Placed 1st order of zoas for my tank, acclimation help please!

[cbs49er]

I just placed an order for some small frags of:
Fireworks, watermelon, and dragon eye zoas. I’ve been watching videos of people acclimating zoas and it varies so much. I see some people just getting the package and letting the temp acclimate and then simply dropping them in without rinsing or adding any treatment. Others use turkey basters, hydrogen peroxide or specific reef treatment. Can some of you experienced help me out or link me to anything to read up on? Thx.

 

[ReeferBoi]

I think most people float the bag to acclimate and then use a dip. I personally use Coral Rx following the instructions. You could also inspect it and brush or pick off anything weird.

 

[cbs49er]

I think most people float the bag to acclimate and then use a dip. I personally use Coral Rx following the instructions. You could also inspect it and brush or pick off anything weird.

Yea, Ive seen toothbrushes/makeup brushes to clean the plug and then bone cutter/razor blades to remove it. I’ll look into coral Rx

 

[ScottR]

The only acclimation necessary is for temperature. Usually floating the bag in the tank. Then dip then place in tank. Zoas are very hardy for the most part.

 

[littlebigreef]

I personally have had mixed to poor results using coral Rx with zoas. My recommendation for them, and really anything you put into your tank, is to drip acclimate all things into a decent sized container with clear sides. While dripping I generally add a few drops of lugol's solution which is therapeutic for all corals. It doesn't have to be a slow drip either, from unbagging to aquarium is usually 20-30 mins for me. During this time you can also inspect the frags for any nuisance critters that might be on them.

If you're not QTing stuff and its going directly into the aquarium you might want to consider Bayer dipping... but that's an additional conversation.

 

[cbs49er]

I’ve been acclimating my fish by removing about 1/4 cup of bag water with tank water. Usually let bag float 15 min then remove/add water every 5 min. I’ll use something to clean the plug, inspect the frag, and then dip. I’ve heard Bayer mentioned but haven’t really read up on it. My corals are coming from aquadsd

 

[littlebigreef]

I’ve been acclimating my fish by removing about 1/4 cup of bag water with tank water. Usually let bag float 15 min then remove/add water every 5 min. I’ll use something to clean the plug, inspect the frag, and then dip. I’ve heard Bayer mentioned but haven’t really read up on it. My corals are coming from aquadsd

Dripping stuff in is a lot easier and controlled than floating a bag and potentially mixing store water inside your aquarium, especially if you have a dedicated container and length of airline tubing. It’ll slowly and consistently normalize the salinity and temp inside your container, you can also decant as necessary.

Bayer is a ‘big stick’ and also likely a carcinogen. It’s probably overkill for 80% of hobbyists, especially if it’s something coming from a reputable vendor like asd. It is good practice if you’re working with stuff that has been maricultured or wild collected. That said, it’s not unheard of to get red bugs, AEF or monti nudis from stuff that was aquacultured.

In the end you’ll need to weight the benefits of dipping/QTing against your overall husbandry strategy.

 

[Gtinnel]

I use bayer as a coral dip and it seems to work well for me. I used to add frags to my tank without dipping but I got a few hitchhikers so I am now in the habit of dipping and inspecting frags. As I've started to get more coral I am more paranoid about making sure not to add anything that could harm my corals.