New Ship Corals, Do I Dip?

H

Hojo220

New member
Hello,

I am getting my first shipment of corals in today and i was wondering if I should be dipping them. They will have been in transit for juat about 1.5 days and the shipper suggests not dipping the corals because shipping already puts alot of stress on the coral let alone shipping then a dip. Whats your thoughts on this? Everywhere i look people say to dip corals prior to introducing them to their tank.
 
If I was truly worried, I'd just QT them. I don't like dipping corals. I know why it's done, but I prefer to utilize fish that kill pests instead. I dipped a batch of acros I brought in once and regretted it cause they were full of tiny crabs and I killed just about every single one of them. I didn't dip the last few, so I still had crabs to keep. And I was able to save a few who jumped ship when the acros went into the dip. I still have them too. They keep the acros clean and care for them. I regret losing the ones I lost. And yes, I've brought in things like bobbit worms, and long scary fire worms, and other weird stuff, but I've also gotten some amazing creatures when I import stuff. I don't dip any more. I have a special tank I put everything in so I can watch it for a while.If I see something I don't like I remove it with tweezers, forceps, and last ditch effort I will dip, but so far (knock on wood) I've not really had to dip anything anymore. At least not for pests.
 
i dip everything that comes in to my tanks. get a serious coral pest like AEFW or Red Bugs and then tell me about how you don't need to dip.

a properly done dip should not be that stressful. just make sure you've temp acclimated them, and that your dip water matches in salinity.
 
MondoBongo said:
i dip everything that comes in to my tanks. get a serious coral pest like AEFW or Red Bugs and then tell me about how you don't need to dip.

a properly done dip should not be that stressful. just make sure you've temp acclimated them, and that your dip water matches in salinity.
Click to expand...

he never told the op not to dip, said he prefers not to dip because he knows the risk and puts his corals in a separate tank to observe. he has fish that will eat some pest and the others he will remove in a separate tank.

too many people on reef central give there way or opinion as fact. this hobby has many ways of doing something.

i personally have dipped and haven't dipped. i also will look at each coral with a magnifying glass to make sure everything is ok. i prefer now to put into a separate tank and watch for a month, but i understand this isnt feasible for everyone. plus dipping wont kill everything.
 
anthonys51 said:
he never told the op not to dip, said he prefers not to dip because he knows the risk and puts his corals in a separate tank to observe. he has fish that will eat some pest and the others he will remove in a separate tank.

too many people on reef central give there way or opinion as fact. this hobby has many ways of doing something.

i personally have dipped and haven't dipped. i also will look at each coral with a magnifying glass to make sure everything is ok. i prefer now to put into a separate tank and watch for a month, but i understand this isnt feasible for everyone. plus dipping wont kill everything.
Click to expand...

shipper clearly suggested not dipping. i'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

observation is great and highly encouraged, but it's far from a highly effective solution. tiny things like flatworms, red bugs, etc, are easily hidden in tiny spaces in rocks and may not be easily spotted, even with magnification. i've personally done thorough visual inspections on corals, found nothing, only to dip and have things as large as medium sized micro-brittle stars and inch long bristle worms fall out of some hidden area.

i never said any of this fact, nor did i present it as such, so again i'm not really sure what you're on about there. op asked for opinions, i gave mine. it is well reasoned, and generally supported by a large amount of anecdotal evidence as being a safe and effective way to help mitigate risk.
 
My point is dipping doesn't kill everything either. Best method is to qt Corals for 72 days. You state that inspecting corals won't catch everything your right. But dipping isn't 100 percent. Plus I don't agree with shipper. My Lfs gets Corals from around the would and still dips everything. Don't know why he thinks a 1 day trip will affect them that much. You can 100 percent dip shipped Corals and still have them live. But also no dipping will not I repeat will not kill every pest.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for your replies, I agree with all of you, Dipping isn't expected to catch it all, but it helps. And yes I wish I could quarantine these guys but unfortunately I cannot :(, so ill do my best with Visual inspection and dipping.

Thanks I have them sitting in my tank adjusting to temperature and ill do the dip/acclimation once I get home from work.

Thanks for your help!!
 
I'm definitely not advocating "never dip" rather I'm advocating to not use it as a blanket method. Definitely don't let yourself believe it's a solution. Rather simply one more tool in our arsenal. Dipping kills the bad, but it also kills the good. And honestly it seems to do more damage to good life than bad. Bad stuff always seems to have a trick. You want to keep it? Crap it's dead.
What I'm saying is, put the coral into a QT and observe them. Why introduce poisons into your system, even in small amounts, if there is no need. (seriously look at all the trouble you go to to put clean pesticide free water in your tank) A lot of prevention can be done with simple fresh water rinses. The rest which is resistant, is often resistant to pesticides too. While we think of things like redbugs and nudibranchs, what about really NASTY stuff like bacterial infections? You want something that will wipe out your tank? Get a nasty bacteria in it. Your UV sterilizer will be practically useless (unless you have some way to channel 100% of the water through the tube every single day), and there are few to no medications to help corals. And what about fish diseases traveling on coral? Dip doesn't stop those either. To just dip and think your safe is a fairy tale. You will prevent, catch, and save more, by QTing. Treat if you have an issue, sure, but don't treat and think your problems are over.
 
CrayolaViolence said:
I'm definitely not advocating "never dip" rather I'm advocating to not use it as a blanket method. Definitely don't let yourself believe it's a solution. Rather simply one more tool in our arsenal. Dipping kills the bad, but it also kills the good. And honestly it seems to do more damage to good life than bad. Bad stuff always seems to have a trick. You want to keep it? Crap it's dead.
What I'm saying is, put the coral into a QT and observe them. Why introduce poisons into your system, even in small amounts, if there is no need. (seriously look at all the trouble you go to to put clean pesticide free water in your tank) A lot of prevention can be done with simple fresh water rinses. The rest which is resistant, is often resistant to pesticides too. While we think of things like redbugs and nudibranchs, what about really NASTY stuff like bacterial infections? You want something that will wipe out your tank? Get a nasty bacteria in it. Your UV sterilizer will be practically useless (unless you have some way to channel 100% of the water through the tube every single day), and there are few to no medications to help corals. And what about fish diseases traveling on coral? Dip doesn't stop those either. To just dip and think your safe is a fairy tale. You will prevent, catch, and save more, by QTing. Treat if you have an issue, sure, but don't treat and think your problems are over.
Click to expand...



Very well said. No short cuts or simple Methods in the hobby


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
i dip everything.
people are going to do what ever they want no matter how much info or insight others give.
honestly its your call no one can make your mind up for you. yes you will be lucky but there is that one time you will bite your own tongue off when dealing with an introduced pest, that got through a qt or magnifying glass.
 
I advocate a 10g coral quarantine tank with a small frag rack. It's the cheapest setup, and allows you to acclimate corals to both light, temperature, and inspect for pests. HOB filter with skimmer (I use a skilter, I know... it's old...) and water changes are done from the display tank into the QT tank. 30 days in the QT before they hit my main display.
 
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