky net, string thing and catch food with it. Their tubes are sharp and will easily punch right through your finger....ask me how I know.

They look like this:

http://www.meades.org/fish/fish_2007.4/vermetid_snail_tube_1.jpg

uny2bld
03/25/2013, 12:49 PM
Nope they are snails that live in small tubes. The cast out a sticky net, string thing and catch food with it. Their tubes are sharp and will easily punch right through your finger....ask me how I know.

They look like this:

http://www.meades.org/fish/fish_2007.4/vermetid_snail_tube_1.jpg

I have amillion things like that in my biocube also but they only shoot out the web-like things when I do water changes and mine appear to be in much more narrow tubes... are they the same thing? I'll have to take a pic...

phasezero
03/25/2013, 12:59 PM
The ones I encountered are Bryopsis, Predatory Amphipods, Aiptasia, and a spawning Pocillopora.

Spyderturbo007
03/25/2013, 01:05 PM
I have amillion things like that in my biocube also but they only shoot out the web-like things when I do water changes and mine appear to be in much more narrow tubes... are they the same thing? I'll have to take a pic...

Mine are actually in narrower tubes too, but that was the best picture I could find. They keep bothering my coral so I keep killing them. I'm also worried that my Purple Firefish will be injured when she darts back into her hole under the rock. I'm probably an over protective fish parent though. :strange:

uny2bld
03/25/2013, 01:07 PM
Mine are actually in narrower tubes too, but that was the best picture I could find. They keep bothering my coral so I keep killing them. I'm also worried that my Purple Firefish will be injured when she darts back into her hole under the rock. I'm probably an over protective fish parent though. :strange:

This is just weird. I never knew they were a pest - although, I just read an article by Dr Shimek that says they are not pests so I don't know if I should get rid of them or not...

Tradewinds
03/25/2013, 03:19 PM
Nope they are snails that live in small tubes. The cast out a sticky net, string thing and catch food with it. Their tubes are sharp and will easily punch right through your finger....ask me how I know.

They look like this:

http://www.meades.org/fish/fish_2007.4/vermetid_snail_tube_1.jpg

I learn something new just about everyday in this hobby. I thought those were some type of tube worm.

Great list - more plagues than you can shake a stick at.

dan1789
03/25/2013, 04:38 PM
Definitely Domino Damsel.

beanoil
03/25/2013, 05:47 PM
My vermetids were at epic plague proportions. They covered every rock surface, they covered the inside of all of my pumps, and eventually, cleaning the pumps didn't help because the plumbing was filled with them. I finally had to break down the tank. I tried to get a handle on them early, but they won.

Bpb
03/25/2013, 06:44 PM
Oh let's see...I've battled horrible bouts of Cyanobacteria. Killing it off lead to a dinoflagellates outbreak that lasted 6 months. Finally over that. Now, managable levels of green hair algae, and my new little friend that I just found for the first time ever, bubble algae (where the heck did it even come from?).

Trying to manage nutrients but I think my old rock is just gonna be leeching for a while.

Pretty sure I have vermetids but no telling. I've got many tube looking things that look kind of like those but tough to tell. Oh and I always manage to keep around an aiptasia or two, you know...just to keep me humble.

At a glance though the tank doesn't look half bad. Can't complain. Haven't met very many people with an absolutely perfect tank void of any single spec of algae or pest, and I've met some people with spectacular tanks.

cloak
03/25/2013, 06:49 PM
I'll start the list with Blue Clove Polyps.

This... ^^^

I thought I was rid of them a long time ago. Now I've got a bunch of white spots in my tank where I'm trying to smother them with epoxy. What a PITA... :thumbdown