Acan cleaning advice

[CatsandClowns]

Heyo. Ive recently bought a small Micro lord frag from my LFS, which had been in their system for a while, but had a receded portion showing the skeleton. I figured I'd give it a shot and see if I could treat it, and since being in my tank for a few days, it's puffy and seemingly doing well in my lighting and flow. Additionally, its sweepers are readily out at night and have been target fed. Though I am continuing to monitor it, the tissue recession has not spread. However, it did come with some hair algae on the skeleton, which I didn't want to remove immediately and stress it out too much. Now that it's been situated for a few days, I am considering how I should go about cleaning the exposed portion to promote new tissue growth. I plan to scrub the exposed skeleton lightly as well as the base of the coral and pick off any larger portions with tweezers, followed by a dip of some kind(Melafix or Lugol's iodine solution). As I am new to this, I am mainly guessing, and any advice would be appreciated. Also, if you have experience with this or have had any particular dip or process that worked well, that would be great. Thanks!

 

[twentyleagues]

I would stay away from melafix too many bad experiences across the net. Lugols or Revive would be a good dip or both. Some hydrogen peroxide carefully applied to the algae may also help.

 

[CatsandClowns]

I would stay away from melafix too many bad experiences across the net. Lugols or Revive would be a good dip or both. Some hydrogen peroxide carefully applied to the algae may also help.

What do people typically say is Melafix's main issue? I'm just wondering, as I use it with no problems.

 

[twentyleagues]

What do people typically say is Melafix's main issue? I'm just wondering, as I use it with no problems.

I have seen people using it and corals dying fish dying. Was it the cause? not sure. Did they follow directions? again idk. I have tried using melefix and pimafix years ago and they didnt do anything but make the tank smell like tea tree. That was fresh water I would not add that to my reef tank. I dont think Tea tree oil belongs in a reef tank, just my opinion. You can look up countless post about it, most are not flattering for those products.

 

[penfold2]

Pull off most of the algae with some tweezers, then use a small brush or q-tip to apply some hydrogen peroxide to the algae. Any remaining algae will be completely eliminated, and it's not terribly dangerous for the coral. You should try to avoid it, but I've gotten a little bit of straight 3% peroxide on LPS coral tissue and the coral was irritated, but did not recede.

 

[CatsandClowns]

Pull off most of the algae with some tweezers, then use a small brush or q-tip to apply some hydrogen peroxide to the algae. Any remaining algae will be completely eliminated, and it's not terribly dangerous for the coral. You should try to avoid it, but I've gotten a little bit of straight 3% peroxide on LPS coral tissue and the coral was irritated, but did not recede.

Seeing as I don’t have hydrogen peroxide for some reason I may stick with lugols . Would you recommend against scrubbing the skeleton with a soft brush, I am hesitant to do so honestly.

 

[twentyleagues]

Seeing as I don’t have hydrogen peroxide for some reason I may stick with lugols . Would you recommend against scrubbing the skeleton with a soft brush, I am hesitant to do so honestly.

The lugols wont do anything for the algae. It may help the coral though if applied correctly, in a dip with the correct concentration. I would go get some peroxide tbh that will affect the algae.

 

[penfold2]

Seeing as I don’t have hydrogen peroxide for some reason I may stick with lugols . Would you recommend against scrubbing the skeleton with a soft brush, I am hesitant to do so honestly.

Well scrubbing isn't necessary with peroxide, the algae will just melt away over time. But I've never used lugols, so I can't say how algae will react to it. Peroxide is only a couple dollars though, and can be found almost anywhere.