I bet there are hundreds of ways to kill off these bugs.
The question remains how much damage does the method do to the coral.
Yesterday I was watching a Tjernobyl documentary and for most on site workers there was no immidiate ill effect. Extreme comparison, but look a modern medicine. They all have side effects and they may not be obvious.
I'm taking sides with Jim Z. here.
I don't think imidacloprid will damage the corals. The corals do not have synapses and neurotrnsmitters that this chemical interacts with in its target organisms. Imidacloprid breaks down in water under strong light in a very short time. In our aquaria it probably degrades in a day maybe two. In fact, it is probably a good idea to run "lights on" for twentyfour hours after dips to help break down any residual that makes it into the DT. Of course, we are presuming the corals don't readily uptake this compund or the breakdowwn products thereof. (But we already make the same presumption for levamisole and milbemycin, ivermectin, and Revive, etc..)
More on the photolysis and fate can be found here:
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/pubs/fatememo/imid.pdf
This is a great thread. I will use this info the next time I need to dip.
FYI All, - there is a similiar Bayer product (for citrus trees) that is just imidacloprid without the other active ingredients present in the other bayer products. I will choose that one, even if it takes a little more volume to use it and costs a few dollars more.
As responsible aquarists, if we: 1) choose the formulation with just the one active ingredient (imidacloprid), and 2) after dips, we place our tanks/contaienrs in strong sunlight (out of reach of any pets and children) for a day or two before discarding the waste solutions, we will be minimizing any unwanted impcats on our environment.
Once again, I think this is a great thread.