Acro Red Bugs DIE!!!!

[Mr Cob]

Well, my acros are suffering from Red Bugs. I added a new frag this weekend and none of the acros have opened since the addition (yep, I didn't dip).

Upon closer inspection...a bunch of little bugs. Argh!

I just spent the last hour dipping all acros in lugols solution. Gonna see what happens before making the decision to dip the entire tank. None of the acros have any bugs crawling on them at the moment but I'm almost certain there were probably some in the tank not on the acro colonies.

[Pennies2Cents]

eeeeks, Hope you tackle them with all your might. Red Bugs Be Gone!

[Mr Cob]

Thanks... next step is Interceptor treatment... which I have yet to purchase because I'm hoping for the best.

Any other tricks out there before doing the dreaded...?

[Gseclipse02]

ask giau and see what he did to get rid of them

[aquasport24]

Interceptor is the way to go, i dipped all my stuffs with lugols, TPMCC, and Salifert flatworm exits and i still got those suckers.The whole tank treatment is the sure thing that they all kill , but you have to catch all the shrimps and hermet crabs before start the treament..Call me if you need help Rob. The good thing is they not as bad as AEFW.


P.S you may want to PM the person that you got the bugs from , they may not know that they have the bugs.

[Bill S]

Rob,

If you need some Interceptor, I have some. I don't have SPS anymore, so it's just sitting in the cabinet. I have 4 tablets.

[Mr Cob]

Thanks, Giau. Good news is I don't use hermits any longer but I do have a lot of Peppermint shrimp from the past trip to the coast. I'm guessing snails will be ok?

Bill, I'll definitely take you up on that offer. Can you PM me your address and availability?

Question: I'm thinking dosing the entire tank is due to the fact that most SPS tanks have corals mounted to the rock work...in my case this is my holding tank until my upgrade so I have tons of frags and all are removable. Is it enough to just dose the SPS in a holding container and then move them back or does the entire tank need to be dosed?

Thx for the help.

[Mr Cob]

Here's an article from Melevsreef.com in regards to treating the entire system or single corals for Red Bugs:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pest_control.html

[Mr Cob]

The person I got the frag from already knows... it came straight from a LFS.

[Bill S]

I'd probably treat the whole system. It takes just one to "ride it out" in the tank.

19414 Encino Summit (Encino Park)
210.663.8079

I BELIEVE I'll be in all day today - as I was out, all day yesterday.

[aquasport24]

snails should be ok., i used Marc's link too.

[Mr Cob]

Update.

I just got home from work and the colonies all look happy but I still have da yellah bugs!

So, I do not have any hermits, but I do have Peppermint Shrimp and I' m sure I will not be able to catch even half of them. Guess I'm going to have to worry about the die-off polluting my water if I treat the main tank.

Man, I wish i didn't have to do this. Anyone ever just keep the bugs and wait it out? I'm sure it just gets worse...

[JoshOdphi]

man...hope u can get em under control...

[uriah]

Update.
Anyone ever just keep the bugs and wait it out? I'm sure it just gets worse...

I have heard of various wrasse breeds doing well with de-bugging, but from what ive read, you are probly going to have to treat the tank in order to fully clean those guys out...

[Mr Cob]

Ok...so the bugs do not have red tails that I can see with my naked eye but they are the same orange/yellow color.

Whatcha think?

[Bill S]

Rob. Do they look like tiny fleas running around on your acros?

If so, just bite the bullet, and treat the whole tank...

[donduncan]

intercept is the bomb for red bugs.

[4fun]

hey rob should i be on the look out for these bugs as well

[hobogato]

rob, some shrimp may make it thru the treatment. also, have a separate tank ready for them as once you start the treatment the shrimp will come out and stagger around like they are drunk. they should be pretty easy to catch at that point.

[Mr Cob]

rob, some shrimp may make it thru the treatment. also, have a separate tank ready for them as once you start the treatment the shrimp will come out and stagger around like they are drunk. they should be pretty easy to catch at that point.

Ooooh, good point. Dosing tonight. Got some pills from Bill. Thanks, Bill.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Bill S]

REAL good point, Ace.

[Mr Cob]

Ok, dosed a quarter tab, so we'll see where that puts me in the morning.

[Bill S]

Got my fingers crossed for ya Rob!

It's a hard thing to do...

[Mr Cob]

Thanks, I did not catch any shrimp and they haven't really come out either, I see them and they look a bit shocked but nothing too serious.

I'm starting to think I may need to dose more on the next dose. Possibly bumping it from a quarter pill to a half.

If I do dose again it will be after a 25% water change and 24 hours apart from the first dose.

[Mr Cob]

Well, guess the quarter tab was good. Woke up this morning and had dead shrimp. I found about 5 of them and scooped them out. I saw one big Peppermint shrimp in the main display walking around "drunk".

I did about a 15% water change. Will do another larger one tomorrow morning after I pick up more water and salt.

