To DIP or not to DIP???

[abirozy]

Hello

relatively new to hobby and after this weekend, will have a LOT of frags coming (3 live sales and a PIF). A lot of these will be Zoa / Paly frags, but will also be getting some across, a chalice, and a few Favia's....

In reading through forums, it seems like some people "DIP" their coral before introducing them to the tank...

1) What is this, and what is it for?
2) Is it hard for a beginner who only has one tank?
3) What is the most popular Dip? I have heard a lot of people talking about using bayer... is this just aspirin?

Thanks

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Joeganja]

And especially if you get live rock and don't want any bad stuff going in your tank. It really helps In the long run.

 

[Acro Crazy]

1) "dip" is a solution you can buy commercially that when used as instructed can eliminate pests or unwanted creatures that are attached to your new corals or the rock/plug they are attached to. There are several that are popular like Revive or Coral RX. In my opinion dipping corals before introducing to your tank is an absolute must.

2) it is not hard at all, just follow the instructions. On stony corals I go a bit farther and remove the plug that the coral came on. There is a lot of info out there on reef "pests". A quick search can give you some insight on how much damage certain critters can do and how difficult some are to remove.

3) as listed above revive and coral RX seem to be the most popular. Bayer is an insecticide that hobbyists found is a very economical DIY dip. Plenty of infor on the interweb about how to use that as well.

 

[abirozy]

Acro

Can you use both on the same coral, or is that overkill?

 

[Joeganja]

Overkill

 

[Acro Crazy]

Acro

Can you use both on the same coral, or is that overkill?

No need for dipping both. The ultimate insurance would be to dip and then quarentine. Most are not set up for this though(including myself).

 

[Mike in CT]

The bayer your hearing about is an insecticide people use as a dip. Being a beginner you are better off stick to a commercially available dip like revive.. etc..

 

[dodgerblew]

My experience is coral RX is very hard on sps. I only use it on LPS and softies. For sps, I have good luck with tropic Marin pro coral care and I will try Bayer in the future. I've never used revive. But dipping is something I endorse.

 

[WindeyD]

I acclimate with a drip into a 1 gallon container, and then add dip (coral Rx) to said container; leave coral in dip for 10 min, rinse, and place coral into DT(display tank). I know many who just put their newly acquired coral right into the display and have had no problems, but I believe the old drip and dip to be best practice.

 

[abirozy]

If I am getting a lot of frags (like 20) can I put all the frags together (not touching of course), acclimate, and dip, or do I have to do them individually and change the dip every time?

 

[neddog]

I use coral rx on all my corals but I don't have any SPS. I've been happy with It. Dodgerblew Is the one your going to want to listen to if you plan on SPS I have no experience with SPS. Getting a little off track YES dip everything before it goes in your tank, no matter how much you trust your LFS.

 

[dodgerblew]

If I am getting a lot of frags (like 20) can I put all the frags together (not touching of course), acclimate, and dip, or do I have to do them individually and change the dip every time?

I dip LPS and sps separately but I do dip all the sps and/or all the LPS in the same container, not touching.

 

[dodgerblew]

Many people have had great success with coral RX with sps, I didn't! And I'm just not going to risk it again. When I contacted the vendor who is a very respected sps guy here on the forums, he as well told me he had similar results at times too so he stopped using it and dips with Bayer. I have never had issues with coral RX with any non sps so I use it with those.

 

[Queensreefer]

I agree with acro crazy. I always dip my corals in Rx for exactly 10 min using a baster and squirting them with the dip water. This removes unwanteds and gets in to cracks and holes but is good for flushing out everything. After the dip and acclimation they go into a separate frag tank where my six line wrass and tangs go to town cleaning up what the dip missed. Here is where I leave it for 2 weeks so I can kill off aptasia and any other crazies that may exist. There are many methods of doing this but this works for me for a very long time and nothing gets into any of my displays.

 

[abirozy]

Thanks all, I will definitely dip. I can't QT however, as this is my first tank and it is only a 28 gallon. Unfortunately I don't have a tank for QT . I do have a coris wrasse however, so maybe he will eat some parasites that the dip missed.

 

[Queensreefer]

Ya, let the wrass do his thing. It is interesting to watch how my 6line just hangs out next to a new coral like a lion stalking a prey.

 

[ronnie]

The bayer your hearing about is an insecticide people use as a dip. Being a beginner you are better off stick to a commercially available dip like revive.. etc..

I would disagree and say you're better off staying away from products that don't work on the pests we are trying to eliminate.

Revive has let red bugs live.

Coral RX doesn't do much for aefw adults.

Bayer takes care of them both, and is 10 times more gentle on the corals. It doesn't brown acros out or stress out LPS or zoas nearly as badly as well.

 

[neddog]

I would disagree and say you're better off staying away from products that don't work on the pests we are trying to eliminate.

Revive has let red bugs live.

Coral RX doesn't do much for aefw adults.

Bayer takes care of them both, and is 10 times more gentle on the corals. It doesn't brown acros out or stress out LPS or zoas nearly as badly as well.

I have never used bayer but have heard great things can you give me your exact recipe. I would very much like to try this out

 

[ronnie]

I use 10ml per cup for 10 minutes and baste frequently. I just recently did a batch of SPS infected with aefw and dipped every six days for 60 days to eradicate them and break the egg cycle.

 

[neddog]

Cool thank you I'll try it and let you know