The new guy

[sicpig814]

Hello everybody I know Im the new guy, but I feel that when you go to your first swapmeet, you probably shouldn't come home with a sundial on your zoos

[schminksbro]

Dip and inspect EVERYTHING. Dip again. Repeat.

[jimsflies]

Most vendors do their best to eliminate pests...after all its in there interest to do so. Any time you add new stock to your tank, no matter where you get it from you run the risk of introducing pests. Dips aren't 100% effective the first time around..and it may be necessary to use different dips to get different pests. Like @schminksbro said...dip and repeat.

These days I prefer getting my corals as frags on plugs. This allows a good visual inspection since there aren't any holes or places for pests to hide as there is on a wild piece. It also allows for a more through dip since there isn't any place for them to hide where the dip might not penetrate.

My newest dip is a 20% peroxide solution. I dipped all of the zoas I brought home from the Flint swap in that as a precaution. I also like it because it helps to kill any algae that might be on the plug so that is less likely to be introduced as well.

[sicpig814]

I appreciate all the info, I will have to do some research and see. Is there a difference in dips for different Coral's

Most vendors do their best to eliminate pests...after all its in there interest to do so. Any time you add new stock to your tank, no matter where you get it from you run the risk of introducing pests. Dips aren't 100% effective the first time around..and it may be necessary to use different dips to get different pests. Like @schminksbro said...dip and repeat.

These days I prefer getting my corals as frags on plugs. This allows a good visual inspection since there aren't any holes or places for pests to hide as there is on a wild piece. It also allows for a more through dip since there isn't any place for them to hide where the dip might not penetrate.

My newest dip is a 20% peroxide solution. I dipped all of the zoas I brought home from the Flint swap in that as a precaution. I also like it because it helps to kill any algae that might be on the plug so that is less likely to be introduced as well.

[schminksbro]

I appreciate all the info, I will have to do some research and see. Is there a difference in dips for different Coral's

I use a variety of different dips such as Revive and Coralrx as well as things like Prazi Pro and Levamisol. It depends what you are targeting and what types of corals you are dipping. Peroxide can be useful but extreme caution should be taken because it can kill zoas and palys. I would never use it on any type of stony coral.

[jimsflies]

I would always advice caution if you're not sure how the coral will react with any given dip. Zoanthids are fairly dip tolerant (of several dips) whereas SPS are much more sensitive. As with anything in this hobby do your research first.

For example, I did not dip the LPS frags I brought home from the swap. Knowing that they would not appreciate the dip, instead I did a visual inspection and didn't see any pests so I acclimated them and added them directly to my tank. I felt pretty confident they were okay because they were small frags on plugs with no place for pests to hide.

Its important to realize that corals are likely already stressed from being taken for a ride to a frag swap (or home from the LFS), you may want to isolate the piece and dip it later...or just observe it for a week or so before integrating it with the rest of your coral stock.