Use 2 different dips or overkill?

[Mariette]

I’ve done research. I’ve considered options. My question is this: do you guys use 2 different types of dips with new corals or is 1 ok? Theory is that not every dip kills every pest so best to use 2 kinds. But I assume dips are no picnic for corals. So...to double dip or not to double dip?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Depends on the dip.
Many use bayer bug killer. That doesn’t kill algae.

 

[Mariette]

Depends on the dip.
Many use bayer bug killer. That doesn’t kill algae.

I’be read good things about Bayer but I’m afraid of getting the wrong one.

 

[Howlnsound]

First I float them in the bag in my sump for 15 min or so,
Then, I slowly acclimate the frag to my parameters using a drip (usually for 1-2 hours)
Then once they are ready,
I use Coral Rx for 10 min with 4 cups of fresh tank-water to 1 capful of Coral Rx
then 5 min in a clean bowl of about 3 cups of tank water for a rinse and rest
then 10 min in a Revive dip, again 4 cups of tank water to 1 capful
Followed by another 5 min or so in the bowl of tank water for another rinse and rest
After that, in the tank.

I do this for ALL Corals entering any of my tanks, regardless of where or who it came from, and again before I move them from one of my own tanks to another.

I will also use a xacto blade to scrape any algae I can see or for just general clean up of the frag before the first dip.

This process has been working successfully for me for over a year and the corals usually extend within minutes to hours after the go in the tank or, worst case next morning (as was the case of a stubborn torch that wouldn’t fully extend. I think it was more placement though)

It also is a great excuse to do a water change and still get a benefit from the old water, as your using a fair amount of water from the tank anyways...

The other thing I do is feed Reef Roids immediately after they have been in the tank for about an hour or so. I shut the pumps, mix it thick and direct feed all the corals in the tank including the new ones for around 15 min or so. Even if they are still closed, they typically take some in.
Whether or not it helps, it works for me and I get great growth and big happy puffy corals in a short time after introducing them in the tank.

Hope that helps.

 

[maroun.c]

It's best to double or triple dip corals in a qt environment and at 5-7 days interval. Dips can be of no effect on eggs and by the time the eggs hatch your doing the follow up dip which hits the new hatched pests before they can breed. A 3rd dip after 5 more days adds to the success potential.
To experiment grab a monti frag with nudis on. Dip it with whatever dip u have, keep in qt for a week and did again and am sure ull find a couple more nudis that weren't killed. I even had nudis at 3rd or 4th dip with monties.

 

[w2inc]

I use melafix for bugs, cut off the frag plug, and watch closely. Glue over anything suspicious. I use a 1 to 4 peroxide to tank water dip for a majority of corals if they are growing algae. Generally I just dont buy corals if they are showing algae. I used Bayer. I was not comfortable with the idea that it could continue killing bugs for up to a year. I think the Benthic population is too important to a reef tank to risk with a long term bug killer. I stopped and switched to Melafix after reading a post from Garet's Acropolis saying he watched bugs live through it. Quarantine tank is your only guaranteed option but it is not an option for some and hard to hold back some times. I keep bug eaters as a priority livestock and vet my vendors. I have had one issue in the past two years. Still dealing with some of the fallout but no major losses. I am setting up a qt tank now with the idea of relaxing my standards of who I purchase from. That is what has worked for my.

 

[bluprntguy]

Bayer when they are going into the frag tank. Observe and dip again if needed while in the frag tank. Coral Rx Pro on the way to the display tank.

 

[Mariette]

First I float them in the bag in my sump for 15 min or so,
Then, I slowly acclimate the frag to my parameters using a drip (usually for 1-2 hours)
Then once they are ready,
I use Coral Rx for 10 min with 4 cups of fresh tank-water to 1 capful of Coral Rx
then 5 min in a clean bowl of about 3 cups of tank water for a rinse and rest
then 10 min in a Revive dip, again 4 cups of tank water to 1 capful
Followed by another 5 min or so in the bowl of tank water for another rinse and rest
After that, in the tank.

I do this for ALL Corals entering any of my tanks, regardless of where or who it came from, and again before I move them from one of my own tanks to another.

I will also use a xacto blade to scrape any algae I can see or for just general clean up of the frag before the first dip.

This process has been working successfully for me for over a year and the corals usually extend within minutes to hours after the go in the tank or, worst case next morning (as was the case of a stubborn torch that wouldn’t fully extend. I think it was more placement though)

It also is a great excuse to do a water change and still get a benefit from the old water, as your using a fair amount of water from the tank anyways...

