jnarowe
Beer-a-holic
I have several corals that came with red bugs. I got them knowing they had them, and I have had no problem getting rid of them. First of all, I QT all corals. Second, I have a dip procedure that includes dipping on multiple days over the course of a couple weeks.
I generally dip all corals in TMPCC at normal dose for 20 minutes and then carefully inspect them. I find that FW Exit does not work well on RB BTW, but if I have a problem coral, it gets the whole shebang. FW Exit, TMPCC, and Interceptor. I cannot say enough god things about how well Interceptor works.
So my routine consists of repetative dipping, observation, and inspection. Only when a coral has passed inspection throughout the course of a week, will I place it into my display. The entire QT/dipping/inspection process usually lasts about 4 weeks.
This in no way "gaurantees" a bug free display, but since this is an ongoing issue with so much trading going on, we all have to do our part to be diligent in this matter. Because the aquarium community is somewhat a "closed system" we could pass around bugs and disease, and even create new diseases like the flu in grade school.
My advice: Treat all animals and corals like they have hitch-hikers, QT and treat accordingly. "Trusting" any source because of reputation or past experience is foolish IMO.
I generally dip all corals in TMPCC at normal dose for 20 minutes and then carefully inspect them. I find that FW Exit does not work well on RB BTW, but if I have a problem coral, it gets the whole shebang. FW Exit, TMPCC, and Interceptor. I cannot say enough god things about how well Interceptor works.
So my routine consists of repetative dipping, observation, and inspection. Only when a coral has passed inspection throughout the course of a week, will I place it into my display. The entire QT/dipping/inspection process usually lasts about 4 weeks.
This in no way "gaurantees" a bug free display, but since this is an ongoing issue with so much trading going on, we all have to do our part to be diligent in this matter. Because the aquarium community is somewhat a "closed system" we could pass around bugs and disease, and even create new diseases like the flu in grade school.
My advice: Treat all animals and corals like they have hitch-hikers, QT and treat accordingly. "Trusting" any source because of reputation or past experience is foolish IMO.