Made my skin crawl

[CoryDude]

I've been suspecting I have a red bug infestation for a few weeks now. Last night, I confirmed it. I got the heebee geebees as I watched these things detach themselves, crawl across the coral branches, and then reattach themselves in a new location.

No doubt on the id. Very small yellow body with a red area at one end. Only the smooth skinned corals (blue tort, Borealis, stags, etc) are showing loss of color, stunted growth, less p.e., and very slow tissue necrosis.

Calling my vet today today for inteceptor. Can anyone chime in on their experience treating these pests? One treatment of multiple carpet bombings?

Ace, I know you just dealt with this a few months back. How's your tank doing?

[Big_Pun]

mrcob had the same problem get with him also, he will prob chime in any way

[Mr Cob]

I also dealt with this about 6-8 months ago. I removed as many shrimp as I could. Dosed half a pill on a 75 gallon. Waited about 14 hours....did a small water change and then a large water change at 24 hours and that did it. I didn't lose any corals....but I did lose my entire pod population along with the remaining shrimp I could not remove.

I kept an eye on the tank for the next couple of weeks and continued with small water changes. I had planned on dosing more than just half a pill and doing a couple more doses but to my surprise, that took care of everything.

Good luck. Oh, I also dipped a bunch of dirty...pest infested live rock with inteceptor not too long ago among other dips in a tub and did several rinsings.... passed some of the live rock to Jack....and the next day all of his hermits in his 8gal were dead. : ( Strong stuff. (sorry again, Jack)

[Bill S]

I had great luck with my vet when I went in with a printout of redbug treatment. He actually showed some interest in it.

[CoryDude]

Bill, do you think I should disconnect the torpedo before dosing tonight?

Rob, thanks for the info. Sucks that I going to lose pods. Now I need to worry about the mandarine fish. I don't run a fuge, but maybe I could set up a temporary one after a few water changes and try to rapidly restock the tank with the necessary 'pods.

This whole things is pretty much my fault since I don't qt or dip my corals before introducing them into the tank. Lesson learned.

[Bill S]

Cory, EVERYTHING that might have a single bug in it has to be treated.

If you have hermits, it will probably kill them too. As there isn't a HUGE hurry on this, you can periodically try and pick them out over a period of a couple of days...

[CoryDude]

That's what I was worried about. Will I need to replace my carbon bacteria bed? I emailed Snake to see if he had any advice during treatment and afterwords.

Whew, just got approval from my vet on the sale. $50 + tax. My wife's going to be mad again. I keep telling her I'm on a spending moratorium, and I keep making myself a liar every week.

[Bill S]

No, it should have no effect on bacteria. Wouldn't worry about it.

Oh yeah, it's expensive. And, unfortunately, because it's a controlled substance, we can't allow people to trade, etc. here on MAAST.

[BIGBIRD123]

You might want to go on RC and see how many people thought they had got them with one treatment. The research shows that they have a 5 day life cycle and the treatment doesn't get the eggs. I got some corals from another member that were infested. I put them in a 30g quarantine and dosed 1 tablet 3 times in 10 days. I tried 1 tablet the first time and it didn't kill the eggs and some of them were hiding in the coralites of the colonies. The 3 dose treatment was the only thing that got rid of them. I am glad you recognized them because there are a lot of people out there that don't even know they have them. The person I got the coral from didn't know...

[Mr Cob]

^well, that stinks for them....I got mine taken care of with one treatment. I monitored the tank closely for a couple of weeks as I stated...and yes I was also aware of the possibility that the eggs would still be in there. I was also surprised I wiped them out with only half a pill.

Perhaps...my small water changes allowed the inteceptor to remain in the system longer than most treatments thus killing any eggs that hatched....?

Anyways...that's my actual experience with it. I've been red bug free ever since.

[Mr Cob]

Forgot to note that i also ran carbon after 24 hours of dosing....and replaced it frequently....and I do not stock hermits. All of my snails were fine.

[Bill S]

Well, I'd tend to go with what Steve says - he certainly seems to have a lot of experience with 'em.

I dosed mine twice. Just seemed prudent.

[BIGBIRD123]

Actually Bill, I've only had them once in my tank and once in quarantine. The person I got the corals from didn't know they got them from one of the 2 possible sources I got mine from. The 2 times I didn't dip where my two possible sources...both well-known members...both not thinking they had them. So diligence is prudent...I now use a very aggressive dip before anything goes into my tank.

[CoryDude]

Ok, did my first and hopefully last dose today at lunchtime. Performed a 30% water change tonight. I'll be inspecting for any remaining copepods and amphipods tonight.

It was really cool to come back after a few hours of adding the 1/2 pill, and see only a few remaining specs on my turquoise stag. A few hours later and I found no traces of them on the borealis or stag. Of course, I'll be keeping a close eye out over the next few weeks.

I just hope this will allow these coral branches to recover and start growing again. Absolutely no ill effects were noticed with the fish, and I was wanting to rebuild my clean up crew anyways. :whew:


So diligence is prudent...I now use a very aggressive dip before anything goes into my tank.

My new acclimation procedure will now include a lugols dip, flatworm dip, and inteceptor dip. Steve, I'll keep in mind what you said and be on the lookout for any bug reintroduction from from hatching eggs. Thanks!

[Mr Cob]

Amazing how fast the stuff works. Glad it went well.

All of my SPS kicked back from it and I didn't lose any....all I really lost was my mind through the whole process....pretty nerve racking to watch little bugs tear away at your sps....and then to have to dose something so powerful.