The other thing I do is feed Reef Roids immediately after they have been in the tank for about an hour or so. I shut the pumps, mix it thick and direct feed all the corals in the tank including the new ones for around 15 min or so. Even if they are still closed, they typically take some in.
Whether or not it helps, it works for me and I get great growth and big happy puffy corals in a short time after introducing them in the tank.

Hope that helps.

I appreciate the detail w respect to doses and times. Thank you. I think this is what I’ll do too. Quick question: when resting/rinsing in the 3 cups of tank water, do you just sit them in the water or are you swishing them around at all?

 

[Mariette]

It's best to double or triple dog corals in a qt environment and at 5-7 days interval. Dips can be of no effect on eggs and by the time the eggs hatch your doing the follow up dip which hits the new hatched pests before they can breed. A 3rd dip after 5 more days adds to the success potential.
To experiment grab a monti frag with nudis on. Dip it with whatever dip u have, keep in qt for a week and did again and am sure ull find a couple more nudis that weren't killed. I even had nudis at 3rd or 4th dip with monties.

Yikes. After 3 bouts of disease causing 2 tank crashes, I quarantine everything wet for 3 Mths. Plenty of time for 3 dips. Thank you. Do you find that the dips harm the corals at all? I’ll be using howlnsoynd’s method of acclimation and dipping with both Coral RX and Revive. Plus your suggestion of triple dipping 7 days apart in qt. If I see pests on dip #3, would it be safe to go for a 4th dip 7 days later? Any idea what the Max is? Ideally, I’d like to keep going until I see no pests. No?

 

[Mariette]

I use melafix for bugs, cut off the frag plug, and watch closely. Glue over anything suspicious. I use a 1 to 4 peroxide to tank water dip for a majority of corals if they are growing algae. Generally I just dont buy corals if they are showing algae. I used Bayer. I was not comfortable with the idea that it could continue killing bugs for up to a year. I think the Benthic population is too important to a reef tank to risk with a long term bug killer. I stopped and switched to Melafix after reading a post from Garet's Acropolis saying he watched bugs live through it. Quarantine tank is your only guaranteed option but it is not an option for some and hard to hold back some times. I keep bug eaters as a priority livestock and vet my vendors. I have had one issue in the past two years. Still dealing with some of the fallout but no major losses. I am setting up a qt tank now with the idea of relaxing my standards of who I purchase from. That is what has worked for my.

Great advice. Definitely going in QT. Much too paranoid to skip this vital step. I’ve learbed the hard way. Twice only concern I have with your protocol is cutting off frags. I’ve read that’s a good idea but I worry about damaging the coral in the process. Specially softies. Is it as difficult as I think it is or am I just being a newb lol?

 

[maroun.c]

Yikes. After 3 bouts of disease causing 2 tank crashes, I quarantine everything wet for 3 Mths. Plenty of time for 3 dips. Thank you. Do you find that the dips harm the corals at all? I’ll be using howlnsoynd’s method of acclimation and dipping with both Coral RX and Revive. Plus your suggestion of triple dipping 7 days apart in qt. If I see pests on dip #3, would it be safe to go for a 4th dip 7 days later? Any idea what the Max is? Ideally, I’d like to keep going until I see no pests. No?

Yes dips are stressful for corals. But I rather kill frags by dips than one frag killing my whole system. If theres any pest in any of the dips I'll qt for 5 weeks with one sip every 5 days.

 

[Howlnsound]

I use a small pippette to swirl and push water all around and into the coral. Especially Torches and other long tentacle corals. It may “cheese” them off a bit but making sure nothing it hiding inside with them is more important. Plus I will use a set of tongs and actually pick up and “shake” the frag swirling it gently in the dip as well.
I do this with the dip and the rest. You know, just like cooking.... stirring occasionaly. (Just skip the bring it to a boil step...)
You could use a small power head to keep the water moving, but 3 powerheads, for that small an amount of water is expensive plus impractical. I use glass Pyrex bowls and just rinse them well after each use and a small pippette reserved for this specific task, never to touch water destined to touch the tank.

 

[w2inc]

Great advice. Definitely going in QT. Much too paranoid to skip this vital step. I’ve learbed the hard way. Twice only concern I have with your protocol is cutting off frags. I’ve read that’s a good idea but I worry about damaging the coral in the process. Specially softies. Is it as difficult as I think it is or am I just being a newb lol?

