[MechEng99]

I'm 100% pest free & have been (years), but I'm a bit more anal about it all.

Chessmanmark - I had a hard time finding fluke tabs as well, but I finally found some on eBay. :-/ Sorry, I know that wasn't much help.

First off, the info was good, but I personally chose to go a different route (with a QT rather than treating all corals for nearly everything). Dips are better than nothing, but won't always get the eggs, so I consider dipping only a 60% solution. Even with my dip procedure below, I've STILL had AEFW, Monti-eating nudi's, and other nastiness in my QT tank. Eggs are easy to miss. Without a QT tank, I would've had a horrible mess in my display.

Also, I believe dipping for pests that don't exist on the coral is too stressful and not worth the risk to the corals. Instead, I do a general dip on all corals, then treat further if there are signs of other pests. I follow with a 30 day QT then a 30 day session in the grow-out tank (just to be extra sure.)

My info may help...or chose to ignore it if you find something that works better for you.

1. Set up QT tank (it's worth it...the small $$ will pay for itself in not losing a few to a lot of corals.) Just do it.

2. Temp acclimate all corals

3. Break off bases of all corals - this helps eliminate nuisance algae, and various pests that can come in on excess rock (gorilla crabs, eunicid worms, etc).

4. Dip most corals in tank water mixed with Coral Rx (don't dip smooth-skinned Acroporas in it...dip those in Lugol's instead. There are plenty of people who have had bad experience with Coral Rx & smooth-skinned Acro's.) I use 1ml of Coral Rx regular strength to 1 cup water (but follow directions.)

5. Gently blow coral with a pipette filled with the water/C-Rx mixture. The Coral Rx will knock most pests off the coral. Inspect with a magnifying glass to look for eggs or smaller pests. Treat as needed. (For instance, if you see Monti-eating Nudi's, then treat with potassium permanganate. If you see Red Planaria, use Flatworm Exit, etc.)

6. Place any non-living skeleton/rock remaining into hydrogen peroxide for about 20 seconds (the regular strength stuff you use for cleaning wounds, etc.) This will help kill off any algae. I have dipped full corals, but usually it takes them quite a while to recover. Not worth it IME.

7. Cover any non-living skeleton/rock remaining with superglue. This will prevent any remaining pests and/or algae spores to escape easily. Place the coral on a piece of rock/frag plug/whatever.

8. Place in QT. During the first week, check for bite marks, pests, and algae. At the end of the first week, redip in Coral Rx or Lugol's. If you have AEFW and/or red bugs, they should be showing up by this dip. You can then treat as needed.

9. Keep corals in QT for at least 30 days...preferably 6 weeks. I check pretty regularly for pests. I also move everything into a secondary QT (grow-out tank). I've never had any pests make it over to the grow-out tank...or to the display.