DIY Coral Dip?

That is a great idea, I am going to do some research & ask questions & see if I can come up with something.

 

Here is response I got from Borneman's forum

Hi Craig: Personally, I think that you should use proper quarantine techniques rather than trying to use a dip on every coral you purchase. This is because exposure to chemicals will only cause more stress & will not necessarily rid the coral of all undesirables anyway. To my way of thinking that seems to be the best approach & a much more reliable way of both finding any unwanted hitchhikers. If something does show up then you have the coral in isolation & can more easily come up with a safe treatment plan.

Steve


Please don't! In addition to all the reasons Steve listed, to the lunacy of prophylactically dipping stressed sensitive species for unknown species without known biocides with unknown effects to the coral at unknown dosages without any trials and no data of effectivness....well, what can I say? Add to that another product that not only provides no data but only claims to the lack of transparency on ingredients, it's snake oil.

From all I can find, which isn't much, it's lemon oil and garlic. Now, I showed in my article that garlic was effective with Montipora nudibranchs but ONLY if active allicin is present and few products other than fresh garlic have it. Furthermore, it was really toxic to the coral, and if this is not active and not toxic, then it isn't for real. Many essential oils (neem, cinnamon, clove, pyrethrum, citronella, other citrus oils) have some effect as repellants or even biocidal agent, but in general they are lame. Citronella candles are a perfect example, as are "natural oil" insect repellants. They work a little, but not like DEET.

So, get an 8oz bottle of distilled water, crush a garlic clove in it, add 1/4 tsp of lemon zest and a few drops of citrus oil or extract, buffer it to avoid acidity with some EDTA or bicarbonate, and have at it. I take no responsibility for the results. Dosage or effectiveness? I have no idea and neither do the makers of this product.

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Eric Borneman