Year after year reef fishers have used generic bath solutions such as fresh water, iodine, and even household disinfectants. It scares away some unwanted people, but not all.

In recent years we have maintained in our laboratory tanks full of infested corals and compared a wide range of commercially available baths and other solutions, evaluating their effectiveness and harmlessness to the corals.

The result is DipX - Unique blend of essential oils, without any inorganic disinfectants. Our tests have shown that DipX is absolutely safe for all types of corals and more effective than any other solution tested.

Corals immersed in DipX, after having been previously immersed in other solutions, again released unwanted material. Conversely, coals that were dipped in other solutions, after dipping in DipX, did not release anything at all.

Characteristics

Safe for all types of corals: SPS, LPS, Soft Corals, Zoanthids, mushroom anemones (Discosoma, Ricordea) and live rocks.
Effectively repels Acropora flatworms, Montipora-eating nudibranchs, Acropora Red Bugs and other coral pests.
Slows down RTN and STN (external baths only).
Without any inorganic element such as Potassium Iodide or Bromine.
Easy to use, reliable and cost effective.

Why do corals bring unwanted people?

In the wild, many species of small coral-related invertebrates find refuge in corals and living rocks and are collectively related to "opportunistic occupants". The most common groups of these opportunistic occupants contain crustaceans, helminths (worms), echinoderms, nudibranchs and snails.

In most cases the occupants benefit from their host without damaging it, and in other cases (acropora trapezius crabs), the host and occupant both benefit from the relationship. There are, however, several occupants who can damage their host by feeding on them. In their natural habitat these opportunistic occupants are relatively low in number due to lack of nutrients and natural predators. When corals are transferred from one environment to another, opportunistic occupants remain on their host, becoming unwanted passengers.

Why corals need to be dived

There is no viable method of removing specific opportunistic occupants from an already established reef aquarium.

While not all unwanted passengers are necessarily bad for an artificial reef, it is strongly recommended that you go "Better safe than sorry" and prevent their introduction. However, if they are already in the aquarium, affected corals and live rocks will need to be removed and cared for one by one.

Careful viewing of corals should be part of a reef aquarium maintenance routine so that any signs of injury or soft tissue discoloration are detected as soon as possible. Early detection of unwanted people is the most effective way to prevent an uncontrolled expansion that can potentially damage your entire reef.

Usage tips
Pour DipX into a clean, dry empty container.
Use 10ml of DipX (diluted 1: 100 with aquarium water) to prepare 1L of bath solution.
Dive your new coral or live rock for up to 15 minutes.
The solution can be reused for up to 4 baths but should be discarded within 2 hours of preparation.