Red bugs

[jake2045]

I will not be trading or fragging anything for a while, I have red bugs.I know I should Qt my new corals but I didn't.I thought the bonsai I had was bleaching when I bought it, but quess what.I'm pi$$ed the little a$$ho;e$ are on one of my fav. corals. I have a freind that's a vet so maybe I can get some interceptor for treatment. I just hope it will not kill off all of my acro crabs.Dam the bad luck!

[lmattix]

Sorry about that man. I have been reading about those things. I am going to get some interceptor, too. Logul's dips are not enough if you have acro's. Good luck. Let me know how it turns out.

[jake2045]

Going to trat the tank Sunday. Hopefully everything turns out ok.

[mylittleocean]

Oh man, that sucks.

Where do you think they come from?

I had them in the 75g I used to have. They went away on their own. Well, I only had 2 acro's and when they were gone so were the red bugs.

Good luck with the treatment.

[Charlie Davidson]

Jake, I did mine 2 times its not a bad thing or hard to do. Only thing I did not like was that it killed all my acro crabs :(
Mylittleocean, redbugs seem to attack only certain acro's.

[jake2045]

Yea, I know all the colonies have acro crabs.So what about hermits?

[jake2045]

Still a little worried about the dosage. I have a 75 gal AGA RR with a 20 gal sump, and a bunch of live rock and sand(1'-2') I'm not sure how much water I have sense the rock takes up a lot of space.I'm leaning toward about 70 gallons total. I wish I had a scale to measure out the dosage of the interceptor, more then just that looks like it's right.I have the large dog tablets and just wish I knew how much to dose.I will do a 10gal water change and hope for the best.Charlie did you run carbon after dosing the tank?

[lmattix]

Jake:

after your initial post, I started searching for info on red bugs. Most reefers say that you cannot overdose interceptor. It only kills crabs and some shrimp. Will not effect corals or fish. Try this link: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=634962&highlight=interceptor They have the recipe and good pictures of the red bugs.

I have been adding a lot of acro frags. I think I will get some interceptor to have on hand. The word is that you need the big dog tablets. PETMED.com has 6 tabs for around $30.

Good luck.

Larry

[lmattix]

Check out what Eric Borneman says about Red Bugs in this link:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=380591&highlight=interceptor

He seems to think that you could separate your acros into another tank and treat them that way. (that is: treat they in the quarantee tank.) Since the bugs only thrive on the acros they will die in 3 to 5 days. Then you can return them to the main tank. That way you can save your other crabs and shrimps. The acro cabs wil still be toast though.

Larry

[jake2045]

Larry thanks for the info I have been reaching the Interceptor treatment a lot. my biggest concern is that it may kill off my Harlequin shrimp and coral banded shrimp. I know my acro crabs are toast, but I would rather have the red bugs gone. Looks as if I'm going to be setting up a qt tank just for corals.Eric's Lugols dip looks like it would be a better way to treat then Interceptor.But being the coral is in the tank I will treat the whole tank and not just that coral. Wish me luck! I will keep everyone posted as I treat the tank.

[jake2045]

Ok, I decided to treat with Lugol instead of Interceptor. My biggest reason was that I didn't want to lose any of my acro crabs or shrimp as most have.I removed the two corals (Loripes and a Bonsai) from the tank and placed them in a collection container filled with tank water. I then poured out all the tank water and added the treatment water ( 5ml lugols/1L tank water ) I then set the timer for 2 1/2 mins and watched the red bug fall off the coral and die. The bottom of the container was covered with them, there was a few large pods and star fish. After the dip I placed both corals in a 2 gallon tank with a small power head for water movement. The corals looked to be doing fine, some sliming but no tissue lose.I will leave the corals in the small QT tank for 5 days with a water change every day. I hope to starve the red bugs in the tank and then return the corals to there pest free home. I believe that Eric Borneman stated that the red bug could not live after 3-5 days without a host.

[captainsafari]

Jake do a 24 hr dip in the interceptor it will kill the main population. john in the store got them from a trade and he did a 10 x overdose as a dip overnight and it didn't kill the coral. just what he did.

[jake2045]

Well I changed my mine again and treated the tank with the interceptor today. I can't see any red bugs on any of the corals, so I think it worked. I did change 20 gallon of water and I'm running carbon(heavy) The acro crabs are toast and the hermits are moving slow but waking up. All the shrimp pulled thru.I will be dipping every coral I get from now on. First Monti eating nudies and now red bugs, I have learned my lesson. QT tank up and running from now on.

[The Shrimp X]

Well i dont have any Acros (yet) but after reading so many posts lately about red bugs, i will shurely be dipping. Luckly when i got monti eating nudies, i only found one, killed it and havent sen any since. (this was 2 months ago so i think there gone)

[jake2045]

Cool, I had them every where. I hope you don't get red bugs, just be very careful of what you put in the tank without dipping or QTing it.

[jake2045]

The day after. Looks like all the hermits made it back that I can see,the shrimps pulled it off, but my poor little acro crabs are toast.The tank looks good. I will treat again in 5 days just to be on the safe side and then again in another 5 days.

[Charlie Davidson]

Jake, I did not see you post on this thread sorry! (i wonder why they did not show up on my home page? ) Glad things went well--- its kinda scarey!! Many of my hermits died the second treatment, but I really didn't care-- I think shrimp are better anyway! BTW, saw you post-- Marvins acro crabs are mine!!!! I have first dibs!!! :)