Dez' Tank Journal

[lobsterboy]

Hey Des, your tank is looking wicked colors are really comig out as well as growth, great job !

[Dez]

Originally Posted by lobsterboy

Hey Des, your tank is looking wicked colors are really comig out as well as growth, great job !

Thanks John,

Really like seeing corals colour up. It's so strange how one coral will be green in a friend's tank and turn yellow in your own. Or it might be brown in one's and pink in another.

[Dez]

Well,

Somewhat sad news. I have RED BUGS.

I sort of knew about a month and a half ago. I bought some frags off of a fellow canreefer and upon inspecting a frag, I saw the red bugs. I proceeded to do an Interceptor dip to a few of the smooth skinned acros even though I didn't see any bugs on them.

I thought I had caught it early enough. The one frag that I dipped and the bugs disappeared has changed tremendously without the red bugs bugging it. It used to be whitish baby blue, now it's a rich teal colour and there are no signs of bugs anymore. The polyp extension has increased substantially also.

However, I was enjoying my tank tonight and looked really closely at my large acro colony and saw a bug run accross it. Then I saw another
I saw 3 of them in total on that large colony. So I think they're just starting. Upon inspecting my other corals, it doesn't look like they are affected, but I'm going to do a full tank treatment anyway to be safe, once the lights are out. Then I'll do another in a week, and the final one another week later.

I know that many people dip their corals before it goes into the display. What do you guys dip them in. I'm more scared of acropora eating flatworms then red bugs.

I know that if you buy from some reputable suppliers like CORAL MASTER, it voids the warranty if you dip the corals.

What are your thoughts?

I've never dipped any corals in the years I've been in the hobby. I guess it's never too late to start. Any suggestions?

[michika]

I dip either with Tropic Marin's Pro Coral Cure, or ReVive (which smells like Mr. Clean). Usually I dip with ReVive initially, then let them sit in QT then later dip with TMPCC.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by michika

I dip either with Tropic Marin's Pro Coral Cure, or ReVive (which smells like Mr. Clean). Usually I dip with ReVive initially, then let them sit in QT then later dip with TMPCC.

Do you dip all corals in that, or just sps? What kind of pests are those dips supposed to get rid of? I am such a dip noob.

[Dez]

I'm thinking of dipping all smooth skinned sps corals I get with an Interceptor bath. Unless it's from a trusted source.

[shrimpchips]

Even from "trusted" sources you can pick up nasties. I almost got an AEFW infestation since a trusted vendor advised not dipping their frags to minimize "stress" and to not void their stay alive guarantee.

I ended up finding a single small AEFW on a frag, and then proceeded to spend the next few weeks worrying about and watching out for any other infestation of my tank (which didn't occur, thankfully).

IMO, I don't care who it is anymore, I dip.