Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer - Coral Dip Method

Wherever we buy our coral from, most of us are concerned about the pests that may be introduced into our precious reef tanks. From red bugs to nudibranchs, and flatworms to snails, there are a variety of hitchhikers that can be attached to that lovely piece of coral you just bought. These hitchhikers have the potential to devastate an entire tank. Like most, I use a coral dip as one preventive measure to eradicate these pest before they are ever introduced into my system. As our hobby continually evolves, more and more dips are becoming available. We have homemade concoctions, commercially available dips from your LFS, and some not intended for use by the aquarium trade.

After trying a variety of dips, I found the Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Kill to be a great and gentle coral dip. I am not hear to argue the pros or cons of this dip. However, for those of you have used this dip, I would like to ask...

1) What has your experience been while using this product?
2) What is your method/protocol for dipping your coral when using this insecticide as a coral dip?


I will this start off in hopes to hear what others have to say.
1) As I have already stated, I have found the Bayer dip to be gentle but effective dip. With that being said, I have found this dip to be most effective on SPS corals. This dip is extremely effective against pest that attack our beloved SPS colonies, like the dreaded red/black bugs and flatworms. My experience with using this dip for softies and LPS is limited. I have only used this dip a few times in regards to introducing softies and LPS; however, all dips were successful and to my knowledge, no pests have been introduced into my system.

2) The method I use to employ this dip is about 4 ounces of Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer to one gallon of tank water. This concoction is mixed in a bucket, until it looks like the color of milk/skim milk. I let the coral sit in the bucket for 15 minutes. If I have several coral going at once, I use a small powerhead to constantly blow over the coral and knock loose any pest. Otherwise, I just use a turkey baster to blow off the corals every few minutes. I then quickly rinse (no more than a few seconds) the coral in a freshwater. This is literally a quick dip to remove excess bayer from the coral. The coral then go into another bucket that has tank water. Here the coral sit for another 15 minutes. After siting in just tank water for 15 minutes, I quickly rinse the coral with fresh tank water and place them into another bucket of tank water for 15 minutes. After this the corals are quickly rinsed with tank water again and then placed into the tank/quarantine system. Upon a successful dip session, I then rinse everything very thoroughly in vinegar and freshwater.
Basically...Bayer Dip (15 minutes), RO/DI quick rinse, tank water dip (15 minutes), tank water rinse, tank water dip (15 minutes), tank water rinse, place in tank.

As this is an insecticide, I take precautions to protect myself and do everything in my power to prevent any of this stuff getting into my main display as it can kill all your crabs, copepods, amphipods, shrimp, starfish, etc. I use dedicated tools and buckets that are only used in the bayer dip solution. I may be paranoid, but I would rather spend a few extra dollars for dedicated tools and buckets, rather than accidentally introduce this insecticide into my aquariums.

I look forward to hearing about your experiences and the methods you use for the Bayer Coral Dip.

 

I use it.
My methods are as involved as yours.
However, I think this looks/sounds like a great protocol, and one that is very close/same to ones I've read.

I use about the concentration, dip for at least 15min., then rinse thoroughly with SW over my floor drain- so no residuals remain in a wash/bath- I rinse themn instead- once,
and place back in the system.

I agree that when I first used it and didn't rinse well, I killed hermits, etc. So far they have tolerated my once good rinse before putting back in.

I local reefer posted she used a product that is essentially KCL- and so far has posted good results- we'll see about this one.

 

I've yet to use the bayer method. I've used TLF Revive with similar experiences.

I'm curious on your direct experience with red bugs and or black bugs. Along with dipping "deepwater" or smooth skinned acros. The reason I ask is because I had a colony that was too big to dip, and of course I got red bugs from it. I've read many mixed reviews on the bayer actually treating them. It seems interceptor is the only true 100% method to wipe out red/black bugs. (I currently have interceptor, haven't used it yet because my DF pipefish seem to be doing an excellent job managing the population, I'd rather have a few bugs and bunch of pods than neither of each)

Have you run experiments of higher concentration or shorter versus lower for longer? I find I often have to adjust for what I'm treating.

