Should we really be dipping corals on arrival?

[pletlibo]

hey guys! I recently ordered about eight LPS frags and I had a thought that I wanted to share with the community. I know it’s common practice to dip corals on arrival, and then put them into a QT system to make sure no damaging bugs get into our systems. This makes lots of sense, many people do it and I’ve done it in the past. But if we’re going to be putting our corals in quarantine systems anyway, why dip them upon arrival? It would seem that the coral would experience less stress if we were to quarantine them, observe them closely for the quarantine period, and only dip them when necessary. What’s the community’s thought about this kind of practice? Are there any reasons to immediately dip them that I haven’t thought about?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Dips don’t kill eggs and the hatch met not happen for weeks. Some algaes don’t present in so short a time, Esp if your nutints are higher. Gall crabs and gorillas seem to be able to hold thier breath for a long time.

And yes , you can def dip after observation. That’s becomes situational however. Example If you have zoas in qt and add adult zoa or monti nudi or spiders the other Zoa May now be targets for eggs or predation.

Very good question btw.

 

[HB AL]

Getting rid of possible parasites comes to mind. I don't quarantine so I dip em all then stick them in my dt. I get my frags from 2 local fish stores so I'm not dealing with the stresses on the corals that come with shipping from cross country locations.

 

[John3]

You don’t want your QT to be full of bugs/parasites/algae either. If something gets by the dip at least it happens in QT and not your main tank. That’s the idea anyway.

I don’t have a QT do I have to rely on the dips to prevent as much as possible from getting in.

 

[jeffp1]

I have a 10 gallon tank that I set up before my frags get here so I can let the coral recover from shipping and then dip. Only have to throw out 10 gallons of water after I put frags in DT.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You don’t want your QT to be full of bugs/parasites/algae either. If something gets by the dip at least it happens in QT and not your main tank. That’s the idea anyway.

I don’t have a QT do I have to rely on the dips to prevent as much as possible from getting in.

You can completely Nuke the qt.
Flatworm exit, Interceptor,Vibrant dino x name it.
A good qt isn’t a reef tank. It’s clean. So you don’t have fish shrimp crabs bristle worms etc. so the risk is much lower of the problems of other stuff getting killed.

A fast qt using the “skip cycle” is this. A piece of love rock or well seasoned bio balls and water from the display.hib fileter or reactor. Water is mature. Rock is live.

I have a 5 g tank in the basement for emergencies for fast qt. (Also good plan for fast hospital for fish).

And you need a small a light depending on your coral pref naturally. A par 38 or two or old t5.

 

[Ulee]

Multiple step process to make sure u have minimal bugs.

My frag,/quarantine tank is 'cleaner' than my dt

 

[pletlibo]

You can completely Nuke the qt.
Flatworm exit, Interceptor,Vibrant dino x name it.
A good qt isn’t a reef tank. It’s clean. So you don’t have fish shrimp crabs bristle worms etc. so the risk is much lower of the problems of other stuff getting killed.

A fast qt using the “skip cycle” is this. A piece of love rock or well seasoned bio balls and water from the display.hib fileter or reactor. Water is mature. Rock is live.

I have a 5 g tank in the basement for emergencies for fast qt. (Also good plan for fast hospital for fish).

And you need a small a light depending on your coral pref naturally. A par 38 or two or old t5.

Okay I think I understand what you're saying. This kind of brings up another question I have, which is that I put a piece of live rock in my QT to try and introduce beneficial hitchhikers but to also ensure that there are no harmful ones. The place is crawling with both snails that I put in there, crabs I introduced, copepods, isopods, amphipods, bristle worms, you name it. I actually was a little bit concerned about these creatures bugging the corals, and it seems that your advice is to not have them present in the QT at all.

I have another ten gallon tank that I will probably fill up with DT water and some live rock from the DT sump and put the corals in this tank. Just to ensure that everything is clean and no bugs will harm my corals. I also haven't quite decided what I'm going to do but I'm leaning toward dipping on arrival. Thanks for the advice everyone.