Flatworm and coral dipping

[Jack Eskay]

Hello all,
I'm pretty new to keeping corals in a reef tank. Had a 40 gallon for about a year with mainly soft corals. I just set up a 70 gallon and plan to keep this one soft and euphelia dominant! So I my question is what is coral dipping and what benefits and safeties does it provide to a reef tank. Also what are flatworms and how to they affect reef tank and the corals in it, and how do they get into a tank as well?
Thanks to all that can help!!

 

[Oscar47f]

Hi these are good questions, coral dipping is the process by which you take new coral from an outside source and submerge it in water that has been dosed with either an iodine based dip like coral RX or a natural approach like Revive from two little fishies... All in all these dips aim to remove unwanted pests like nudibranchs that eat coral, flatworms and many other pests that can travel tank to tank on the coral.. The safety it provides is that if a coral does come with a parasite the solution should help remove most of them so that they don't eat up your expensive coral...

 

[Jack Eskay]

Hi these are good questions, coral dipping is the process by which you take new coral from an outside source and submerge it in water that has been dosed with either an iodine based dip like coral RX or a natural approach like Revive from two little fishies... All in all these dips aim to remove unwanted pests like nudibranchs that eat coral, flatworms and many other pests that can travel tank to tank on the coral.. The safety it provides is that if a coral does come with a parasite the solution should help remove most of them so that they don't eat up your expensive coral...

Thank you for such a helpful response! I plan to order some of that later today! I also had another question regarding dosing. Since I plan on not having any sps or hard corals should I dose? Or would doing 5 gallon water changes with Red Sea salt weekly do the trick? The tank is 70gallons

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hi these are good questions, coral dipping is the process by which you take new coral from an outside source and submerge it in water that has been dosed with either an iodine based dip like coral RX or a natural approach like Revive from two little fishies... All in all these dips aim to remove unwanted pests like nudibranchs that eat coral, flatworms and many other pests that can travel tank to tank on the coral.. The safety it provides is that if a coral does come with a parasite the solution should help remove most of them so that they don't eat up your expensive coral...

Well said.

Ill add, nuisance algaes, chrysophytes, dinoflagellates to the mix as well as well. The trend now is to dip but primarily for pests and leaving these unaddressed. I think this trend is what relly contributes to the bad algae threads you read about here.

Many flatworms are harmless. actually beneficial as the eat only detritus. But in a system that has had very little CUC or other competing organisms the populations can explode, this can also be applied to algaes.

If an organism is introduced to a system with no other competition it can take over the system.

All hitchhikers come in on live rock, or coral frags, some theorize wild fish poop too. Its pretty amazing in some cases as it would appear there is ZERO way it could have happened, ie dry rock, no fish no coral.
Quarantine is also highly recommended for coral as well, because some pests we honestly don't understand what kills them or the first dip didn't quite kill them and it may take time, and sometimes its actually dormant eggs that hatch in the aquarium after a period if time.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thank you for such a helpful response! I plan to order some of that later today! I also had another question regarding dosing. Since I plan on not having any sps or hard corals should I dose? Or would doing 5 gallon water changes with Red Sea salt weekly do the trick? The tank is 70gallons

for dosing you should read up in Randy Farley threads and articles. Dosing is about depletion. If you can maintain the amounts being used (depleted)with water changes your likely fine except for very sensitive corals that demand much higher levels of stability(daily). Depending on coral load and coralline, bugs etc, these numbers change based on the tank.

 

[Oscar47f]

Well said.

Ill add, nuisance algaes, chrysophytes, dinoflagellates to the mix as well as well. The trend now is to dip but primarily for pests and leaving these unaddressed. I think this trend is what relly contributes to the bad algae threads you read about here.

Many flatworms are harmless. actually beneficial as the eat only detritus. But in a system that has had very little CUC or other competing organisms the populations can explode, this can also be applied to algaes.

If an organism is introduced to a system with no other competition it can take over the system.

All hitchhikers come in on live rock, or coral frags, some theorize wild fish poop too. Its pretty amazing in some cases as it would appear there is ZERO way it could have happened, ie dry rock, no fish no coral.
Quarantine is also highly recommended for coral as well, because some pests we honestly don't understand what kills them or the first dip didn't quite kill them and it may take time, and sometimes its actually dormant eggs that hatch in the aquarium after a period if time.

