how to dip?

[maleks.reef]

Hi everyone. I have an 11 month old tank with about 16 corals and ive never dipped any of them. A very amateur and ignorant thing to do, i know. It was all going well until my prized candy cane started to die. I noticed that on its "stem" or body there are tiny black dots that form sort of like a web. They do not move and people have told me that they are not worms but whatever it is, it's killing my candy cane. So, now I want to get into dipping properly.

So my question is, what is the best and easiest way to dip? My main concern is about the water that I take out of the tank to use for the dip + the water that ill need to rinse off. From what ive seen and read, ill need to make fresh salt water to replace the one I used for dipping. So how do you guys do it efficiently without spending an hour or more on dipping? I know making saltwater is not complex it's just that it is quite a hassle.

Also, I plan on using Dettol to dip it since i do not have any dip on hand right now. Has anyone tried using it before?

Thanks for your time!

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Hi everyone. I have an 11 month old tank with about 16 corals and ive never dipped any of them. A very amateur and ignorant thing to do, i know. It was all going well until my prized candy cane started to die. I noticed that on its "stem" or body there are tiny black dots that form sort of like a web. They do not move and people have told me that they are not worms but whatever it is, it's killing my candy cane. So, now I want to get into dipping properly.

So my question is, what is the best and easiest way to dip? My main concern is about the water that I take out of the tank to use for the dip + the water that ill need to rinse off. From what ive seen and read, ill need to make fresh salt water to replace the one I used for dipping. So how do you guys do it efficiently without spending an hour or more on dipping? I know making saltwater is not complex it's just that it is quite a hassle.

Also, I plan on using Dettol to dip it since i do not have any dip on hand right now. Has anyone tried using it before?

Thanks for your time!

Get a bucket to put your corals in. The water in the bag should be enough to fill the bucket and if not, tilting the bucket should do. Follow the steps on the dip about dosing. After the dip, rinse your corals in old saltwater (I typically save some from my last water change) and bobs your uncle. Should require minimal topping off of water (I don’t believe in the craze of drip acclimating corals but that’s a different story. Just float and dip and put into the tank)

 

[maleks.reef]

Get a bucket to put your corals in. The water in the bag should be enough to fill the bucket and if not, tilting the bucket should do. Follow the steps on the dip about dosing. After the dip, rinse your corals in old saltwater (I typically save some from my last water change) and bobs your uncle. Should require minimal topping off of water (I don’t believe in the craze of drip acclimating corals but that’s a different story. Just float and dip and put into the tank)

Saving water from a WC is a good idea. I will do that the next time i do a WC. Do you heat up the water to use for rinsing or do you just use it as is? Also how many rinsing stations do you usually have? Some people do 1 some do 2. I want to do 1 but im worried that any of the dip might make it into the tank.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Saving water from a WC is a good idea. I will do that the next time i do a WC. Do you heat up the water to use for rinsing or do you just use it as is? Also how many rinsing stations do you usually have? Some people do 1 some do 2. I want to do 1 but im worried that any of the dip might make it into the tank.

I heat it up. But don’t be worried if it’s a few degrees to hot or cold. Corals are fine if the waters a little too hot or a little too cold. Just nothing +/- 8-10 or so degrees. I just rinse each coral for about a minute after in one bucket and then put in the tank. Corals are hardy and almost all healthy ones aren’t gonna die from a dip unless there was something going on already.

 

[DiamondHands]

If you can keep that dirty water from a water change, why don't you just mix up some extra saltwater to keep some clean water on hand to replace tank water? I usually dip with tank water and rinse with new saltwater; it's just a few seconds to rinse.

 

[maleks.reef]

I heat it up. But don’t be worried if it’s a few degrees to hot or cold. Corals are fine if the waters a little too hot or a little too cold. Just nothing +/- 8-10 or so degrees. I just rinse each coral for about a minute after in one bucket and then put in the tank. Corals are hardy and almost all healthy ones aren’t gonna die from a dip unless there was something going on already.

If you can keep that dirty water from a water change, why don't you just mix up some extra saltwater to keep some clean water on hand to replace tank water? I usually dip with tank water and rinse with new saltwater; it's just a few seconds to rinse.

How many rinsing containers do you guys do though? 1 or 2?

 

[maleks.reef]

bump

 

[muzikalmatt]

One rinse in fresh saltwater should be fine for removing any excess dip from the frag.

 

[DiamondHands]

How many rinsing containers do you guys do though? 1 or 2?

I rinse once.

 

[maleks.reef]

Update: My almost dead candy cane was dipped in Dettol. I THINK it is doing better, im not too sure but it did sto getting worse so that good news, i hope. That being said the Dettol did not damage the tissue, the cane opened up the next day. For anyone interested, I used 0.3 mL of Dettol per 1 liter of tank water. You could go up to 0.5 mL but since the coral was so fragile I chose the lowest dose. I kept it in for 10 mins.