Which coral dip do you think is the best and why?

[Picogoby]

Hi,

 

As there are so many different coral dips on the market and so many pests to get rid of....... thought it would be good to poll our lovely members views on which is the best product and why?

[jservedio]

My favorite dip is using my old 2g pico tank as a quarantine and then just not dipping at all. I keep a couple of pieces of LR in my sump so that I can just fill it up at any time and have an instantly cycled QT. I un-mount any frag I get, closely inspect it for any pests, and watch it for a few weeks. If I have to treat anything, I'll treat it, but I don't do a prophylactic dip.

 

Works better than any dip and doesn't risk killing anything.

[EmilyxLC]

I generally use ReVive by Two Little Fishies and have been pretty happy with the results-- I mainly keep Acans and Zoanthids in an LPS-heavy Cube 10.  : )

[Picogoby]

4 hours ago, jservedio said:

My favorite dip is using my old 2g pico tank as a quarantine and then just not dipping at all. I keep a couple of pieces of LR in my sump so that I can just fill it up at any time and have an instantly cycled QT. I un-mount any frag I get, closely inspect it for any pests, and watch it for a few weeks. If I have to treat anything, I'll treat it, but I don't do a prophylactic dip.

 

Works better than any dip and doesn't risk killing anything.

Totally agree and this should quarantine should always be the first line of defence!

 

my challenge is spotting things like Monti eating Nudi’s and a few other tiny little invaders. Even when you know they are there how do you kill them?

 

my only concern would be if you put the LR back in the sump, would you not just be adding any pests back in to your main system if they where to hitchhike?

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, Picogoby said:

Totally agree and this should quarantine should always be the first line of defence!

 

my challenge is spotting things like Monti eating Nudi’s and a few other tiny little invaders. Even when you know they are there how do you kill them?

 

my only concern would be if you put the LR back in the sump, would you not just be adding any pests back in to your main system if they where to hitchhike?

That's why you leave it in QT for several weeks and treat the specific pest. Different dips deal with different pests better than others. Things like MENs will start munching on your montis the first night and they are really easy to spot and even easier to deal with in QT. Dips will remove the nudis, and you can scrape the eggs off and back in QT. Some things like red bugs can be treated with ivermectin (aka heartguard).

 

Pests can't just live without a host to prey on, so after a coral is treated, I just leave the LR sitting in the QT tank for a few weeks. If it was a true plague like AEFW, I'd nuke the small piece of LR and toss is back in the sump as dead rock since I don't take chances with AEFW.

 

If an acro frag came with AEFW or eggs, it'd be extremely unlikely to survive a full 6 week treatment, so I just toss it and not buy from that person again. A single dip doesn't cut it with them. If it were a colony, survival is much more likely, but I don't buy colonies, so never had to do it in QT. I dealt with AEFW years ago and the only thing I learned is dipping doesn't cut it when out comes to acros.