Of course algae is a big problem that can also come on corals and i agree completely.... Adding to what Saltyfilmfolks said you can easily figure out what nutrients are being depleted by testing... for example say calcium is something you're worried about well test for calcium say at 7pm one night then record it somewhere, in exactly 24 hours or so the next day test it again and see how much it drops thats about the amount you wanna add back to the system over a 24 hour period to maintain your calcium, although this method isn't always conventional but it works for calcium and alkalinity...

 

[Jack Eskay]

for dosing you should read up in Randy Farley threads and articles. Dosing is about depletion. If you can maintain the amounts being used (depleted)with water changes your likely fine except for very sensitive corals that demand much higher levels of stability(daily). Depending on coral load and coralline, bugs etc, these numbers change based on the tank.

I'll defiantly look into it! And then I'll also defiantly plan to start dipping my corals before adding just to be safe. I would love to have a quarantine for corals and fish but unfortunately my parents won't let me have one... "one tank is enough" so I can't do that. But I'll dip and I'll also look into getting calcium, alk, and magnesium tests to see how much my tank depletes daily and then go from there for dosing. Should that work?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'll defiantly look into it! And then I'll also defiantly plan to start dipping my corals before adding just to be safe. I would love to have a quarantine for corals and fish but unfortunately my parents won't let me have one... "one tank is enough" so I can't do that. But I'll dip and I'll also look into getting calcium, alk, and magnesium tests to see how much my tank depletes daily and then go from there for dosing. Should that work?

yes.
do look into a 5gal with live rock and a cheap light. cheap powerhead. coral qt is easy as that.
Fish QT is a big deal, and something to look into. depending on the size of the fish the 5 may not be big enough, and disease can and does wipe out whole tanks.

 

[Oscar47f]

I personally do that and also do weekly water changes and its worked well for me considering all i have are LPS and Softies.. And when dipping coral get a turkey baster and gently blow water all over the coral to blast off any stunned parasites, remove any algae and you should be fairly safe...My parents won't let me have a separate frag quarantine either haha

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

you guys just made me feel old.

 

[Jack Eskay]

Your not old lol we just started young[emoji23]

 

[Oscar47f]

you guys just made me feel old.

im just 18 haha, that means i have a lot to learn to get on your level

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Your not old lol we just started young[emoji23]

im just 18 haha, that means i have a lot to learn to get on your level

LOL.

I think most folks need to learn to be younger in their minds and not act so old. Eat Dessert First!

 

[Jack Eskay]

Lol
Btw thank you guys for your responses they have helped me out a lot. I have a 10 gal that I plan to use for a qt but may not use it often because I don't have any room in my room and parents won't let me... but I'll find a way. I am going to try and order calc and alk test kits this week and some coral dip stuff. I only plan on getting corals locally from my forums or trusted lfs. Should I still play it safe and dip these? Also do you guys have any experience with NOPOX by Red Sea? I want to get some opinions before I use it to get rid of the bit of brown algae growing in my sand glass and rocks before I add all the coral my friends been holding onto for me in.

 

[Jack Eskay]

And oscar I do also plan to do Softy and lps only tank. Would you mind posting a pic of your tank? I'd like to see how you set yours up and how much coral you have, because if I read it right you don't dose right? You just do weekly water changes

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Should I still play it safe and dip these?

yes.

 

[Jack Eskay]

yes.

Ok will do, thanks!

 

[Oscar47f]

And oscar I do also plan to do Softy and lps only tank. Would you mind posting a pic of your tank? I'd like to see how you set yours up and how much coral you have, because if I read it right you don't dose right? You just do weekly water changes

Correct i dont do any dosing anymore but i did use NOPOX from red sea and its basically a carbon dosing method and results aren't immediate, be careful with it if you do use it only dose a recommended amount or you could crash your tank... it basically supplies food for bacteria yo grow and more bacteria means more filtration similar to bio pellets.... and yes ill find a picture to post and i would always dip no matter how much i trust my LFS or forums

 

[Jack Eskay]

Ok then I will dip. And I'll order some NOPOX as well to help battle the algae, I'll start using under recommended dosage for the first few weeks and see how it does and then go from there.

 

[Triggreef]

I just want to add that coral rx does not work for flatworms or nudi. Bayer advanced or Flatworm exit, or even lugols, are much better options.