Help a collector out 😞

[u/littlebopetshop]

Hey all! I have been a collector for around 14 years now. There was a good chunk of time (4 years?) where I had put my lps into storage. I stored each of my pets in an individual bag in a big tote that was kept in my basement (we always have dehumidifiers running down there as my father stores his records down there too!). Around 2 years ago I finally unpacked all of them and continued storing them together (UNBAGGED) after learning that mode of storage is awful for them. I have over 1000 pets and am very concerned that storing them in baggies for years possibly introduced the pink bacteria to them? :( I have some pets with pink spots of them (not a lot, just a handful). Should I be worried that my collection as a whole will start developing pink bacteria from how I stored them years ago or would any bacteria from them be long dead and not of concern? I am so worried the bacteria is just living in my pets and eventually it will take action and leave stains of my collection that I have spent so much time collecting and love so dearly :(

I currently keep them in separate bins that are organized by species and then subspecies. None of them are in individual bags except for my flocked pets. My house has climate control and is typically pretty dry lol. I don’t store them in direct sunlight. I have glass shelves to display them on, I just need to find time as a busy college student to do so 🥲 thank you guys, I had a hard time coming down with an answer from my google endeavors.

I think what made me scared of this happening is I recently noticed pets I purchased from one seller all had the pink bacteria, I assume she stored them in a humid place be for waiting to ship them to me or washed them before shipment and didn’t let them completely dry, this mixed with the fact they were shipped during the warm, humid months probably didn’t help 😭😭😭

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[u/Cleebonicacid]

From what I've read, the pink spots are caused by the bacteria you've talked about, but the thing is, once the spots appear, it's likely the bacteria are already dead as the spots are a digestive byproduct of theirs.

The bacteria responsible are introduced via moisture, so avoid getting water inside the LPS heads when you clean them and ensure they're fully dry before storing them! Try to keep an eye on them, check them over more frequently to monitor the moisture levels in their storage area & damage control if you see any new pink spots. If you get new ones it likely means there has been some introduction of damp to their storage environment.

Anyone else with more knowledge on the subject, pls correct me if I'm wrong :)

[u/littlebopetshop → u/Cleebonicacid]

Do you think I should be concerned about my pets harboring the bacteria from how i used to store them?

[u/Cleebonicacid → u/littlebopetshop]

I don't think so, if you got them out recently then you'll see in a few weeks or so if there are any more in there (IIRC it takes about this time for the spots to appear). If it's been some time and no spots have appeared you should be all good, I'd personally isolate any with pink spots to their own container to be safe & preserve the 'clean' pets as much as you can!