I had my first saltwater tank in the 1970's. When I left for college, it became a freshwater tank, and eventually was taken down. In the early 2,000's, I saw a reef tank in my neighbor's home and realized that people were growing coral. I got my first reef tank a few years later. I have made various changes over the years, but this 125-gallon tank with a 55-gallon sump is still my main system. This system has never had any horrible pests, but it has all of the common ones - Aiptasia, vermetid snails, astarina stars, and some planaria at times. I also have small bristle worms, but I don't consider them a pest at all. That's another discussion, but I won't have a system without them.
When I have started new systems, I would take some rock and chaeto from the main system and add them to the new system. This has always resulted in a good new system that would grow coral without problems, but all of these common pests would be present. I have never had the vermetid snails or planaria be a problem. I don't consider the astarina stars to be a problem - they have never harmed anything and add some bio-diversity. The aiptasia can be a pain, but I have normally kept a copper band butterfly that takes care of them.
I started a new frag system several months ago - three 60-gallon breeders with a 75-gallon sump. Even though the pests have never been an insurmountable problem for me, I thought I would try to start a pest free system. I'm not sure that this is completely possible in the long run, but since I would like to sell frags, I thought it would be nice to say that they are "pest free". So, I filled the system with new Instant Ocean salt, dry rock that I had aged in saltwater for several months, and some chaeto from my pod cultures (it had not been exposed to anything but pods for years). I also had a bottle of bacteria that I dumped in.
Long story a little shorter, this system is growing some strange photosynthetic "slime algae" and some kind of dark/black algae, and just doesn't look too healthy. Not surprisingly, there is no coralline algae (haven't added any) or anything else that would indicate that it is doing well. It is growing pods very well, and I think that a lemon damsel is surviving, but it just doesn't seem healthy. I will probably add some test coral this week after I test parameters, but I am about ready to add some rock complete with pests from my main tank.
So, what do you think. Am I on a fool's errand, and it just isn't worth the hassle to try to avoid common pests, or should I hold the course a little longer and see if I can pull it off? Thanks for any input or advice.
When I have started new systems, I would take some rock and chaeto from the main system and add them to the new system. This has always resulted in a good new system that would grow coral without problems, but all of these common pests would be present. I have never had the vermetid snails or planaria be a problem. I don't consider the astarina stars to be a problem - they have never harmed anything and add some bio-diversity. The aiptasia can be a pain, but I have normally kept a copper band butterfly that takes care of them.
I started a new frag system several months ago - three 60-gallon breeders with a 75-gallon sump. Even though the pests have never been an insurmountable problem for me, I thought I would try to start a pest free system. I'm not sure that this is completely possible in the long run, but since I would like to sell frags, I thought it would be nice to say that they are "pest free". So, I filled the system with new Instant Ocean salt, dry rock that I had aged in saltwater for several months, and some chaeto from my pod cultures (it had not been exposed to anything but pods for years). I also had a bottle of bacteria that I dumped in.
Long story a little shorter, this system is growing some strange photosynthetic "slime algae" and some kind of dark/black algae, and just doesn't look too healthy. Not surprisingly, there is no coralline algae (haven't added any) or anything else that would indicate that it is doing well. It is growing pods very well, and I think that a lemon damsel is surviving, but it just doesn't seem healthy. I will probably add some test coral this week after I test parameters, but I am about ready to add some rock complete with pests from my main tank.
So, what do you think. Am I on a fool's errand, and it just isn't worth the hassle to try to avoid common pests, or should I hold the course a little longer and see if I can pull it off? Thanks for any input or advice.
