steve8855

Short Answer: Acclimate it just like you mentioned. Drip for 2+ hours, then place it in the tank. Generally you want to cut your photo period back a few hours and showly increase it over the following weeks to help get the coral acclimated to your lighting as well.

Long Answer:
Here's a write up I did recently for people new to saltwater. For you, I would just focus on the "Full Reef Setup" and "General Marine Articles" sections. If you don't read it all, at least check out "Food and Nutrition for Marine Aquariums", "Reef Filtration" & "Coral Lighting".

Here's the post:
The best place to begin is with the end in mind. So that's the first step. Let's find out what kind of system you want to keep. Fish only, Fish and Invertebrate with Live Rock or Full Reef with corals ect. Let me run you through some pros and cons.

Fish Only - Cheapest setup. Biological filtration is more difficult because of the absence of live rock. Isn't as awe inspiring.
Extra Reading on Fish Only: Fish Only Setup
Fish Only Setup Checklist

Fish and Invertebrates Only with Live Rock - Live Rock makes biological filtration easier. More natural looking than Fish Only. Once you have seen a reef setup with corals the rock looks naked, not as amazing.
Extra Reading on FI/WLR: FI/WLR Setup

Full Reef Setup - More expensive. Addicting! (you can think of that as either a pro or a con... depending upon if you're married! Lol) Awe inspiring.
Extra Reading on Reef Setups: Introduction to Reef
Reef System Setup
Reef Filtration
Invertibrate Lighting Note: Corals are Invertebrates
Coral Lighting
Reef Livestock

Nano Tank Articles (less than 30 gallons)
Small Marine Systems
Small Marine Livestocking
Nano Reef Systems

General Marine Articles:
Water for Marine Use
Water Quality
Frequent Partial Water Changes
Marine Maintenance
Marine Scavengers
Macro-Algae in Marine Aquariums
Food and Nutrition for Marine Aquariums


Good luck!!!!

should i add any types of additives to them while they drip??

one think i hear of is a flatworm killing drop?

any others

Hi Steve. If you have not done so already, take the time to read through the great links Matt provided. Corals are sensitive creatures. Proper water quality and lighting is very important.

There are a number of different coral "dips" that we soak the corals in to help remove bad pests before introduction into the tank. With most coral dips, you don't want to keep the coral in the medicine for too long. Depending on the solution, usually less than 10 minutes. So the dip medicine would NOT be part of the 2 hour acclimation period.

I would recommend having your dip solution in a separate container with tank water. Once the coral is done acclimating to the tank water, then move it into the container with the dip. Once that is complete (based on the instructions from the manufacturer), move the coral into your tank.

Coral dip examples are CoralRx and Revive, but there are others. They can be found on many online retailers and some local-fish-stores should have something in stock as well.