I'm tired of getting burned when I try to help, so we are no longer going to make our chaeto available for giveaway. We've made it known that our chaeto is a key element of a huge established system, and contains a MULTITUDE of microfauna (abalone snails, brittle stars, pods, bristle worms, etc). Some of you have specifically requested portions of it specifically for that reason, and we've been happy to oblige because we have no shortage. Today, not for the first time, someone who has received something from us later comes back asking about some unknown thing that they think might have hitchhiked into their tank from ours, and they think might be bad because they don't have any clue what it is. So we're done giving away bags full of chaeto. My deepest apologies to those who were expecting free chaeto from us at the upcoming meeting. I'm sure there are others in the club who are willing to take the risk and share theirs.
It bears repeating that you are responsible for anything you put in your tank. Dip everything! We do, I promise you. If you fail to dip what you bring home, that's entirely on you.
If you find something new in your tank, do your own research before privately contacting the person or store you think it came from. Publicly accusing someone of distributing unwanted pests is something that should happen only if you have definitively identified the hitchhiker and the source, discussed it with that member privately, and they refuse to stop distributing items without offering full disclosure. Jumping to conclusions, and publicly accusing people of this kind of thing is very damaging. Particularly when those accusations are incorrect.
It bears repeating that you are responsible for anything you put in your tank. Dip everything! We do, I promise you. If you fail to dip what you bring home, that's entirely on you.
If you find something new in your tank, do your own research before privately contacting the person or store you think it came from. Publicly accusing someone of distributing unwanted pests is something that should happen only if you have definitively identified the hitchhiker and the source, discussed it with that member privately, and they refuse to stop distributing items without offering full disclosure. Jumping to conclusions, and publicly accusing people of this kind of thing is very damaging. Particularly when those accusations are incorrect.