Red Acro "Bugs" -- The Treatment

[znut Reefer]

wow, that piece was covered with the red bugs. I had one that was covered also. Its been almost 4 weeks since my first treatment. And I have some that have already gotten some of their color back. And I see alot better polyp extension on them.

[SeanT]

Acro,
If it is not too much trouble would you be able to keep updating pics of that coral for several days to a week or two.
One pic a day would be fine.
A pic at the same time of day with the same camera settings would be awesome!

Also, does anyone know of any other online places to purchase this medication from?

Thanks.

[Acro]

Sean, Thats the plan or at least every few days for the first couple weeks. Just check back every so often to the link in the above post.

[Orr2003]

Tagging along.......

Damn it........ I have these bugs and didnt even know it.
But I do know that the corals that have them do not extend their polyps and are starting to lose color. One of my acro colonies is covered with these bugs. Damn it. I have been wondering why I was not getting any polyp extension on these corals.

I just ordered a new nikon coolpix 5400 and will be taking pics of before and after treatment.

Now if I can just find the medication.

Thanks Dustin and everyone else for sharing this info. I stumbled upon the cure before I knew I had the problem. interesting

If anyone knows where to purchase the medication please post it here.

Thanks
Scott

[fishcraze2002]

Does anyone know why canadapharmacy don't have that medication anymore??? back order? or some prescription problems??

[G-money]

I dosed my tank tonight and have nothing much different to report than what's already been said - mainly, no red bugs to be seen and lots of dead pods floating around. I was able to get my acro crab and hermits out beforehand. I noticed bugs coming off of corals I didn't even know had them. I also noticed that all the Acros extended mesenterial filaments during the treatment...

One particular colony had hundreds of the little buggers...and I half expected to still see some on it,
but there were none and I'm a happy camper (so far)!
Thanks again, Dustin.

[Dustin]

I never noticed any mesenterial filaments in any of my treatments. Did the corals seem stressed?

[invincible569]

Originally posted by Dustin
I never noticed any mesenterial filaments in any of my treatments. Did the corals seem stressed?

Neither did i.

Graham, was this during the process and at what hr? Or was this after the extreme water change?

[G-money]

They didn't appear stressed in the least. There was light release of mucus and the mucus was full of bugs - that's how I noticed them coming from corals I had never seen them on.

The filaments started coming out at about 2 hours and stayed out for the duration of the treatment. The filaments were present mainly on "non-infected" Acros. After the water change and carbon addition, they went away in about 30 minutes.
I did knowingly slightly OD the tank (about 10% over recommended dosage). The hermits that were not removed from the tank all survived, BTW.

Interestingly, about 30 minutes after adding the Interceptor, my Tubastrea's polyps came out. It never expands them during the day. I think there is something (beef flavor - amino acid(s)?) that may stimulate a feeding response.

[Orr2003]

I havent had a chance to check with a local vet, but I am wondering if you can get this online anywhere?

[Orr2003]

Just checking to make sure this is the right stuff before I order.

http://www.1800petmeds.com/ph_detail...g=INTERCEPTOR#


Is this it?


Thanks
Scott

[JB NY]

That's it.

[SeanT]

That place requires a prescription.

[Orr2003]

OH,
I didnt get that far. Damn it. I need some of this now.

[Dustin]

Try going to your Vet. Be honest I am sure someone will sell it to you. If the first one says no, try the next. There are probably dozens of vets in your town.

Technically they are allowed to sell it to you for uses not listed on the box. Print out the directions and show it to them, if they need some convincing.

[MSHUR]

hi,dustin
i am planning to do treatment on wensday...i have two coco worms,do u think i have to remove them?
p.s. thankx for this great info
mike

[Dustin]

I dont know. . . I dont think it will hurt them, but I cant say for sure. Has anyone else treated a tank with coco worms left in?

[Reef Kid]

Originally posted by 3_high_low
Me too. I ordered it from www.canadapharmacy.com for $36 american.

I couldn't find Interceptor but Heartgard from www.canadapharmacy.com Can I use it?

[Dustin]

The active ingredient is different, so no.

