- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
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- 13,377
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- Location
- Los Angeles
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Wow, the big day has arrived, and you’ve received that order from “superhotcorals.com”, with a fancy box and lots of promise. Your Tyree Acropora expensive “LE” frag and the three crazy Acans you ordered are here! Imagine how cool they’re gonna look in your reef?
Now what?
Trust us, except for excessive amounts of cappuccino and really bad 1970’s movies, nothing keeps us up at night more as coral vendors than worrying about the prospect of a flatworm, red bug, or other unwanted guest getting into one of our systems-or worse yet, one of yours. Even though we examine, dip and acclimate every coral on arrival to our facility, and examine the coral again before it leaves- there is always the chance of some pest organism getting through.
It just goes with the territory.
So, to alleviate our fears (and to increase your chances of success), we really want you to perform a dip procedure for all corals that you add to your aquarium.
Come on, it’s not that bad. Really. In fact, it’s pretty easy- and at least as habit-forming as checking your status updates on Facebook or tweaking your controller settings.
Here’s what you’ll need:
-Coral specimen(s) (duh)
-High quality coral dip solution ( we like RPS "All Out” and “Coral Rx”)
-Plastic container (preferably clear or light-colored)
-Pair of small tweezers
-Small turkey baster
-About 20 minutes of your time.
Here’s how you do it:
Float your newly arrived specimens in your aquarium, with the shipping bags still fully sealed, for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow the temperature to to equalize. Next, open the bag and mix with some water from your aquarium at a 50/50 ratio. Pour the water into an appropriately-sized* plastic container (like a margarine tub or storage container). Inspect the specimen carefully and remove any unwanted growth (ie; microalgae, etc.). We try to get this stuff off before shipment, but nobody’s perfect, right?
Once you’re convinced that the specimen is clean from any extra stuff, add your coral dip solution to the water, per manufacturer's instructions. Use a small turkey baster to gently blow the water into the coral specimen. Make sure you get it into all the nooks and crannies! You’ll be surprised at all the creepy-crawly things that can come out of a seemingly “clean” specimen when you do this.
Let the coral sit in the container for another couple of minutes. Then, you just rinse the specimen in some fresh aquarium water, and you’re ready to go. In a perfect world, your new acquisitions would go right into your quarantine system, but that’s another article for another time, right?
That’s the dip process. It’s easy. It’s quick. It’s important. And it works. So get to it!
Remember, also, that some corals just don’t like to travel.
That’s right.
Just like people, some corals don’t do well in confined spaces, or just aren’t happy with sudden environmental changes. It takes them time to adjust to a new situation; a new reef before they start looking their best again.
Corals such as Acropora specimens, Trachyphyllia, Scolymia, and many “Chalices” fit into this category, often taking several days to look like they did on the vendor’s website. Other corals, such as Acanthastra, Blastomussa, and Fungia, typically will be either closed up or slightly off-color for a day or two. It’s not time to panic.
Euphyllia are notorious for cloying up for a couple of days, looking essentially like a denuded skeleton. In most instances, they’ll bounce back in 24-48 hours. One thing that I have noticed is that if a Euphyllia doesn’t open for 3-4 days or more, it likely will not. I’m just saying…
Every vendor has different livestock guarantees for corals, and you should familiarize yourself with your vendor’s practices before you plunk down the big bucks. At Unique Corals, ours is 21 days for frags, and 10 days for WYSIWYG specimens and colonies. Everyone’s is different.
So, when do you contact your vendor when you have an issue? Certainly immediately if the corals are dead on arrival, are completely and obviously wrong, or if something was omitted from your order. These are no brainers.
It’s never a bad idea to contact your vendor as soon as you notice a newly-received coral on the decline. Often times, if he or she is worth his/her salt, you’ll receive instructions, assistance, or possibly new specimens right off the bat. I can’t help but think about how many ugly situations could be resolved if early communication takes place between vendor and customer. Don’t just go out on the forums and social media and blast “XYZcorals.com” as liars and cheats until you’ve at least given them a chance to discuss your issues with you!
Although the vast, vast majority of internet coral transactions and shipments go off without a hitch, never forget that stuff can go wrong. It’s just part of the game. I mean, we’re talking about a piece of live coral shoved in a bag and packed in a box, then thrown on an airplane and a truck before it arrives at your tank…And that’s after it went through collection in the wild and/or fragging, grow-out, handling, etc. Tough little buggers, these corals of ours, aren’t they?
So, in summation, what are the keys to being a better online coral customer? Communication with your vendor, carefully inspecting, dipping, and acclimating your corals on arrival, observing them for a day or two before reaching any conclusions about their condition, quarantine, and oh- did I forget to mention it- communication with your vendor? Yup. If you have other thoughts about how to be a better customer, share ‘em here for everyone to see!
Remember, part of the challenge of keeping corals is just getting the corals! So, if vendors and customers are sort of on the same page, the whole process works out better and is more enjoyable for everyone! Be a good consumer, take some careful preventative measures, and be sure to talk with your vendor if there is a problem.
