Green Acro loss color after dip

[Joshua M Hall]

I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this. I had a pretty nice looking green acro that I noticed had some red bugs on it. I immediately took it out of the tank, dipped it in Seachem Reef Dip, lightly scrubbed it with a soft toothbrush, quickly dipped it in RO/DI fresh water and placed it back in the tank. I noticed pretty much immediately it had lost its coloring. His tissue looks undamaged and hit polyps are out but color is like you see in the picture. Here is a before and after. I can't tell if it is browning or bleaching or what its doing. What do you guys think?

 

[KJ]

lightly scrubbed it with a soft toothbrush, quickly dipped it in RO/DI fresh water

Bad idea of scrubbing and dipping acros in fresh water!

 

[Fishfinder]

Others may have different processes but I don't even scrub the live portions of my acros. Also never do freshwater dips on acros. The dip should be kill your critters. I've actually gotten to a point that if a see numerous amounts on frags they won't even make it into my tank.

In your instance... The lighting is different in the second picture so it is hard to tell. But I see sharp color lines on that acro, it looks like portions died

 

[Dennis McGrath]

Bad idea of scrubbing and dipping acros in fresh water!

+1 on both. I wouldn't scrub for sure.
I just use the Seachem Reef Dip in a container using water from my tank, so the temperature and everything else should be the same.

 

[Joshua M Hall]

Hmmmm. Well, I guess I would rather lose him then let the red bugs get to my others. As far as the fresh water dip goes I would like to point out that it wasn't a full on dip. Just a quick shake it a cup for about 5 seconds just to make sure everything was off. From what I have read FW dipping acros and bleach them so I guess that is what has happened. As far as dead tissue I can notice anything falling of or anything and most polyps seem to be out. Although its had to tell with this acro as his polyps have always been very very small. I guess we will see.

 

[Joshua M Hall]

+1 on both. I wouldn't scrub for sure.
I just use the Seachem Reef Dip in a container using water from my tank, so the temperature and everything else should be the same.

I never knew you couldnt lightly scrub them?

 

[Fishfinder]

What I do is grab a container of water from my tank, and the dip to it. Soak for appropriate amount of time, rinse with clean tank water. Any amount of time with FW is a bad idea. Also scrubbing is a no go. When most people talk about scrubbing it is of the plug and base around the acro

 

[Fishfinder]

Personally, many people will say otherwise. But I only buy coral from a very few places. Well known businesses with great reputations. When I set up my tank I started out getting coral from anywhere that sold it cheap. I had so many problems with pests. It was crazy how much stuff was on a frag. Every piece has stuff on it, and they are vendors that sell a lot of stuff. Now I'm narrowed down to 3-4 places and I'm confident they don't have bugs. my dipping regimen has become extra security instead of a mandatory need

 

[Joshua M Hall]

Well. Lets say I get lucky and this guy lives. How long does it generally take to color back up assuming parameters and everything else stays perfect?

 

[Fishfinder]

It could take months. But first you need to make sure that all the bugs are gone and dipping won't kill eggs

 

[Fishfinder]

You don't want red bugs. I'd toss it unless it was expensive

 

[Joshua M Hall]

You don't want red bugs. I'd toss it unless it was expensive

Its wasn't expensive. To be honest with you the only reason I got it was to be kind of a litmus test to see if I'm ready for a more difficult sps. I know I should probably toss it but at this point I figure I either have them or I stopped them in time. I think there must have been some eggs on the frag that I some how missed. When I got the frag I removed it from its plug, glued to a very small dry dead rock piece, dipped it for almost 30 mins and put it in the tank. I did not notice any red bugs for the first week. Therefor there must have been some eggs I missed. I literally scrubbed the crap out of it for a while and it has been back in the tank now for 3 days and I haven't seen anymore. If I do spot anymore it will be in the trash immediately and I won't be getting anymore livestock from that store. Wish me luck. Does anyone know if the redbug will survive in a tank with no acros?

 

[Fishfinder]

There is info on R2R about that, I think it's 7 weeks. But not certain

 

[Scorpius]

Scrubbing a live coral? That's a new one for me. Please don't scrub coral especially delicate Acropora.

Red Bugs are not the end of the world. You can treat your entire system with Dr. G's Coral dip as this is how I eradicated my system of Red Bugs. 1ml per gallon. Treat three times, a week apart each for a total of 3 weeks total treatment time. Do not skim. Do not run carbon. Remove all invertebrates.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/sps-lps-coral-dip-solution.cfm

 

[Joshua M Hall]

Scrubbing a live coral? That's a new one for me. Please don't scrub coral especially delicate Acropora.

Red Bugs are not the end of the world. You can treat your entire system with Dr. G's Coral dip as this is how I eradicated my system of Red Bugs. 1ml per gallon. Treat three times, a week apart each for a total of 3 weeks total treatment time. Do not skim. Do not run carbon. Remove all invertebrates.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/sps-lps-coral-dip-solution.cfm

Thanks for the info. But I've been scrubbing (brushing gently with a soft bristle toothbrush) successfully for a while now. I will admit that I'm not an SPS professional but the Orange Monti, ORA Red Planet, Tyree Pink Lemon, and Orange Mille have all seemed to tolerate it well. With that being said I could be totally wrong so if things change I will let everyone know. In my opinion the biggest mistake I made was the freshwater final rinse. But I have a feeling he will make it. In the ocean corals can get the crap kicked out of them. So I find it hard to believe a soft bristle toothbrush will end them. Wish me luck.

 

[Reef_Junkies]

Scrubbing a live coral? That's a new one for me. Please don't scrub coral especially delicate Acropora.

Red Bugs are not the end of the world. You can treat your entire system with Dr. G's Coral dip as this is how I eradicated my system of Red Bugs. 1ml per gallon. Treat three times, a week apart each for a total of 3 weeks total treatment time. Do not skim. Do not run carbon. Remove all invertebrates.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/sps-lps-coral-dip-solution.cfm

+1 Red bugs aren't an issue... Interceptor that you can buy off Amazon can kill those suckers. Acropora Eating Flat Worms (AEFW) is what you want to try and avoid at all cost.

 

[Joshua M Hall]

Well just an update. It looks like the little guy is getting his green back!

 

[Reef_Junkies]

Nice! When you see polyp extensions then you are in great shape!

 

[EW_Fish]

Hmmmm. Well, I guess I would rather lose him then let the red bugs get to my others. As far as the fresh water dip goes I would like to point out that it wasn't a full on dip. Just a quick shake it a cup for about 5 seconds just to make sure everything was off. From what I have read FW dipping acros and bleach them so I guess that is what has happened. As far as dead tissue I can notice anything falling of or anything and most polyps seem to be out. Although its had to tell with this acro as his polyps have always been very very small. I guess we will see.

This is why running a QT tank for corals is a must. Its defiantly a pain to do but losing a system to Red bugs or AEFW sucks and is a down fall in money. I've never had luck on FW dips on acros tried a million different ways. I just use a ton of Bayer and a QT tank.

 

[Willbiker]

How is this acro doing now? I have a similar issue, I bought a nice tricolour acro and as soon as i added it to my tank after drip acclimating and dipping it, it has no colour...almost brown.

Did yours colour back up fully? Is it common for across to loose colour instantly after dipping?