[Reefadict]

I would just like to say how appreciative I am not only of all of Dustins work but also his willingness to share it with all of us. Even if he does have a vested interest in the matter he still went above and beyond. With that said, I finished my first treatement this weekend. Another reefer friend of mine got the intruder from one of our local vet and he was kind enough to give me a pill ( thanks Chris). He just happens to have about a 380gal. system so he just dosed a whole pill. I was fortunate enough to have a pharmacist that my wife works with weigh it out for my system. The hard part was that I had to totally remove ALL my LR and corals from my tank to remove my engineer shrimp, cleaner shrimp and peppermint, along with all my Acro crabs that I was able to remove and my hermits and snails ( snails just to be safe, although I found out later from Chris that when he dosed none of his snails died, heck it didnt even kill his large emerald that he kinda hoped would) I set up a quarantine tank with a piece of live rock/mushroom rock (wich will NOT be going back into the main tank) All the critters will be staying there for atleast a month while I complete the perscribed method of treatement. Hopefully this will eliminate any possible redbugs that may or may not have hitchhiked on them. In the first hour of treatement some of the acro crabs that I couldnt get were dead and 2 hermits that I missed were dead. Also many pods were floating around but the fish made short work of them. I did the water change after the sixth hour and ran lots of carbon along with the skimmer. The next day I had polyp extension on everything. Its been 4 days and I see no bugs. I will treat 2 more times according to the perscribed method. As for their effects on coloration, I cant really comment. I have been experimenting with different MH bulbs from 10K to 20K. I am running a 20K now on my 400w. and will be changing my 12K 250w. to a 14K. I did have some vibrant corals become brownish. Could have been my own fault or an effect of the bugs or possibly both. Either way Im blaming the bugs. Whatever the case, I expect to see a turnaround in the next couple months. I dont expect to see any negative effects caused by this medication down the road. Even if there were some down the road I personally would not have any regrets. Even if it were a leading factor in causing my tank to crash a year down the road ( extreemely unlikely, extreemly!) I would still have done it. You ask why? Im in this hobby for the beauty of it. This hobby is expensive, time consuming, aggravating and joyful at the same time. For all this the end has to justify the means. The end result is beauty! If I cant have that then I dont want this hobby. I started to see that beauty decline then I noticed the bugs. Now their gone and Im a wiser person. Dustin, thank you and all the volunteers for all your hard work and thank you for sharing it with us. I strongly encourage all those with the bugs to eradicate them. Do not trade or sell to others until you do and really look for these critters before you buy the coral. Set up a quarantine tank for future purchases. Obviuosly these critters are some sort of natural evolution but I feel as though they are as beneficial to corals as mosquitos are to humans.

[SeanT]

I emailed candapharmacy.com on 29 March asked why they stopped selling Interceptor.
Here is the reply I received today.

Dear Customer,

There are several products we are still in the process of listing on our website. At this point however we do not carry Interceptor, please give us a call at 1-800-891-0844 in 1-2 months to check if we carry it then, sorry for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,
Jeff C. – Customer Service
www.canadapharmacy.com
1-800-891-0844
jeffc@canadapharmacy.com

[G-money]

4 days after treatment...and I saw a bug.
Just one, but I saw it on my (previously) most heavily infested acro. It may have been deep in a corallite or live rock recess during treatment or possibly just "hatched" since the treatment.

Second treatment this Saturday...

[Dustin]

Are you certain it was still alive? They can stay stuck to an acro for days even when they are dead.

Dustin

[Reef Kid]

Originally posted by SeanT
I emailed candapharmacy.com on 29 March asked why they stopped selling Interceptor.
Here is the reply I received today.

Thanks Sean! So, it's difficult for me to find such pill 'cos nowhere I can find it here in Hong Kong . Anyone knows other sources without a prescription? or else I can just wait for candapharmacy.

[G-money]

Originally posted by Dustin
Are you certain it was still alive? They can stay stuck to an acro for days even when they are dead.

No, I didn't see it move.
I looked the coral over pretty good many times before I saw it, but who knows. I'm not worried...