Pest Inspection for your Reef Aquarium

Reef tanks are highly susceptible to unwanted hitchhikers and diseases. Here are some tips to help remove them. What is the weirdest thing you've had to deal with in your reef tank?

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[fishtankarmy]

I bet after Than stopped filming, he immediately crushed the crab with his thumb while saying "YOU GONNA MESS WITH MY BUSINESS MR CRABS?!"

[tidalgardens]

That's the thing about pests and hitchhikers. When they arrive, they are sometimes microscopic, but after a few months, they grow into something huge.

[tidalgardens]

Crabs and crustaceans in general are tough. They can withstand treatments that would have killed anything else.

[tidalgardens]

If you want to dip an individual colony, there are a few dips like Coral Rx that will help. The problem is, sometimes some of the flatworms are not on the colony and repopulate later. A whole-tank treatment may be necessary, but that can be a harsh step. I've used Levamisole which is an industrial pig de-wormer. It is like a nuclear bomb on pest inverts.

[waspmeat]

your videos are great- super helpful and great editing/camera work. getting things going in my 55 corner bow. Steady as she goes..

[tidalgardens]

Most bristle worms aren't that bad, but I've seen some folks discover six-footers in their tanks that were eating all sorts of things!

[justinbeltran]

Excellent well presented video. I'm new to this and I'm glad that someone has taken the time to educate a not so educated reefer!

Thanks!

[MrFiatSpider]

Spot on looked them up and thats what it is thank you for the ID.

[Leichenmangel]

I love your videos. They are always top-quality, pretty und useful. Thanks for making them!

[MarineCritters]

Great video, For me the strangest thing i have found is probably a crytoplax.
It is a very cool species of chiton.

[nyinfamousk]

wow man AMAZING videos, I got some work to do on catching up on all of them . definitely just sub'd . looking forward to seeing the rest of them.

[wezful]

a six line wrasse and peppermint shrimp will help greatly with worm and anemone problems

[tidalgardens]

I might address this in a future video, but I am a big proponent of dead rock. I do not think you need live rock to start a tank because dead rock turns live so quickly. Also, the risks associated with introducing something nasty is so high with live rock.

[TooManyPotions]

Fantastic video! I do not know if you take video suggestions, but do you think you would consider making a video about corals, fish, and inverts( crabs or shrimp) that would be alright to put into an aquarium 10 gallons or smaller? I have looked at many things on the internet about this type of thing but most sources give very vague responses or information.

[lycodon]

Great video, thanks..

Any effective ideas for pest anemones???

[tidalgardens]

I have used purified water (not salt water) to knock pests off of zoanthids, but make no mistake, it's a very harsh dip.

[lisadimercurio]

Oh I found a large bristle worm lurking under one of my brain coral. I've heard that some bristle worm are good but I did not want to take a chance so I got rid of him

[MrFiatSpider]

These clear filter feeding things... they didn't harm the coral but they where EVERYWHERE still don't know what they are though. They were small and clear sac-like bodies with a visible feeding fan coming out of their bodies.

[lisadimercurio]

Most recently I am dealing with these little red flatworms that were everywhere. I used a product to irradicate them but I did not completely read the directions and failed to do the required 25% water change following the treatment. Well I lost nearly all my SPS. I have had to repeat the tx but they keep coming back. ARG!!

[AweSomo]

I got pests on my live rock and it's full with feather worms and the good sea stars, will these these dips kill them . I'm wondering if i can dip the whole live stones or putting it in the aquarium it self what do you think?

thanks a lot for the video very helpful