Red mites :(

[bdr127]

Well, I just discovered red mites on some of my acros. (For those that don't know what I'm talking about, do a search for "red mites" or "red bugs" in the SPS or Boston Reefers forums)

Although the jury is still out whether they are really "bad" or not, they aren't something anyone desires, by any means. As a result, I won't be trading any SPS frags any time soon. I also probably won't be getting any new SPS frags/colonies -- no point in subjecting something new to these little guys.

I was amazed at how they are soooooo easy to miss. I had no clue that I had them, and I have good vision! Someone suggested just having actinics on and shining a bright flashlight onto acro colonies. After staring really hard... Sure enough, small red dots.... we're talking a fraction of a millimeter --- tiny. BTW, Minh (and whoever else), you may want to check some of the acros we have in common... that may be the source of the red mites, and perhaps the reason for the rapid downturn of a lot of our SPS immediately after we got those colonies....

The BRS put out a request that all members refrain from frag trading if they have flatworms and/or red mites (or, at the least, disclose the facts so the recipient at least knows what they are risking). Obviously a big factor is ignorance (don't take that in a "bad" way!), but just not having any idea that you even have these pests. Up until tonight, I had no clue that I had these red mites... These guys are easy to not see, so close inspection with a pair of good eyes (borrow someone else's if you don't have a pair of your own! :p) is necessary. Fortunately, I have not given any acros from my tank to anyone, so I haven't infected anyone else.

I guess that's all for my late-night rant. This kept me up later than planned..... aaargh.... oh well. :rolleyes:

[Dazed1]

Ouch that's bad :(
I think all of us who have SPS should do a FW dip before adding them to the tank's. Since I don't have actnic's, i'm going to have to look real close on the SPS frag I got from Minh. Or just be safe and dip it.
I recently picked up a few frag's from Greg Hiller, and he did mention that he does not have any. So i'm sure i don't have to worry about his frag's.
And thank's for mentioning it / being honest, this way atleast for a short while they won't get transferred. :)

[bdr127]

You can try a FW dip, but no one is really sure if that is a good/effective solution.... people have tried FW, Lugols, some seachem dip, etc, but some of these don't really get rid of them. One guy in the SPS forum is currently experimenting with club soda. :p I mostly dip my Lugols dip to get some of the suckers off of the coral to identify them, with the added bonus of getting rid of them, at best... killing the colony, at worst. :rolleyes:

Mayur -- If you have them on any of your acros, then they can spread to other acros in your tank.... so frags from Greg Hiller could be infected if other things in your tank were infected. As for looking for them, I found it harder to see them with MH on... even using a flashlight when the lights were out was easier than with MH on. Like I said before, they are pretty tough to see. There are a bunch of people in the BRS forum that were told they have them and still can't see them! ;)

[bdr127]

Here are a few links to threads in other forums:

<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223922">Recent BRS thread</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223183">Another recent BRS thread</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39956&highlight=red+bugs">Ongoing thread in SPS forum</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=217921">Some pictures of red mites/bugs</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=224418">Most recent "Solution Du Jour"</a><br>
<br>
I've also attached a picture that I took after getting a bunch of them in a Lugols dip in a white cup.... you can see how small they really are.

[minh_han]

And, when I was looking into killing flatworms, the "experts" and more experienced people suggested avoiding a FW dip, particularly for SPS, as they are very sensitive to that kind of thing. One person said that he tried it and just ended up killing the colonies.

[Dazed1]

Originally posted by bdr127
Here are a few links to threads in other forums:

<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223922">Recent BRS thread</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223183">Another recent BRS thread</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39956&highlight=red+bugs">Ongoing thread in SPS forum</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=217921">Some pictures of red mites/bugs</a><br>
<a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=224418">Most recent "Solution Du Jour"</a><br>
<br>
I've also attached a picture that I took after getting a bunch of them in a Lugols dip in a white cup.... you can see how small they really are.


I have been reading pretty much all those thread's for a while now :) .
I think i need to pick up a bottle of Lugol's solution over the weekend and try a dip. Just to be safe, i'll dip all my sps, all 4-5 of them.
How should I mix the solution in a cup, ie, how much water to solution ratio ?

[bdr127]

Borneman's book says 5-10 drops of Lugols per liter of freshly-made saltwater.

[Dazed1]

FWIW, some guy's have used a green spotted Mandarin for removal of red FW's. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=224416 . Of course, this won't be helpful to Brad nor I since our tank's are small :(

[dburr]

I'm pretty sure 40 drops lugol's per gallon saltwater is the standard for the dip. It's on the back of the bottle. That help me w/ the flat worms recently. I didn't get them all but I havn't seen any since I set up the new tank.
I think tonight I will check for the red bugs.