New Corals
I put my corals in a dip. When I dip, you dip, WE DIP!
Whenever I get a new coral, I dip the corals into a medicated solution in order to remove unwanted pests before adding them to the QT. I got some new corals in today, so if anyone wants to see the text/picture heavy process, click below!
Before I dip (you dip, we dip), I try to get all the materials that I will need. I have done the Bayer’s dip that is recommended in some saltwater forums, however, I primarily use Revive, a “coral cleaner” by Two Little Fishies. For this process, I need enough clean saltwater (can be “new” or from the tank they’re going into) to cover the corals, two containers to hold aforementioned water, gloves, protective eyewear, something to agitate the water (a small powerhead, air stone, in my case a syringe) and obviously, some Revive.
Following the dosage instructions, I mix Revive into one of the containers with saltwater. The other container of water will be used to rinse off the solution after we have dipped the corals.
I always check the corals before I remove them from the water they’re in, checking for any pests or abnormalities and then I put them in the Revive solution.
I try to dip the corals for roughly 5-7 minutes (less than 10) and while they’re in the solution, I use my gloved hands to agitate the water and I also use the syringe to push water over the corals, blowing over any places where the skeleton is exposed and potentially removing any loose tissue or little hitchhikers that are hanging on.
After the corals have been in the solution, I move them into the other saltwater container and gently shake the coral, gently rinsing off the Revive solution. If I have a group of corals that I am dipping, I try to stagger putting them in so that none of them spend more time than necessary in the Revive.
The final step is to put them into the QT! Sometimes the corals get a little angry after being dipped, like the one in the bottom of this pic.
Assuming the coral is otherwise healthy, they’ll forgive you. See how much happier that guy looks?
Why do we dip? Because, what the hell is that thing? Even aquacultured corals may have been exposed to all kinds of creepy crawlies and it’s always nice to be able to start fresh.
It’s true some corals don’t respond well to dips. Off the top of my head, I can’t quite remember which ones, however, I will say that if you dip zoanthids or palythoas (commonly known as zoas/palys), please please please be careful. They have the potential to squirt you with palytoxin when they’re out of the water and the results are not pretty, potentially even lethal. Best practices are to never point them towards your body, wear protective clothing and make sure the room is clear of pets and children so they don’t accidentally get squirted either.
After this whole process, the corals stay in an invert QT (a tank that’s never been exposed to copper or other invert unsafe meds) for at least 2 months, but in our case most likely 3 months. In that time, we’ll monitor the health of the corals, do spot checks for nudibranchs or any other pests that may have survived the dip and potentially dip again if we do see anything. This 3 month observation period in a separate invert only tank, ensures that eggs from fish parasites won’t make it to the main tank once the corals are added to the DT. Sometimes parasites or rather their eggs can lay dormant in frag plugs or in coral skeletons or live rock and by keeping them in an invert only tank, you essentially starve the parasites once they hatch.
If you’d like to see more posts like this, please let me know or if you have any questions! It’s nice to be writing about my tanks again! Shout-out to Austin Aqua Farms for always being a great company to do business with. They’re always quick to respond, very friendly and understanding and they don’t juice their pictures on the website. What you see is truly what you get with them.
