? on red bugs!

[fsu]

Got some ulva from a LFS, that has mostly corals. Looks like little red bugs on the glass by and on it now that it has been in my tank for a couple days. They are very hard to see, but they are there and moving. Are these possibly red bugs? BTW I have just setup my tank roughly 5 weeks ago and there is only live sand, LR, 4 Pmint shrimp, 2 cleaners and some snails and hermits. No fish or corals, besides what little may be on the rock that wasn't put there!

Do these NEED corals to feed? Will they just die, or could they be something else? Tried to do a search, but premium membership hasn't kicked in yet and search option unavail for now!

[The R/C Man]

I am pretty sure they feed on the tissue of SPS corals such as acropora. The should die off without any thing to munch on.....

[TJcop]

I'm willing to bet that you have flatworms and not red bugs. Is it possible to take a picture? The red bugs are veeeeery tiny, while flatworms are a little bigger and are dark maroon in color.
I went through a flatwrom infestation, and it's not fun. I've learned to dip everything I put in my tank.

[MiddletonMark]

Yup, I'm betting on flatworms to.

`Red Bugs' will not live unless they have Acropora to eat/live on past a few days. So unless you have Acropora in your tank ... they're not `red bugs'.

But search on flatworms :(

[fsu]

Do flat worms move around like pods though and as quick? I'll try to search it!

[kennethl]

he probibly does have red bugs. Take a look at the pics and compare with what you see in your tank.

link
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=488984

[fsu]

Hey kenneth, thanks for the link! I have actually found out a LOT from searching on both. Yes these ARE red bugs! And YES I DO have flatworms as well! DAMN IT!!!! HAHAHA!!!

From what I have read, the red bugs will die in roughly 2 weeks without any acros to eat. As for the flatworms, I will be getting some FWE to take care of those!

Neither is bad at all! Only saw a couple red bugs and 1 flatworm which I had NO IDEA what the heck it was. Resembles a snail sorta almost, but obviously different. I found a good pic during search too! The first pic on the right is what I saw but didn't know what it was. The other ones I am sure are red bugs!

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

[MiddletonMark]

Do you have any Acropora?

How long have you had the Ulva?

Red bugs will die without Acropora [food] in about 3-5 days ... so you just need to wait until a week after getting the Ulva and provided you do not have any Acropora in the tank ... you won't have red bugs.

[fsu]

Mark, I have no corals at all in the tank. They had to have come from the Ulva, so they should die in a given time. I do however have flatworms as well. Although I have only seen one, and didn't now what it was.

[TJcop]

I'm glad this will be an easy fix for you. Make sure you get those flatworms as soon as possible...they multiply fast! And when they die, they secrete a toxin. Makes your water nice and yellow and can kill stuff too!
Good luck with the new tank!