How Necessary is Dipping New Corals?
- Thread starter livinlifeinBKK
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Potassium Chloride is very gentle on acropora. 3grams/liet or 1 tblsp per gallon.
I only use it for acropora. It is ideal for aefw. Nothing gets to tegastes bugs other than Interceptor (milbemycin oxide).
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livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
Ok, thanks! I'm new to acros and just don't want to damage it
where do you source your interceptor?
SchrutesReefs
Valuable Member
A lot of reefers also dip after fragging, just another benefit to having some around. I always dip, and unlike another posted, I NEVER keep hitchhikers. I do not want them in my tank regardless of whatever benefits they may have as part of a clean up crew. My tank, my choice. I have plenty of other options for clean up already.
That is a tough one unless you have a dog or a VERY open-minded veterinarian. I placed a dozen calls, and even though my pitch was decent and the vet people were mostly pleasant, I was unsuccessful. Someone recommended this fish veterinarian and he set me up. Very nice and competent guy. It was expensive though, FYI.
Stephen Frattini
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Curious why big companies like WWC state not to dip their corals after shipping then? I dipped my last batch after shipping because I saw some small briste stars or something and sure enough one of my SPS frags went downhill.
Don't most of the well known vendors maintain clean disease and pest free systems for the most part?
Don't most of the well known vendors maintain clean disease and pest free systems for the most part?
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livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I used to work doing maintenance around a well known aquarium shop (not gonna say which one) and I'd see how they do things so I can attest that it's pretty hard to keep every little pest out of those huge tanks they farm the corals in
SchrutesReefs
Valuable Member
That’s a raw question. In my opinion they want you to feel that you are getting a prime piece of coral that is top tier quality. But in reality many vendors get their coral form elsewhere and frag and sell as quickly as possible in order to turn a profit (they are a business of course). I have received more corals from WWC than I am proud to admit, and they were virtually pest free. I have also gotten shipments from other vendors that were 50/50. I still dip 100% of the time. It’s not going to hurt anything, just takes a few extra minutes and some sacrificial tank water.
Dipping coral *could* be not necessary 99 out of 100 times. But that one time is gonna require you to pull corals and rocks, set up a coral qt, let tank go fallow for a while, and hopefully not reintroduce the pest. This is assuming it's not a fast acting disease that just infects and kills stuff quickly.
Take home: Always dip. Sure it adds a bit of time to acclimation and unpacking days, but not nearly as much time as a full tank breakdown.
Coral QT is also reccomended but not *necessary* if you do a good dip (necessary is air quoted here, because I still highly reccomend it. Easier to treat a qt than your display)
I saw this as someone who used to not dip new corals and picked up Monti eating nudis and acro eating flatworms at different points in my reefing career. Now. Everything gets a bayer dip and then an observational quarantine for a week or so. Frag tank water gets heavily UV sterilized as it returns to the main system water so I use it as my quarantine tank (I can shut it off from the main tank if I need to truly quarantine it and treat it.) Which isn't perfect, but it has actually worked extraordinarily well in my system and have run several successful treatments in this manner.
Due to this system, I am confident I don't have any significant coral pests (aside from my emerald crab who just eats stylophora polyps all day, but thats another situation entirely. Going to have to break up the colony to pull him and throw him in the fuge, so it's on the backburner...back burner.... I digress)
Take home: Always dip. Sure it adds a bit of time to acclimation and unpacking days, but not nearly as much time as a full tank breakdown.
Coral QT is also reccomended but not *necessary* if you do a good dip (necessary is air quoted here, because I still highly reccomend it. Easier to treat a qt than your display)
I saw this as someone who used to not dip new corals and picked up Monti eating nudis and acro eating flatworms at different points in my reefing career. Now. Everything gets a bayer dip and then an observational quarantine for a week or so. Frag tank water gets heavily UV sterilized as it returns to the main system water so I use it as my quarantine tank (I can shut it off from the main tank if I need to truly quarantine it and treat it.) Which isn't perfect, but it has actually worked extraordinarily well in my system and have run several successful treatments in this manner.
Due to this system, I am confident I don't have any significant coral pests (aside from my emerald crab who just eats stylophora polyps all day, but thats another situation entirely. Going to have to break up the colony to pull him and throw him in the fuge, so it's on the backburner...back burner.... I digress)
happyhourhero
Burner of the Tips
There are a couple of sps shops I would consider clean (but I still dip). I would not place undipped corals from any of the chop shops in my system.
Interceptor is used for cats as well
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livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I've heard potassium chloride can also help with stress that a new frag might go through when moving to a new tank if parameters are different from the previous tank...is there truth to this?
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livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I have a ways to travel with it before getting it back to my place so I expect the water might get a little bit warm in the bag on my way home so I was thinking maybe I should put it in a tank to observe like you do before dipping because it might be a little stressed from the temp rising...is it ok if my observation tank doesn't have a light? I'm planning on using potassium chloride to dip btw
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Off topic, but I travel with a cooler, and add bottles of cold (cool) or hot (warm) water to the cooler as needed... With a cheap digital thermometer, you can usually keep the transport temp pretty stable.
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livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I think instead of picking it up I might just have the guy send it to me since he just offered to put it in a styrofoam cooler for me when he sends it...(it actually isn't more than a 40 minute drive but it's hard for me to get there quickly without a car and a taxi would be pretty expensive)...btw, this is the acro I'm planning to get...do you know much about it right off? All it says in the title is "Bali"
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Depends on how long you plan on observing. It should receive enough ambient light if it’s in close proximity to your display. Otherwise a cheap led clamp on light from Amazon will do if you plan on keeping it in there for more than a couple days.
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