I'm very hopeful that all the bugs died. I'm thinking about doing it all again next week just in case there are eggs and they hatch but I really don't want to if I don't have to. Any thoughts on this???

[Bill S]

Yup. Do it again next week, or do the whole thing over again in a month.

Run your skimmer wet today.

[Mr Cob]

Yeah, I kept all pumps on but made sure the skimmer was not producing micro bubbles while dosing for 6 hours. I turned her up this morning working full capacity.

I hate being at work while my tank is going through all of this! I feel like my kid is home sick by himself...LOL!

[Bill S]

Any update Rob?

[Mr Cob]

No more red bugs. Corals are bouncing back wonderfully. I added carbon after the treatment and the PH dropped to about 7.6-7.8...but about back to normal now at 8.2 with adding Superbuffer-dkh.

I'm still watching the colonies closely in case any eggs were there during treatment and hatched afterwards. If so, I will dose again and again 7 days later. I'm hopeful that nothing was left behind though.

Thanks for the Interceptor Bill. Didn't lose and corals! Just a bunch of pepermint shrimp that have been replaced (thank you kind person who bought me shrimp :) ).

[Bill S]

You are welcome, Rob. Hope they stay away!

[hobogato]

that is great news rob, it is amazing how fast the corals get their colors back huh?

[Mr Cob]

For real, I thought they were all on the way out...at least the Acros anyways.

Wasn't fun though...but just glad to be past that little episode. I've been having a bunch go on lately with this tank. My 120 was setup for over 2 years and I didn't have one problem...a few mechnical things but never once any trouble with the livestock in any way.

[JoshOdphi]

ok so...i have some acros...i've never had a problem with bugs...but i was jus wondering if doin a fresh water dip help get rid of them bugs?

[Mr Cob]

ok so...i have some acros...i've never had a problem with bugs...but i was jus wondering if doin a fresh water dip help get rid of them bugs?

It can help knock some bugs off the coral and is definitely better than not doing anything.

In the future I will be dipping all of my corals with Lugol's Solution (Bio-Available Iodine) or with some Yellow horse pills I got from Steve (Bigbird). Maybe he will chime in and tell us what it was called. It can be picked up from the feed store. I used it this weekend on a bunch of corals I picked up from Giau...and it was cool to watch all the things fall off...mostly good stuff though...like pods and serpent starfish but better safe than sorry. Half a pill for 1 gallon at 10minutes of dosing.

[Gseclipse02]

It can help knock some bugs off the coral and is definitely better than not doing anything.

In the future I will be dipping all of my corals with Lugol's Solution (Bio-Available Iodine) or with some Yellow horse pills I got from Steve (Bigbird). Maybe he will chime in and tell us what it was called. It can be picked up from the feed store. I used it this weekend on a bunch of corals I picked up from Giau...and it was cool to watch all the things fall off...mostly good stuff though...like pods and serpent starfish but better safe than sorry. Half a pill for 1 gallon at 10minutes of dosing.


how much are these products?? i need to start doing this .. i never have but i need to/want too

[Bill S]

Lugols is about $10.

Interceptor is expensive. I think it was $60-70 for 8 tablets. And, it's a total pain in the tail to get, because it's prescription only from a vet.

[JoshOdphi]

yea never had problems...but wouldn't hurt to know..jus in case...

[Mr Cob]

Yep, I have never had problems in the 3 years of reefkeeping and this one time was so much trouble that it's not worth taking anymore chances. Even if something like this only happens every three years...it's still not worth it. I'll dip religiously from now on.

In the long run...if we ALL dip...it can only HELP the hobby.

[Mr Cob]

Lugols is about $10.

Interceptor is expensive. I think it was $60-70 for 8 tablets. And, it's a total pain in the tail to get, because it's prescription only from a vet.

I knew it was expensive...wasn't sure how much though, couple people have asked me too.

So thankful you offered yours up.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

It can help knock some bugs off the coral and is definitely better than not doing anything.

In the future I will be dipping all of my corals with Lugol's Solution (Bio-Available Iodine) or with some Yellow horse pills I got from Steve (Bigbird). Maybe he will chime in and tell us what it was called. It can be picked up from the feed store. Half a pill for 1 gallon at 10minutes of dosing.

Not sure if I am spelling it correctly, but I think it was levesol he gave you Rob.

[Mr Cob]

Not sure if I am spelling it correctly, but I think it was levesol he gave you Rob.

That's it! It's spelled: Levasole

[Bill S]

I knew it was expensive...wasn't sure how much though, couple people have asked me too.

So thankful you offered yours up.

Hey, it was sitting in my cabinet, I no longer have SPS, and I know it has a shelf life. It would have been wasted.

[addboy]

I would be sure to treat Twice....as the eggs might still be in there..roughly a week apart...and do a water change 10-12 hours after each treatment.... Make sure you put the stuff everywhere in the tank and then turn off the skimmer. Interceptor can possibly kill all of your crustaceans (Cleaner shrimp, hermit crabs, copipods)