Red Bugs? Help!

t5Nitro · #1 10/07/2007, 06:12 PM

I was looking at one of my corals that hasn't had PE in a while. I was looking real close at it and it is covered FULL of little tiny flame orange looking things crawling around. What do I do? I do not have any interceptor and cannot get any. Please help, thanks.

t5Nitro · #2 10/07/2007, 06:30 PM

Should I throw the two corals out that I found them on?

t5Nitro · #3 10/07/2007, 06:40 PM

Someone please hurry to respond, I don't want them to spread any further hah.

Throw it out? On the coral next to it, I found 2 of them or so on a branch, break the branches off that have them on? There's an acro crab in that coral and I have no other large acro colonies for him to live if I toss the whole coral on him.

znut Reefer · #4 10/07/2007, 06:43 PM

If some of your acros have Redbugs more than likely the others have them also.

I would try to find some interceptor before I threw out my sps.

trueblackpercula · #5 10/07/2007, 07:00 PM

you need to get interceptor faaaaaaaaast try online vendors
Michael

t5Nitro · #6 10/07/2007, 07:12 PM

I talked to a local guy. I think I know where I can maybe get some from a vet. I will try this first. So, I am going to dose this directly to the tank. What about my mandarin? I just heard he can go starving for 3 months when I dose this, but as long as he is fat it won't really bother him? I don't like the idea of 3 months of no food for him. Will the interceptor take out that many of his pods?

fishdoc11 · #7 10/07/2007, 07:23 PM

In you don't have it here is the original treatment:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45859
I would recommend following those directons with the only exception being raising the dose by ~ 25%.
I know 2 people local that treated with Mandarins and the fish did fine. The pods come back quicker than you think they will. Also there really is no hurry unless those particular corals just look pathetic and even then you can just dip them for a stop gap until you can treat the whole tank.
good luck, Chris

gflat65 · #8 10/07/2007, 07:35 PM

I may be one of those who treated with a mandarin with no issues

. I was concerned, but she stayed as fat as a little sausage through the process. She obviously found something to munch on. I've just found that I've got them again (been about two years since I had them the first time), so it's time to treat again.

Nothing to be too concerned about, IMO. They are easy to kill and seem to stay dead, unlike AEFW's. I've got several wrasses in the SPS tank now (had to restart a few months ago after a move), so my concerns are greater (one large leopard wrasse-5", two smaller leopards-2-3", one solarensis). I think I'm just going to hit the tank and feed arctipods until the treatment is over and I can dose some tigger pods (love Reed Mariculture

). Just gotta find some freakin Interceptor...

t5Nitro · #9 10/07/2007, 08:05 PM

So, I will need to dose .025g (25mg) of this per 10 gallons of tank water? How should I estimate the tank water? If I have a 3" sand bed, I just took off 3" from the height of the tank leaving it around 106 gallons (125 gallon tank). The sump is a 40 gallon and is loaded full of rocks (filled only half way) and skimmer, heater, some chaeto etc). The main tank also has a lot of rock. There is 50 lbs of fiji rock and 75 pounds of marco rock (when it was dry, not sure of the weight when wet).

So the sump is 40 gallon, but only half way filled loaded with rocks. Should I estimate 10 gallons in there? The main tank with a 3" sand bed, cut off 3" from the tank height when calculating it and came up with 106 gallons, so how much should I take off for the rocks? Maybe then it would be 80 gallons? 90 gallons total? What would you guys guess? I'm not real sure on how accurate interceptor should be measured, and I can't really acurately measure tank volume with rocks in it.

fishdoc11 · #10 10/07/2007, 08:13 PM

Yes one of those would be you Mr Flatness

Sounds like you are on the right track t5Nitro. You can't get the estimated tank volume exact. If anything overestimate. People have used pretty high doses(10x and up) in tanks without killing everything off but IMO there is no need to go that high. I wouldn't be worried about a double dosage or maybe even a little higher. Hope that makes sense.

Chris

t5Nitro · #11 10/07/2007, 08:16 PM

So, should I just dose for 100 gallons of water? What would that be. Is it .025g of 1 pill for 10 gallons of water? So I would then need .25g or about 1/4 of the pill for the first treatment? Does this sound right for 100 gallons? Otherwise 250mg of the pill (50-100 lbs).

jjmcat · #12 10/07/2007, 08:27 PM

What I did Is set up a seperate short term tank for my macro.I then added the macro to my sump after the treatment was complete.I have gone threw 2 different treaments and hes still kicking.

jjmcat · #13 10/07/2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by t5Nitro
So, should I just dose for 100 gallons of water? What would that be. Is it .025g of 1 pill for 10 gallons of water? So I would then need .25g or about 1/4 of the pill for the first treatment? Does this sound right for 100 gallons? Otherwise 250mg of the pill (50-100 lbs).

