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Coral dip disaster - what did I do wrong?


MInanoTank

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First post on this forum - unfortunately it's not a good one!

 

I started a Fluval EVO 13.5 back at the end of January.   Added 10lbs of wet live rock from an LFS, and about 3/4 of a bag of Caribsea Reef sand.   Let it cycle until I got 0-0-0, then did a 50% water change and added a CUC (5 nassarius, 2 cerith, 2 turbos, 2 blue leg hermits, 2 scarlet hermits, a strawberry conch, a skunk cleaner shrimp, a peppermint shrimp, an emerald crab and a porcelain crab).  Did a 3 gallon water change at 7 days, checked at 10 days still 0-0-0.   So I added a pair of Picasso Clowns.  Did 3 gallon water change 3 days later (I'm going weekly changes on Sunday mornings for now).   Another 7 days later (last Sunday) - everything 0-0-0.   So Friday I decided to add some corals.

 

I did my research, got some Coral Rx PRO, some Bayer Advanced, five 2 gallon buckets, some small power heads, some small heaters.

 

Purchased a fist sized rock loaded with zoanthids (literally 100+ polyps on the rock), another fist sized rock with star polyps all over it, and a 3 head purple tipped torch.

 

Brought the corals home Friday afternoon, set everything up, and dipped as follows -

 

Bucket 1 - 1 gallon of fresh salt water + 30 drop of Coral Rx PRO - soaked corals for 5 minutes

Bucket 2 - 1 gallon of fresh salt water, a small heater and a small power head - soaked corals for 15 minutes - frequently moved corals around in the bucket to keep water moving in / around them

Bucket 3 - 1 gallon of fresh salt water, + 155ml of Bayer Advanced, a small heater and a small power head - soaked corals for 15 minutes

Bucket 4 - 1 gallon of fresh salt water, a small heater and a small power head - soaked corals for 15 minutes - frequently moved corals around in the bucket to keep water moving in / around them

Bucket 5 - 1 gallon of fresh salt water, a small heater and a small power head - soaked corals for 1 hour, changed water at 1 hour point, left corals in this rinse for another hour

Removed corals from Bucket 5, shook off as much water as possible.   Placed in tank around 8:00pm last night.

 

2 hours later, I found my cleaner shrimp dead.

2 hours later, I found my peppermint shrimp dead.

This morning, the scarlet hermits and emerald crab were acting weird - like they were in shock.  The blue leg hermits, the porcelain crab, the conch, all snails and fish seemed fine.

I did a 5 gallon emergency water change this morning.

I found the emerald crab dead around 2:30pm this afternoon.

The scarlet hermits are not moving, but when I pick up their shells, you can see them and they retreat into their shells.   They're not dead, but not active either.

The fish, conch, snails, blue leg hermits and porcelain crab still all seem fine.

I am planning to do another 5 gallon water change in the morning.

 

Any ideas what I did wrong here?  

Was the Coral Rx + Bayer too much?  

Was it just that there was residual dip left in the nooks and crannies of the rock the zoas and star polyps were on?

 

Is another 5 gallon water change in the morning a good idea?

 

What does everyone else here do for dipping corals before putting them in their nano reef tanks?  (Came here looking for experience from those that keep small reefs - other forums don't seem to concentrate on nano sized tanks, so not a lot of good advice there.)

 

 

 

Edited by MInanoTank
added info
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A Little Blue

Did you dip the entire rock in RX and Bayer? That’s a no, no. 

Small frags on plugs, yes. 

Rocks are pretty porous. Almost imposible to flush all of that dipping solution out. 

Thats basically what happened. 

+Some dieoff of various organisms that lived in that rock. You also might have had an ammonia/nitrate spike bc of that. 

 

 

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Tuan’s Reef

Did you test the water? 

 

What test kit? 

 

Thats a lot of bioload to add in one shot.  2 snails , 1 shrimp,  would of been plenty for a tank of that size. 

 

Can you post a pic of the Bayer product you used 

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Yes, I put both rocks in both Rx and Bayer.   The torch is on a cement square.

 

So there was residual dip left in both rocks - that then leached out into the tank killing the weaker inverts?

 

How do you dip corals on rocks then?

 

I'll check ammonia / nitrate now.

 

Is it going to be possible to get the dip out of the tank now?   Will it eventually dissipate?   

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Tuan’s Reef

Oh no, like little blue mentioned , did you dip the entire rock?  Don’t dip rocks. Just the plugs . The rock willl absorb the dip and leech back into the tank .... slowly 

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Yes - dipped entire rock.   Is the tank toasted now?   Is it just a matter of time until everything dies?

 

I did 5 gallon water change this morning - water mixing overnight for another 5 gallon change in the morning.

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A Little Blue

Use GFO. Something like ChemiPure or alike. Carbon might help. Or this:

6E2227AD-C894-4E8D-BEFC-63C718E51375.jpeg.87c3a725fe20ff1bf9b616e5b95441b4.jpeg

 

Do large water change if you have to. 

Zoas on a rock...... I would just dip it in RO water for 5-10 minutes at the most. They can close up pretty good to withstand this method. Use turkey baster to blow water through a colony. This will help blow off some pests. However, there is no %100 guarantee that something won’t get through. You can also try iodine base dip like Revive. Dipping solutions work to some degree but some corals react differently to those solutions so do some research b4 you do. 