 

I use it.
My methods are as involved as yours.
However, I think this looks/sounds like a great protocol, and one that is very close/same to ones I've read.

I use about the concentration, dip for at least 15min., then rinse thoroughly with SW over my floor drain- so no residuals remain in a wash/bath- I rinse themn instead- once,
and place back in the system.

I agree that when I first used it and didn't rinse well, I killed hermits, etc. So far they have tolerated my once good rinse before putting back in.

I local reefer posted she used a product that is essentially KCL- and so far has posted good results- we'll see about this one.

 

Too big to dip?

I hacked out two huge stag acro colonies, broke them up some, and dipped them.
NOt sure if I dipped too long or too strong, but one of them lost alot of tissue after the dipps x 2 5 days apart.
The other is doing better- I think they may have got AEFW's.

I used a 5g tank to dip those.

ONe was the size of a voleyball+, the other slightly smaller- but not much.

 

VA Reef, I have found this insecticide to be very effective against anything in the phylum arthropoda (and I would assume toxic to fish). In all instances, I have found that a single dip of bayer is extremely effective in killing red and black bugs. Now for an infestation that exist in your tank, you will not want to be dosing or treating your tank with bayer. This insecticide is not that kind of coral dip or remedy. Additionally, if you have several colonies attached to large rocks, you may not want to use this method. Most rocks in our reef systems are extremely porous and may hold onto residual insecticide which can cause sever problems inside our tanks. Most people use this strictly as a dip for treating newly bought coral or coral they can easily take out of their tank. For a system that is well established with colonies encrusting all over then yes treating your red/black bug problem with interceptor, heartgard, etc is the way to go (remember to remove all your arthropods). Like any infestation, it may take several treatments to completely eradicate. This is true for any method you chose to use when dealing with an infestation, ranging from treating a single frag to treating your entire tank.

Like I stated, I have found the Bayer dip to be extremely effective (even against the red/black bugs). From my understanding of the insecticide, it disrupts the nervous system by inhibiting certain nervous system receptors, causing paralysis of the arthropods mouth parts. This is why we use a turkey baster or power head to knock off the pests. As they can no longer hold on for dear life. It has also be reported that bayer kills these pest when they ingest the solution. I think a combination of the two are at work when we dip our coral. If someone has a better understanding of the insecticide, please jump in.

There is a ton of information on using the bayer insecticide as a coral dip; however, there is little to no rigorous method involved when using this product like you would see when using CoralRX or Revive. I have seen concentrations ranging anywhere from 2-50mL of bayer per 4 ounces of water. I have also seen a large variation in time anywhere from 5-90 minutes. With that being said, I believe most would agree that you can achieve the desired results somewhere in the 5-15 minute range. I can attest to the fact of accidentally leaving a few pieces of coral in longer than 15 minutes (got preoccupied with something else and left them for a few hours) without any ill effects. I personally have found the bayer coral dip method to much less harsh than using something like CoralRX or Revive. I have had several acro species react relatively poorly when dipped in Revive, however, when these sensitive species were exposed to the bayer dip they seemed perfectly fine. This is my own personal experience and it is only observational. I am sure some would agree and some others would disagree. Like Todd_Sails stated, it is easy and cost effective to make a large batch of Bayer coral dip when treating a huge coral colony or when treating a ton of coral at once. A number of LFS and aquaculture facilities use the bayer coral dip as one method of prevention before introducing a large shipment into their facility.

 

VA Reef, that is a great point. If you can manage an already existing infestation of red/black bugs with natural predators like the pipefish then that is by far the best option.

Todd_Sails, I have no experience with potassium chloride but I have read a fair bit and it seems to be the most pretty harsh on SPS coral. One plus is it that you do not have to directly handle an insecticide