Sucker for mariculture

[sculpin01]

Rows of nariform corallites makes me think nasuta.

 

[Smite]

Rows of nariform corallites makes me think nasuta.

I googled nasuta and I think you might be correct. Thanks!

 

[beesnreefs]

I hope it’s ok to ask this here…I’m very interested in trying out some Biota maricultured SPS colonies.

Can someone walk me through the best dipping procedure to ensure I avoid AEFW, red bugs, etc? I’m a total newbie with dipping maricultured colonies.

 

[Smite]

I've always used bayers and had great luck. Very gentle on sps but not so fun to handle or have around the house.

I'm planning on using potassium chloride in the future. A buddy who's been keeping acros much longer than me says it works great.

 

[Smite]

These two pieces are doing very well so far. The millepora almost a little too quick of a grower but I plan to let it get nice and large. I moved the nasuta looking piece down low. My nutrients are slightly elevated but seems like it's really colored some pieces up.

 

[Smite]

Not maricultured but wild (I believe since there was no base/tag) aussie enchinata. I'll update in a few months and see what it does. Never had luck with aquacultured ones, so we will see how it goes. It's been in the tank for about 3 days now

 

[beesnreefs]

I've always used bayers and had great luck. Very gentle on sps but not so fun to handle or have around the house.

I'm planning on using potassium chloride in the future. A buddy who's been keeping acros much longer than me says it works great.

Thanks! Two questions if you don’t mind:

1) How exactly do you dip with Bayer?

2) Potassium chloride instead of Bayer? Or in addition?

 

[Smite]

Thanks! Two questions if you don’t mind:

1) How exactly do you dip with Bayer?

2) Potassium chloride instead of Bayer? Or in addition?

1) With bayer (it's no longer called bayer but I'll try and get a picture of the bottle I bought from Lowe's) it's pretty simple. I use all disposable tools. Plastic fork, 2 plastic bowls and nitrile gloves.

I'll remove the maricultured piece from it's mount. I'll cut this at the base so I basically have a fresh cut and discard the encrusted base/tile. I do this to reduce chances of eggs. I'll also check the underside and where branches meet for any dead spots and fill them with super glue making sure to get glue on live flesh for the same reason, eggs.
I fill the first bowl with display water and add the piece to it. I glove up and shake the bayers bottle. I stir the water in the bowl with the plastic fork and begin to pour bayers into the water. I do this until it's very cloudy. If there is 2" of water above the piece I pour enough to just make out the outline, all the while stirring with the fork to evenly mix it as I go. It should look like watered down milk.
That sits for 10 minutes if the room is cool but 15 if the temp isn't going to trop in the bowl.

While that's soaking I'll fill bowl 2 with display water. Once the piece is done dipping I'll pull it out with a gloved hand, let the dip water drip off it for a few seconds and then place it in the fresh bowl # 2 water from the display. Ill swish the piece around looking for anything still stunned to fly off. If something flys off, I make the call to dip it again (if I just gotta have it) but at this point with my tank, I'll toss it if I see a flatworm and call it a loss. If it's clean and I'm confident in it I'll proceed to mount it/place it in the tank.

I've never lost a piece or really even color I can directly contribute to Bayers dipping. Most times polyps are out in the dip. I've been doing bayers for about 7-8 years now with all corals dip-able. You can find ml/gal and time periods here on R2R but I've been doing it so long I just know what it needs to look like so I don't bother measuring. I've accidentally gone very heavy and the frag was still fine.

Downsides: Hard to make out what fell off in the dip with how heavy I mix it. Clear bowl you can look from the bottom but....do you really want to hold insecticide over your eyes? Second major downside is how nasty the stuff is to personal health. It's why I glove up, and use all disposable utensils. Left overs get poured where pets and kids can't come in contact with it and the rest bagged and straight in the trash.

2) Potassium Chloride would be in place of the Bayer's. It can be found food grade on amazon. I still have to look into the ratio but for the most part I'll keep my routine above to fit.

 

[beesnreefs]

Thanks @Smite! Really appreciate the detailed explanation.

 

[sculpin01]

Potassium chloride is 10 g/L tank water for 5-10 minutes. Won't kill eggs, bacteria, or ciliates but gets almost everything else. Some copepods can survive it by living inside the coral polyp. I use Brightwell Potassion-P for mine but any food grade should work.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

I posted mine on the other post you made. I forgot to mention, I do have some Potassium chloride that I purchased, but haven't used it yet. I'm pretty happy with the other dips and haven't had trouble so far.