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Hitchhiker Control

Reef aquarium biodiversity is always a good thing--because if an organism naturally occurs on the reef, it should be represented in one’s tank. Right? Most definitely not! Nothing personal against any particular species of coral pest or parasite… They were all on the reef for millennia, just minding their own business, and just trying to survive like the rest of us, long before they were ever discovered by science. Or hated by aquarists. The problem with these nasty critters is this: Marine aquaria are a little different than the reef environment. For one, in the typical marine aquarium, excesses of nutrients or organic wastes can fuel their growth and reproduction far beyond natural capacities. Moreover, their natural predators are usually absent, often leaving their numbers completely unchecked. The result of these hitchhikers, under captive conditions, can easily be a plague. Clearly, they are best left out of the tank. But excluding them isn’t so easy. That’s because these organisms are very well adapted to avoid detection and withstand shipping stress. And, they have a perfectly sneaky means of invading our aquarium systems--on live rock, frags and macroalgae. These are the so-called aquarium hitchhikers! As much as successfully blocking these infiltrators involves sourcing your livestock from reputable dealers, the aquarist should be well educated about potential pests/parasites in order to spot them early for timely removal/treatment. In this section, you will learn how to start “clean” with dry live rock and why clean macroalgae can spare you a mountain of headaches.

10 Posts

Why Peppermint Shrimp are a Good Choice for Reef Tanks

Peppermint shrimp make fantastic additions for community reef tanks! The peppermint shrimp, sometimes known as a sweeper shrimp, has
Read More about Why Peppermint Shrimp are a Good Choice for Reef Tanks

An Overview of the Filefishes

In the Age of the Reef Tank, many cool (but not reef-safe) saltwater fish families that were once extremely population are now relative
Read More about An Overview of the Filefishes

3 Saltwater Aquarium Pests

There are a few things that any hobbyist dreads finding in their aquarium. Aquarium pests can appear out of nowhere and can spread like
Read More about 3 Saltwater Aquarium Pests

Utilizing the Peppermint Shrimp for General Tank Clean-Up

Maintaining a squeaky clean aquarium environment is no easy task. It requires frequent water changes, constantly rinsing mechanical
Read More about Utilizing the Peppermint Shrimp for General Tank Clean-Up

Aiptasia Anemones can be a horrible pest

How to Get Rid of Aiptasia

When you're first starting out your aquarium, you usually will spend all day checking on everything in your tank ensuring everything is
Read More about How to Get Rid of Aiptasia

Dry live rock - Aquarium Dry Rock

Reefscaping with Dry Live Rock

You knew you should have declined. But someone in the reef club was selling a huge stack of live rock for a super cheap price. A super
Read More about Reefscaping with Dry Live Rock

A Clean Start: The Benefits of Using Dry Base Rock

Considering that it serves as both aquascape material and biofilter medium, it’s safe to say that live rock is pretty important. We
Read More about A Clean Start: The Benefits of Using Dry Base Rock

A beautiful filefish in the wild.

The Anti-Aiptasia Trifecta: Decimating Glass Anemones with Peppermint Shrimp, Molly Millers and Aiptasia-Eating Filefish

A lot of us are pretty careful to avoid introducing pests like aiptasia when building and adding to a reef aquarium or refugium. This
Read More about The Anti-Aiptasia Trifecta: Decimating Glass Anemones with Peppermint Shrimp, Molly Millers and Aiptasia-Eating Filefish

A beautiful peppermint shrimp ready to eat some aiptasia

Peppermint Shrimp: The Aiptasia Destroyers

Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi) The Aiptasia Destroyers This time was going to be different, you said. You had just set up a new
Read More about Peppermint Shrimp: The Aiptasia Destroyers

A Look at the Aiptasia-Eating Filefish (Acreichthys Tomentosus)

Nuisance algae is such a common irritant to marine aquarists that any mention of the words “aquarium plague” can immediately bring to
Read More about A Look at the Aiptasia-Eating Filefish (Acreichthys Tomentosus)

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