Everyone is a newb in some area. I have not kept soft corals since the 90's and don't remember much about them. I do have some LPS but most of my experience is SPS. With those I don't hesitate to cut off the plug or even split the frag in two and put them in separate areas of the tank to see which one responds better to the light and flow. If there is much tissue left on the plug, some times I throw it in my experiment tank and often I can grow it out as well. I don't hesitate to cut up a mushroom or scrape Zoa's off of a rock. I put mushrooms in a plastic cup with some gravel so they don't blow away while I am waiting for them to attach. A lot of times I can just glue the Zoa to a rock.

I make an effort to not glue new frags directly to my reef. I keep rubble and some frag plugs in my sump where they can age and grow biofilms. I glue frags to those chunks and glue the chunks to my reef. It makes it easier to not damage them if they need to be moved. It also lets me clean both surfaces before I glue.

A couple years ago when I was having trouble with one of my corals. I asked the guy at the LFS about it. The useful part of what he told me was; "Look, in a healthy tank corals heal and grow, it is just what they do". This has generally been my experience. It seems like there is always some chaos with reefs in the first 4 months and there a lot to learn about what a healthy tank is for a given coral. The way I run my system is not all that healthy for some species. Example, Chalice live in there but really don't grow. All my losses in the past 2 years that I can think of were attached to an overlooked issue or recent change with my system.

There are so many different and effective ways to run a reef that there is not a lot of advice that works for everyone. For what it is worth, here are some of the things that work for me: The best use of my money in the hobby has been this, if the guy at the LFS gives me good advice, I say thanks with with a couple dollars or a gift card for lunch. I also remember thank them proportionally on Christmas. From there, I pick a system (method) and commit. I fact check or confirm all the advice I am given before I act on it. I try to make change slowly, even if it feels like an emergency. I only buy what I can afford to lose until I am at a point where can trust myself and my system. I send out for an ICP test about every 3 months or when things look awesome or awful. I also test with my kits on the same day as the sample so I will know how accurate my testing is. I shoot photos at regular intervals that I can compare to see if thing are really as good or bad as I think. I automate where I can. (It safeguards my stuff against vacations and burnout.)

I hope your experience in the hobby is amazing.

 

[Mariette]

Everyone is a newb in some area. I have not kept soft corals since the 90's and don't remember much about them. I do have some LPS but most of my experience is SPS. With those I don't hesitate to cut off the plug or even split the frag in two and put them in separate areas of the tank to see which one responds better to the light and flow. If there is much tissue left on the plug, some times I throw it in my experiment tank and often I can grow it out as well. I don't hesitate to cut up a mushroom or scrape Zoa's off of a rock. I put mushrooms in a plastic cup with some gravel so they don't blow away while I am waiting for them to attach. A lot of times I can just glue the Zoa to a rock.

I make an effort to not glue new frags directly to my reef. I keep rubble and some frag plugs in my sump where they can age and grow biofilms. I glue frags to those chunks and glue the chunks to my reef. It makes it easier to not damage them if they need to be moved. It also lets me clean both surfaces before I glue.

A couple years ago when I was having trouble with one of my corals. I asked the guy at the LFS about it. The useful part of what he told me was; "Look, in a healthy tank corals heal and grow, it is just what they do". This has generally been my experience. It seems like there is always some chaos with reefs in the first 4 months and there a lot to learn about what a healthy tank is for a given coral. The way I run my system is not all that healthy for some species. Example, Chalice live in there but really don't grow. All my losses in the past 2 years that I can think of were attached to an overlooked issue or recent change with my system.

There are so many different and effective ways to run a reef that there is not a lot of advice that works for everyone. For what it is worth, here are some of the things that work for me: The best use of my money in the hobby has been this, if the guy at the LFS gives me good advice, I say thanks with with a couple dollars or a gift card for lunch. I also remember thank them proportionally on Christmas. From there, I pick a system (method) and commit. I fact check or confirm all the advice I am given before I act on it. I try to make change slowly, even if it feels like an emergency. I only buy what I can afford to lose until I am at a point where can trust myself and my system. I send out for an ICP test about every 3 months or when things look awesome or awful. I also test with my kits on the same day as the sample so I will know how accurate my testing is. I shoot photos at regular intervals that I can compare to see if thing are really as good or bad as I think. I automate where I can. (It safeguards my stuff against vacations and burnout.)

I hope your experience in the hobby is amazing.

Tons of valuable info in that post. Thank you. I like the idea of not gluing frags directly to the reef. Excellent advice. Will definitely follow that one. Thx!