what should I do with my coral

[BullDZR]

I need to know what I should do.

I am thinking of getting rid of the coral I have in my current tank, however some of the acans I have are awsome and I would love to move them to the new tank. Only problem is this:

I have bubble algea, flatworms, bristleworms, SPS eating starfish.

If I decided to keep them, what would you suggest I do to make sure I do not carry any of this over to the new tank? The flatworms I can take care of, but what about the rest of the pests?

What are you guys dipping with when getting new corals in to make sure you do not have these issues?

 

[KarlBob]

There are several different iodine-based dips. I've heard both fans and critics of Tropic Marine Pro Coral Cure.

I forget the name of the one I have at home, but I've only used it once, so I couldn't say much about its effectiveness.

I've also dipped corals in RO/DI, but I don't think I've done them right. Ive done quick dips of just a few seconds, which might not kill the baddies, and I've done a 5 minute dip, which seriously stressed the coral.

 

[blue44magnum]

Treat them and put them in a q-tank and observe them , for a while before you put them in your new tank.

 

[kkdoughboy]

I think maybe you should just sell those Acans to me! You don't wanna risk moving them to another tank. Ok I'm kidding...Tropic Marin Coral Cure will kill the flatworms and bristleworms. Most of them that is...Nothing is for sure in this hobby. The RO/DI bath could help too but I heard it's not good to do this with Lps especially Acans! Anyone else got any ideas?!

 

[coralnut99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15469127#post15469127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blue44magnum
Treat them and put them in a q-tank and observe them , for a while before you put them in your new tank.

Bristleworms only become "pests" if the tank has excess detritus and undigested food for them to eat. Bubble aglae's pretty easy to remove manually once in a QT. The stars may take longest to kick, even in QT.

 

[Barky]

BullDZR
Just curious do you have a picture of your star eating SPS, or lead me to a site that shows one.
Thanks

 

[BullDZR]

here is where i read about it, and these are the ones i have

http://www.garf.org/news26p2.shtml#STAR

and

http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.shtml

 

[BullDZR]

Thanks to you all for your suggestions.

I have decided I am going to try and save them. I am going to start off by cutting away as much of the liverock from their base as possible, then move them to a QT tank. Once there, I will start a regimine of sever different dipps over a month period, then at the end of the month, dip again just to make sure. then leave them in qt for a few weeks longer and if all is good, move them to the new tank. Mind you, this is going to be hard. I SOOOOOOOO want to start getting some coral in this thing.

 

[Popeye]

I wouldn't worry too much about the bristleworms. If you do some research you will find that most types are harmless. I was fanatic about trying to wipe mine out for a while, and eventually gave up. In the end, they never seemed to hurt anything and I think they were really effective scavengers.

 

[RRaider]

Have you actually seen your small starfish eat sps corals? I have a ton of them in my 29 and while they will try to munch on a zoanthid polyp once in a while they seem to prefer coralline algae and sps skeletons. I've even never seen one on a living coral other than a zoanthid nor do I have any damage to any of my sps that would suggest the star fish are eating it. Even when they try eating a zoa polyp the worst I've seen is the polyp remain closed for a few days and then they are back to normal. Of course mine may be a different species as I've never seen one a full inch long, maybe 1/2 an inch.

 

[Blitzburggirl]

Hey BullDZR-

You get the scooby doo award- my mystery is solved!!!

Seriously, I posted in the marine inverts section for a stylo, pocilli problem- no insight available...
then just ran across this thread this morning. I think it's these stars causing me problems!

Thank you!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=15602677#post15602677

 

[zoadude]

I've used Flatworm Exit in a concentrated dose in a bucket leaving corals in it for 15 minutes and it kills worms, starfish, nudis, flatworms but does not harm to the corals. About 3 drops per quart of seawater.
Note that I have never tried it on sps, only leathers, zoanthids, lps and mushrooms.

 

[BullDZR]

yea, that is what I am doing...

so just an fyi, I am doing 3 doses in 1.5 weeks before adding them to the tank. I am also dosing lugols iodide as well..

I just finsihed fraging everything off of their old homes and have them waiting to go to QT at work. I will post pics once I QT them and also when I get them in the tank. Unfortunetly, over the last few months, alot of them have lost all color and went brwon, so I am hoping to save what I can. We will see...

Thanks to you all for the help and suggestions.