Newbie question:

[Delerium]

How exactly do you dip new corals to remove possible hitch hikers and or other problematic things?

[Metalfreak]

Fresh water dip them in some RO/DI for a minute or two. Things usually fall off of them when they hit the water.

[Twizted1]

Use coral rx, trim a thin layer off of any exposed rock, then dip again.

[H2Ohio]

+1 for a dip in Coral RX.

Just dipped a half dozen or so frags but have seen a lot of little critters die off.  Probably most weren't harmful but I've seen a few I knew I didnt want.  Not worth the risk IMO.

[Wall_Tank]

Coral RX is probably the best dip out there today, That will get a lot of live creatures, but it will not do anything for any eggs that might be on the coral.   You also have to look at non-animal hitchhikers........there are problematic algae types that can destroy a tank.   Coral RX won't do anything for algae.  Some folks will immediately discard the entire coral if anything nasty is found on the coral.

Every type of coral has a slightly different process.   What are you looking to dip?

[Delerium]

Just anything in general, I usually do the fresh RO water, just looking into other remedies

[Steve]

I like Coral RX for SPS, but I prefer iodine for LPS and softies. I have lost several nice zoanthid frags after dipping them in coral RX. It is possible that I could have mixed it to strong or something, but it has happened several different times. Never had a problem dipping SPS in it though.

[Delerium]

I bought a small common zoa colony a few weeks back and had to have my husband acclimate them since I had to leave for work - my HUGE mistake. He did not dip it and I think there might me a hiker on it? It looks like a reverse clam - so bizzare. I'll post a pic.

[Delerium]

[Delerium]

Ugh it's so hard to see, I tried shining a light on it

[Wall_Tank]

It could be a small clam.   Take the rock out of the water and take a picture.   The typical baddie on zoos are nudibranches.

[Delerium]

I took another picture, it's weird, elongated with a hard shell. It does not move and it looks the the foot side out of a clam? I'm also seeing these new snails pop up, they're tiny with flat like spiral shaped shells, white with brown spots. I can't get a better picture o the snail, my camera will not focus so well.

[Delerium]

[Steve]

Looks like a reef mussel or clam. I have some in my tank and they bore into the rock. Should be harmless and probably beneficial.

[Delerium]

What of the snail?

[Wall_Tank]

Most snails will be beneficial.  There are always exceptions, but I've not seen them in my years of reefing.

[Delerium]

Good to know

[Steve]

Does it look like this?

[Delerium]

That's exactly it!

[Steve]

Collonista snails, I have hundreds of them in my system. Check the reef diversity bingo.