to acclimate corals or not to acclimate corals

[thedougen]

just saw a youtube video of reef builders and he got a box of corals and didnt acclimate the corals......says he never did before......was thinking if anybody else does this and have i been doing wrong all this time-----if fish can suffer from temp shock cant corals?

i float bags for 15-20 mins

dip for 3-10 mins

put in tank---yes no quaritine i should know better but havent had those problems

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

I would drip acclimate coral because they are super sensitive

 

[thedougen]

watch the first 3 mins of the vid-----dude says he never does

 

[saltybees]

I don’t drip acclimate them, just temp float and dip.

 

[Hermie]

I think drip acclimation is in case your tank water is way different than normal reef water, like someone who has a whack salinity by mistake, drip acclimation might help prevent your corals from dying right away.

 

[jtf74]

I drip acclimate for 30 minutes and test salinity and temp both to see they match before adding, and I QT, no dip, just 80 days in fishless system.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I watch Jake’s videos too. They just brought this up in the Reef Therapy episodes too. I’m no expert (obligatory disclaimer) but I no longer acclimate corals and I haven’t had any issues since. I do dip them and honestly the idea of dipping and acclimating makes no sense to me. I’m sure others have other opinions but something about that just does not compute for me.

 

[Arcflash_207]

I watch Jake’s videos too. They just brought this up in the Reef Therapy episodes too. I’m no expert (obligatory disclaimer) but I no longer acclimate corals and I haven’t had any issues since. I do dip them and honestly the idea of dipping and acclimating makes no sense to me. I’m sure others have other opinions but something about that just does not compute for me.

Same with me, no acclimation. Just float, dip and a rinse with tank water.

 

[ariellemermaid]

It’s funny in this hobby how you can get two completely opposite yet firm recommendations for how to do things. Some “experts” say you have to slow acclimate, others that you definitely don’t want to do that and instead get corals into flow and better water ASAP.

I’ve gone with the latter. In part out of convenience. It makes sense to me; corals from companies and fraggers generally have to be held in coral-quality water. Fish on the other hand might be in hypo, the pH and other parameters aren’t as important and change during shipping as the fish produces ammonia. Going with temp/dip/tank I don’t think I’ve lost a coral yet that didn’t already look dead when it arrived.

 

[OMGcorals]

We never acclimate our corals. We line up rows of tubs with egg crate racks and quickly open every bag up then arrange them on the racks. We'll then pour dip into each tub and shake the racks in the tubs making sure we get a lot of movement. We'll then drop the racks in a tub of tank water for a rinse before we individually move every frag into its location.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I always just put them in after a quick dip and visual inspection. I've put high end acros from 1.030 sg and 15 degrees F lower than the tank and had them open polyps within the hour. If they are coming in the mail, being in a bag of stagnant water for another few hours while you drip is worse for them than whatever shock they experience going into new water.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Float and dip for me as well

 

[Jedi1199]

Funny.... I don't even float mine. The very first box of frags I got, I floated them all and dipped them in individual coffee cups. after 15 minutes that water was as cold as the water in the little cups they shipped in. That was the first, last and only time I ever bothered with floating frags.

 

[SaltwaterandLime]

I float to temp and then go straight in. I dip them 24 hours after I get them. I do always get my corals from only one place which I trust and they ship well and most times I pick them up in person so they are only in bags a few hours at most..... but....float 15-30 minutes depending on if I forget they are in there or not, then right onto a rack in my tank. Pull them out and dip 24 hours later, right back onto rack in tank. Glue in place about a week later. Only lost about 5 frags out of well over 100 purchased

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I never acclimate fish or corals, float to get temp about the same, fish net and in and corals dipped and then in.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I don't even temp acclimate. Never lost a coral or seen early signs of stress going from low 60s in the shipping box to the 77-79 my tank runs at. Even with "high end" sps frags. Polyps come out almost as soon as I take my hand back out of the tank from putting them in.

 

[Spare time]

just saw a youtube video of reef builders and he got a box of corals and didnt acclimate the corals......says he never did before......was thinking if anybody else does this and have i been doing wrong all this time-----if fish can suffer from temp shock cant corals?

i float bags for 15-20 mins

dip for 3-10 mins

put in tank---yes no quaritine i should know better but havent had those problems

Depends on how different the water is. I drip to match pH and alk.

 

[outhouse]

Dunk n run, same with fish. Never lost one.

 

[Starganderfish]

I float to temp and then go straight in. I dip them 24 hours after I get them. I do always get my corals from only one place which I trust and they ship well and most times I pick them up in person so they are only in bags a few hours at most..... but....float 15-30 minutes depending on if I forget they are in there or not, then right onto a rack in my tank. Pull them out and dip 24 hours later, right back onto rack in tank. Glue in place about a week later. Only lost about 5 frags out of well over 100 purchased

I'm confused by this. I always understood the main point with dipping is to remove any pests or invaders they may bring into your tank or to sanitise any infection they may carry?
If you put them undipped in your tank for 24 hours, any infectious disease, pests or hitchhikers have had plenty of time to disperse into your tank. So then why dip 24 hours later? Feels like "shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted". I guess if the purpose of your dipping is that it can aid healing, that's a reason to do it, but then why delay for 24 hours? Is it allow them time to recover from shipping stress? Curious for more info on this.

 

[Jeffcb]

WWC instructions state to temp acclimate 15 min and drop. The quicker it is in the reef the better. Transportation shock it bad. They even suggest dipping later.

LFS purchases different I guess but shipped coral should be in the tank as quickly as possible.