RALLY™
What is RALLY™?
RALLY ™ is a copper free water treatment for the control and elimination of external parasites especially dinoflagellates, flukes, and pathogenic bacteria (e.g. marine velvet, clownfish disease, bacterial fin and tail rot and fresh water gill flukes) in marine and freshwater aquaria. RALLY ™ is safe for reef, marine, freshwater and planted aquaria. After three years of development and testing, RALLY ™ has been on the market for fourteen years, and has been unequivocally proven to be safe for fish, corals, invertebrates and plants. RALLY ™, whether used alone or in combination with KICK-ICH™, has no impact on biological filtration. RALLY ™ is safe and effective for rapid control of dangerous and destructive infestations such as marine velvet. RALLY has a long shelf life at room temperature and is supplied in easy to use, self-dosing bottles.
Is RALLY™ reef safe?
Yes. RALLY ™ is safe for all fish, corals, invertebrates and macroalgae, as well as the facultative anaerobes and nitrifying bacteria essential to biologic filtration.
How is RALLY ™ different from other “reef safe” products? What’s in it?
RALLY ™’s safety and effectiveness has been widely proven in hobby and commercial applications. The reagents in RALLY ™ are blended by a proprietary method that renders RALLY ™ much more effective than the sum of its parts — i.e., acriflavine + aminoacridine + formalin — for the control of external parasites and bacterial fin and tail rot.
What’s not in it? No copper!
In addition RALLY ™ contains no mysterious “natural ingredients” or other undefined “extracts” whose predictability is based largely on folklore. Finally, RALLY ™ contains no hyper-irritants (e.g. Tabasco sauce and similar hot pepper extract preparations) that induce super sliming, exfoliation of epidermal layers and attending extreme stress for the duration of the treatment period (Imagine there is no shade and you have a 2nd degree sunburn!).
Can RALLY™ be used in combination with other RUBY-REEF™ products?
RALLY ™ can be used in combination with KICK-ICH™ or SLIMINATOR™. In fact, the simultaneous use of KICK-ICH™ and RALLY ™ is recommended when ich is present, or may be present, with dinoflagellate diseases such as marine velvet (Amyloodinia) or clownfish’s disease (Brooklynella). The combined use of KICK-ICH™ and RALLY ™ is safe for all marine and reef aquaria.
Can RALLY ™ be used in combination with other products or antibiotics?
RALLY ™ can be used with phosphate and ammonia adsorbants, but not with activated carbon or related products. Use of RALLY ™ is compatible with most antibiotic regimens, but simultaneous use with other types of medications is not recommended.
What is the shelf life of RALLY ™ and how should it be stored?
RALLY ™ is stable for at least one year if stored at room temperature and out of direct strong light. Do not freeze or store in the cold. Do not shake bottle prior to or during use and replace caps immediately after use.
How to use RALLY ™?
Turn off protein skimmers and UV sterilizers, also remove carbon filtration and any absorbent media that would remove RALLY ™ from the water. Dose on days 1, 2, and 3 for normal infections. For severe infection further dosing may be required. Add one ounce of RALLY ™ per 10 gallons of total water volume including the filtration system for reef tanks. Add one ounce of RALLY ™ per 5 gallons of total water volume including filtration system for fresh water tanks.
The RALLY ™ Science
The RALLY ™ label lists three active ingredients: acriflavine, aminoacridine and formalin that have been proven effective in parasite control in aquaculture operations and tropical fish farms. Virtually all hobby aficionados are familiar with formalin, most are probably at least aware of acriflavine, and the pharmaceutically well informed probably know about aminoacridine. However, scant few truly understand the chemical structure and properties of these compounds, and fewer still the molecular mechanisms whereby they impart their biological effects. Consequently, almost no one knows or understands why RALLY ™ is more effective than the sum of its parts: the simultaneous but independent addition of acriflavine, aminoacridine and formalin in amounts comparable to a dose of RALLY ™ will not have as great or as enduring an effect as RALLY ™. Why?
The reagents in RALLY ™ are sequentially blended by an empirically refined methat that provides for minor but important chemical modifications of acriflavine and aminoacridine by formalin. The formalin is combined with acriflavine and aminoacridine in a controlled chemical reaction that reduces the concentration necessary for disease control by over ten fold. By way of analogy, the formalin modified acriflavine and aminoacridine molecules can be thought of as sea urchins whose spines secrete an ultra super-glue: when the urchins enter the molecular domains where they are active, the spines secrete the glue, and the urchins are permanently bound within the domain where they impart their effect. Normally, acriflavine and aminoacridine passively migrate into and out of (or are expelled from) the pertinent molecular domains, necessitating the continual presence of high concentrations to obtain the desired effect. The formalin modified acriflavine and aminoacridine migrate into their active domains and, because of the formalin modification, never migrate out and cannot be expelled. Consequently, they are effective as a water treatment at controlling a variety of tropical aquarium diseases at very low dosages that have no harmful effects on biofiltration or any other fish or living organisms in a reef, marine or freshwater aquarium.
The end result is that RALLY ™ is an extremely effective water treatment for the control of many external parasites including dinoflagellates (e.g., marine velvet, clownfish disease), flukes and gram-negative bacterial (e.g., bacterial fin/tail rot, superficial sepsis, etc.). RALLY ™ is, at best, marginally effective against l. multifiliis and C. irritans, but extremely useful in preventing the secondary bacterial infections that often accompany severe ich infestations. RALLY ™ is not harmful to fish, invertebrates, corals, etc., nor does it affect the symbiotic algae vital to corals or other beneficial bacteria. Beta site tests in shops around the United States have shown the combined use of RALLY ™ and KICK-ICH™ are not harmful to fish, invertebrates, corals or biological filtration.