I did one pill the first week the added a half of a pill in week 2.

t5Nitro · #14 10/07/2007, 08:40 PM

1 pill for a treatment? That will treat 380 gallons, you can overdose that much?

Or am I getting this wrong? Isn't it .025g of 1 pill per 10 gallons of water? That leaves around 1/4 of a pill or .25g per 100 gallons.

Does it matter which way you cut the pill, long or short way? Is the milbemycin oxime on one end and not the other etc?

jjmcat · #15 10/07/2007, 08:45 PM

Yes

fishdoc11 · #16 10/07/2007, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by t5Nitro
1 pill for a treatment? That will treat 380 gallons, you can overdose that much?

Or am I getting this wrong? Isn't it .025g of 1 pill per 10 gallons of water? That leaves around 1/4 of a pill or .25g per 100 gallons.

Does it matter which way you cut the pill, long or short way? Is the milbemycin oxime on one end and not the other etc?

You can but there is no need to. Using half a pill and using ~ a double dosage would be more appropriate IMO if you don't have measuring equipment.

One pill treats ~ 380 gallons.

It doesn't matter which way you cut the pill. The medication is evenly distributed throughout the pill.

hth, Chris

t5Nitro · #17 10/07/2007, 10:00 PM

So, you say double the dose and use 1/2 of the interceptor instead of 1/4 of it? Ok, I will try that. Thanks. Then 25% water change after 6 hours and use a lot of carbon, and then after 24 hours another water change (how big?) and then replace the carbon?

fishdoc11 · #18 10/07/2007, 10:05 PM

I would rather use half a pill and double the dose than use a quarter and risk not dosing enough if that makes sense.
Yes I followed Dustins directions ~ 3 years ago and they worked perfectly for me...still no red bugs.
Some have skipped the water changes but IMO at least one is a good idea......2 doesn't hurt

I would change out the carbon like it states.

Chris

KEstep · #19 10/07/2007, 10:20 PM

I'm in the same boat with you t5Nitro. I just now took a macro shot of a frag I have and I noticed the exact same thing in your picture... I can not believe how small these suckers are. Luckily they are very far and few, not as many as yours. Either way I thought I had been lucky all this time

. Do starfish do ok with the treatment or do I need to remove them? I would hate to lose anything now. I plan on starting treatment when I get back from Chicago next week.. Blahhh.

jjmcat · #20 10/07/2007, 10:39 PM

Heres an old thread on red bugs.I hope it helps.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=1

fishdoc11 · #21 10/08/2007, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KEstep
I'm in the same boat with you t5Nitro. I just now took a macro shot of a frag I have and I noticed the exact same thing in your picture... I can not believe how small these suckers are. Luckily they are very far and few, not as many as yours. Either way I thought I had been lucky all this time . Do starfish do ok with the treatment or do I need to remove them? I would hate to lose anything now. I plan on starting treatment when I get back from Chicago next week.. Blahhh.

Starfish clams and fish do fine. The treatment kills arthropods(crabs, shrip, pods etc....) and nematodes("non segmented worms").

hth, Chris

t5Nitro · #22 10/08/2007, 06:37 AM

Ok, I will double the recommended dose and use 1/2 of the interceptor. If some haven't done water changes, I think I will only do 10 gallon water changes at a time, since they are much easier because I do them manually

Maybe I will do 2 of those and change the carbon.

Can the crabs live in maybe a gallon of tank water with a powerhead and heater for the 6 hours of the treatment? I will try to find whatever hermit I can before dosing it and try to get the acro crab out. Not sure how to do that, he is really in there

rutz81 · #23 10/08/2007, 07:08 AM

I have treated for red bugs in the past, and like the others said,it's really not that big of a deal. Both times, I dosed around 1/2 the pill(crushed it up and eyed up half) on a 75G with 20G sump. You really need to do something very wrong to overdose, IMO.

fighton03 · #24 10/08/2007, 04:47 PM

I have read the "no selling or buying" post about interceptor. How do you "legally" purchase it? will a vet give a prescription to order it online?

twon8 · #25 10/08/2007, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fighton03
I have read the "no selling or buying" post about interceptor. How do you "legally" purchase it? will a vet give a prescription to order it online?

i just asked my local vet and explained what it was for, they were too fascinated to care that it wasnt' for a dog, i paid about 8 per pill