Together, we make a pretty good team, huh? I think so.
Until next time…
Stay Wet
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
Now what?
Trust us, except for excessive amounts of cappuccino and really bad 1970’s movies, nothing keeps us up at night more as coral vendors than worrying about the prospect of a flatworm, red bug, or other unwanted guest getting into one of our systems-or worse yet, one of yours. Even though we examine, dip and acclimate every coral on arrival to our facility, and examine the coral again before it leaves- there is always the chance of some pest organism getting through.
It just goes with the territory.
So, to alleviate our fears (and to increase your chances of success), we really want you to perform a dip procedure for all corals that you add to your aquarium.
Come on, it’s not that bad. Really. In fact, it’s pretty easy- and at least as habit-forming as checking your status updates on Facebook or tweaking your controller settings.
Here’s what you’ll need:
-Coral specimen(s) (duh)
-High quality coral dip solution ( we like RPS "All Out” and “Coral Rx”)
-Plastic container (preferably clear or light-colored)
-Pair of small tweezers
-Small turkey baster
-About 20 minutes of your time.
Here’s how you do it:
Float your newly arrived specimens in your aquarium, with the shipping bags still fully sealed, for about 10-15 minutes. This will allow the temperature to to equalize. Next, open the bag and mix with some water from your aquarium at a 50/50 ratio. Pour the water into an appropriately-sized* plastic container (like a margarine tub or storage container). Inspect the specimen carefully and remove any unwanted growth (ie; microalgae, etc.). We try to get this stuff off before shipment, but nobody’s perfect, right?
Once you’re convinced that the specimen is clean from any extra stuff, add your coral dip solution to the water, per manufacturer's instructions. Use a small turkey baster to gently blow the water into the coral specimen. Make sure you get it into all the nooks and crannies! You’ll be surprised at all the creepy-crawly things that can come out of a seemingly “clean” specimen when you do this.
Let the coral sit in the container for another couple of minutes. Then, you just rinse the specimen in some fresh aquarium water, and you’re ready to go. In a perfect world, your new acquisitions would go right into your quarantine system, but that’s another article for another time, right?
That’s the dip process. It’s easy. It’s quick. It’s important. And it works. So get to it!
Remember, also, that some corals just don’t like to travel.
That’s right.
Just like people, some corals don’t do well in confined spaces, or just aren’t happy with sudden environmental changes. It takes them time to adjust to a new situation; a new reef before they start looking their best again.
Corals such as Acropora specimens, Trachyphyllia, Scolymia, and many “Chalices” fit into this category, often taking several days to look like they did on the vendor’s website. Other corals, such as Acanthastra, Blastomussa, and Fungia, typically will be either closed up or slightly off-color for a day or two. It’s not time to panic.
Euphyllia are notorious for cloying up for a couple of days, looking essentially like a denuded skeleton. In most instances, they’ll bounce back in 24-48 hours. One thing that I have noticed is that if a Euphyllia doesn’t open for 3-4 days or more, it likely will not. I’m just saying…
Every vendor has different livestock guarantees for corals, and you should familiarize yourself with your vendor’s practices before you plunk down the big bucks. At Unique Corals, ours is 21 days for frags, and 10 days for WYSIWYG specimens and colonies. Everyone’s is different.
So, when do you contact your vendor when you have an issue? Certainly immediately if the corals are dead on arrival, are completely and obviously wrong, or if something was omitted from your order. These are no brainers.
It’s never a bad idea to contact your vendor as soon as you notice a newly-received coral on the decline. Often times, if he or she is worth his/her salt, you’ll receive instructions, assistance, or possibly new specimens right off the bat. I can’t help but think about how many ugly situations could be resolved if early communication takes place between vendor and customer. Don’t just go out on the forums and social media and blast “XYZcorals.com” as liars and cheats until you’ve at least given them a chance to discuss your issues with you!
Although the vast, vast majority of internet coral transactions and shipments go off without a hitch, never forget that stuff can go wrong. It’s just part of the game. I mean, we’re talking about a piece of live coral shoved in a bag and packed in a box, then thrown on an airplane and a truck before it arrives at your tank…And that’s after it went through collection in the wild and/or fragging, grow-out, handling, etc. Tough little buggers, these corals of ours, aren’t they?
So, in summation, what are the keys to being a better online coral customer? Communication with your vendor, carefully inspecting, dipping, and acclimating your corals on arrival, observing them for a day or two before reaching any conclusions about their condition, quarantine, and oh- did I forget to mention it- communication with your vendor? Yup. If you have other thoughts about how to be a better customer, share ‘em here for everyone to see!
Remember, part of the challenge of keeping corals is just getting the corals! So, if vendors and customers are sort of on the same page, the whole process works out better and is more enjoyable for everyone! Be a good consumer, take some careful preventative measures, and be sure to talk with your vendor if there is a problem.
Together, we make a pretty good team, huh? I think so.
Until next time…
Stay Wet
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
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