MY OWN DIPPING REGIMEN, WITH IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE AND THE TRUTH ABOUT USING BAYER

[Big E]

I use the marine formula but I've read fresh and marine are the same, just labeled & priced differently.

I don't have to dip that often so the price isn't a factor for me.

There's also a common chemical(not a commercial product) that is working very well. I forget what it is now but talk to Keith -- Reef Bum about this. This may fit you better from a cost perspective.

 

[Joe462]

I use the marine formula but I've read fresh and marine are the same, just labeled & priced differently.

I don't have to dip that often so the price isn't a factor for me.

There's also a common chemical(not a commercial product) that is working very well. I forget what it is now but talk to Keith -- Reef Bum about this. This may fit you better from a cost perspective.

potassium chloride maybe?

that is what i have been using. it is my understanding that is what polyp labs reef primer is.

 

[KnightlyBuzz]

cool this is great to know I really appreciate the input! my dip combo has been so effective I hate the idea of compromising at all on this with something different. will get some melafix for sure

Thanks for this! I have used Expel combined with Reef Primer in the past as well, and I mix in very small amounts (2 cups per frag). I’ve got a couple of frags coming this week so I plan on mixing 5 ml Melafix with 1 cap Reef Primer and 2 cups aquarium water; and dip for 5 minutes.

What do you think? Concentration good? Dip time long enough?

 

[KnightlyBuzz]

Thanks for this! I have used Expel combined with Reef Primer in the past as well, and I mix in very small amounts (2 cups per frag). I’ve got a couple of frags coming this week so I plan on mixing 5 ml Melafix with 1 cap Reef Primer and 2 cups aquarium water; and dip for 5 minutes.

What do you think? Concentration good? Dip time long enough?

FYI, I tried this today with 5 frags and 4 of the 5 look good. The other looks stressed and may not make it, but whether or not that is from my dipping or shipping we’ll never know I guess. They were all montipora if anyone is looking for “data points”.

 

[Battlecorals]

FYI, I tried this today with 5 frags and 4 of the 5 look good. The other looks stressed and may not make it, but whether or not that is from my dipping or shipping we’ll never know I guess. They were all montipora if anyone is looking for “data points”.

interesting. generally speaking Monti are by far the most forgiving sps when it comes to stuff like this. Sorry to hear it. I still have about 3/4 of a bottle of expel so I'm not quite there yet. but my plan is to use melafix with som for of potassium salt once im out of the expel

 

[Coronus]

With Melafix Pond 5%. How much is used per cup of tank water to dip acros?
For how long?

 

[drtechno]

As an aside, but related- I assume none of these chemicals do anything to aiptasia. So if part of the QT is also for aiptasia, what do you do if you find one growing after a week? Just the typical aiptasia control (Kalk paste, super glue, etc). But that implies you now have buds or whatever in your QT. So the only true treatment is to throw all the frags out and drain the QT, correct?

I understand many people aren’t concerned with this, but let’s pretend for a moment that aiptasia is part of the QT goal.

 

[drtechno]

Maybe I missed it. But one of the things that becomes difficult for me when dipping new corals, is maintaining temperature/water consistency on the 3-5 different buckets used throughout the process.

I prefer to use water from my DT for each step, vs mixing fresh batches.

Temperatures surely drop at each stage during each 10-15 min stage of the dip/rinse process. Do yall just have multiple heaters at play?

So my attempt to combat this is the following-
My dips and rinse containers are in thin disposable Tupperware containers.
These containers are placed into a large wide and shallow storage tub (Home Depo) which is filled with water and has a heater. This heats the water in the tub which in turn heats the water in the dips. I saw this neat idea somewhere on R2R and it makes a lot of sense.

A pic looks like-

 

[Big E]

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