Most LPS corals are ok with bayer or Rx. Smooth skin SPS don’t like it all that much.  Same with Bayer. 

Revive is OK for softies. 

Visual inspection is key. 

And there is no dip that kills eggs so there you have it. 

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Thrassian Atoll

Which Bayer did you use?  It’s strong stuff.  When dipping you need to remove the corals from plugs, rocks or whatever else they are on. 

 

Also, I would dip in coralrx or bayer, not both.

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9 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Use GFO. Something like ChemiPure or alike. Carbon might help. Or this:

6E2227AD-C894-4E8D-BEFC-63C718E51375.jpeg.87c3a725fe20ff1bf9b616e5b95441b4.jpeg

 

Do large water change if you have to. 

Zoas on a rock...... I would just dip it in RO water for 5-10 minutes at the most. They can close up pretty good to withstand this method. Use turkey baster to blow water through a colony. This will help blow off some pests. However, there is no %100 guarantee that something won’t get through. You can also try iodine base dip like Revive. Dipping solutions work to some degree but some corals react differently to those solutions so do some research b4 you do. 

Most LPS corals are ok with bayer or Rx. Smooth skin SPS don’t like it all that much.  Same with Bayer. 

Revive is OK for softies. 

Visual inspection is key. 

And there is no dip that kills eggs so there you have it. 

I have the small nano bags of ChemiPure - I added another bag on top of the poly floss so the water is running over it, then through the floss, then through the second bag lower down in the inMedia Chamber 1 basket.  Also have Purigen in the basket as well.

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A Little Blue

I dosed Rx directly to my tank recently by accident (bottle looks exactly the same as my amino acid supplements). Some carbon, GFO and that poly stuff did remove it quite quickly. No casualties. 

And yes, those multiple dips didn’t really help. If you feel that coral might need multiple dips for some reason, give it a rest in the tank and dip after few to several days later. Cutting plugs is a good practice. Some corals encrust the plug. In that case just cut the stem off. 

Some ppl use peroxide for a dip. I would NOT do that. It’s very harsh and some corals won’t survive this. It’s good to carefully dip the plug with some algae on it. Just be careful not to expose coral on it for extended period of time. They might be OK with a minute or so. All those experiences are personal and you might have to find what works best for you. 

 

Edited. Peroxide part

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A Little Blue
1 minute ago, MInanoTank said:

I have the small nano bags of ChemiPure - I added another bag on top of the poly floss so the water is running over it, then through the floss, then through the second bag lower down in the inMedia Chamber 1 basket.  Also have Purigen in the basket as well.

That’s fine. You can probably remove it later tomorrow. 

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When you said "large water change" - the most I can do right now is 5 gallons at a time.   Is that large enough?   Or should I go get another 5 gallon bucket, power head and heater?

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A Little Blue
3 minutes ago, MInanoTank said:

When you said "large water change" - the most I can do right now is 5 gallons at a time.   Is that large enough?   Or should I go get another 5 gallon bucket, power head and heater?

That should be enough. Take it easy. Come down and don’t panic. That’s the worst that you can do at the moment. Sh&t happens to all of us. You’ll be fine. 

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1 minute ago, A Little Blue said:

That should be enough. Take it easy. Come down and don’t panic. That’s the worst that you can do at the moment. Sh&t happens to all of us. You’ll be fine. 

THANKS!   I just read that, and took a seriously deep breath!   I think it's the first time I've taken a deep breath all day!

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A Little Blue
Just now, MInanoTank said:

THANKS!   I just read that, and took a seriously deep breath!   I think it's the first time I've taken a deep breath all day!

Don’t worry. It’s going to be just fine. 👍

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IMG_2030.thumb.jpeg.d74ecb8e977353ecbc958e4e3a154fda.jpeg

 

Same chemicals - same concentrations.   

 

I'll review all my mistakes tomorrow.   The stress is finally winding down ... might actually be able to get some sleep tonight!

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burtbollinger

keep calm, it will settle down.  

 

i just dip in bayer.

 

I would also never consider adding a rock from a LFS that had corals on it.  my advice is stick to small frags...just my 2 cents.
 

 

FWIW, I would not replace the peppermint or the emerald.  I have NEVER not regretted adding either to a tank.  Peppermints are a disaster...especially in a new/clean tank where they are hungry and there are LPS corals present.  

 

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Thinking back to my Nano Cube - the Cleaner and Peppermint shrimps were a PITA when it came time to feed corals.   The little scavengers would pull food right out of the mouths of corals.   I probably will not replace them.   While the emerald crab provides a fun game of "where is the emerald crab hiding" - I really like the porcelain crab - it is much more visible and entertaining to watch.

 

This is a photo of the zoa rock this morning.   The price for that many zoas was ridiculously cheap, but the damage was high.

 

IMG_2033.jpeg

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burtbollinger
3 hours ago, MInanoTank said:

Thinking back to my Nano Cube - the Cleaner and Peppermint shrimps were a PITA when it came time to feed corals.   The little scavengers would pull food right out of the mouths of corals.   I probably will not replace them.   While the emerald crab provides a fun game of "where is the emerald crab hiding" - I really like the porcelain crab - it is much more visible and entertaining to watch.

 

This is a photo of the zoa rock this morning.   The price for that many zoas was ridiculously cheap, but the damage was high.

 

IMG_2033.jpeg

dipping that in bayer...i might have done the same thing.  probably would not have been thinking about the rock underneath.

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