red bug treatment?

[NYPDFrogman]

heys guys! been kind of "out of it" since the surgery. I did an interceptor treatment week ago thurs looks like I did in the bugs. I havent done a second treatment yet between surgery and getting sick(meds).
should I do another ASAP or should just watch and see?


everything looks fine I never really had great polyp extension, but was hoping once the bugs were gone it would improve.
thoughts?

Frank

 

[Kedd]

I would do all 3 treatments.
I had them come back about a month after I did the first thinking one was enough.
I then did all three and all has been fine for at leat 2 years now.
I also dip every coral I get no matter if people tell me their tank is free of them or not.

Kedd

 

[IconicAquariums]

I agree, if you don't see any after the first treatment there are probably still some eggs & a small population of bugs that will come back.

 

[twinreef]

do all 3 treatments. because they might have laid eggs. first two treatments are 7 days apart then the last is 14 days. i'm going through this right now. my last treatment is in 2 weeks.

jorge

 

[NYPDFrogman]

point is.... I missed my 7 day window it's been 10 days now

 

[twinreef]

it dosen't matter. because no one knows the life cycle of the parisite. so just make two more treatments or three if you like.

 

[IconicAquariums]

Actually, the eggs hatch within 5 days. I would just start the treatment over. It doesn't really hurt anything FWIW.

jeo

 

[jackson6745]

I just dose like 6-10x the "suggested" dosage one time and they never come back. (unless I get an infected coral ) I've dipped in a 50x strength will no ill effects to corals. Don't be afraid to use more....Dustin was just watching his back with that suggested dosage just in case we started killing our corals with this stuff

 

[twinreef]

Actually, the eggs hatch within 5 days. I would just start the treatment over. It doesn't really hurt anything FWIW.

jeo

ok, i didnt know that. you see you learn something new every day.

jorge

 

[Dace]

I would do all 3 treatments.
I had them come back about a month after I did the first thinking one was enough.
I then did all three and all has been fine for at leat 2 years now.
I also dip every coral I get no matter if people tell me their tank is free of them or not.

Kedd

i agree. i did all three. took no chances

 

[ShaunW]

Two is probably OK if you space them out 7 days apart. Look at three as insurance.

Which bings up a scary thought that all SPS lovers need to watch for, just because you treat that incoming frag doesn't mean that your not introducting red bugs to your tank. The eggs may be on the frag, unaffected from the interceptor dip. Then once you put the frag in the tank, they hatch a couple of days later to re-infect your tank (little BASTARDS!!).

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Two is probably OK if you space them out 7 days apart. Look at three as insurance.

Which bings up a scary thought that all SPS lovers need to watch for, just because you treat that incoming frag doesn't mean that your not introducting red bugs to your tank. The eggs may be on the frag, unaffected from the interceptor dip. Then once you put the frag in the tank, they hatch a couple of days later to re-infect your tank (little BASTARDS!!).

I think thats what happened i'm going to start the treatment cycle again tomorrow.
thanks for the input guys!

 

[jhale]

Two is probably OK if you space them out 7 days apart. Look at three as insurance.

Which bings up a scary thought that all SPS lovers need to watch for, just because you treat that incoming frag doesn't mean that your not introducting red bugs to your tank. The eggs may be on the frag, unaffected from the interceptor dip. Then once you put the frag in the tank, they hatch a couple of days later to re-infect your tank (little BASTARDS!!).

I do the mega nuclear dose like Rich, I believe it kills the eggs as well.
a 1/4 pill in a tupperware container for 15 minutes for all frags.

But setting up a QT for your frags would not be the worst thing to do. it's a PITA, but if you like your pods and crabs it's better than the alternative.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

for sure! I dont think I lost many crabs saw a scarlet hermit this morning! I havent seen my emeralds they were pretty big to start with


I can always replace the hermits!

 

[jhale]

I think you emeralds went to that big algae bubble in the sky,

they are very sensitive to the interceptor

 

[NYPDFrogman]

I think you emeralds went to that big algae bubble in the sky,

they are very sensitive to the interceptor

oh well they were getting too big

 

[glipper69]

you might want to try taking all the affected corals out and quarantining them instead. this way you can treat the corals not the whole tank. I did that about a month ago, I took all my SPS out even if they didn't show any Bugs put them in a 20 gallon container along with any rock that came with them. I did a massive overdose (1/2 a pill) waited 24 hours took them out and they where like new again. It's been a month and still no sign of the bugs. The corals where no worse for wear.

when I treated them I could actually see all those little red bastards floating on top of the water Dead. it was a lovely sight.

Any way you might want to give that a try first. instead of putting all your other inhabitants at risk.

Good luck,
Frank

 

[NYPDFrogman]

you might want to try taking all the affected corals out and quarantining them instead. this way you can treat the corals not the whole tank. I did that about a month ago, I took all my SPS out even if they didn't show any Bugs put them in a 20 gallon container along with any rock that came with them. I did a massive overdose (1/2 a pill) waited 24 hours took them out and they where like new again. It's been a month and still no sign of the bugs. The corals where no worse for wear.

when I treated them I could actually see all those little red bastards floating on top of the water Dead. it was a lovely sight.

Any way you might want to give that a try first. instead of putting all your other inhabitants at risk.

Good luck,
Frank

I thought about just treating the affected corals but i have close to 20 pieces of acro in my tank. one piece is 6" wide 12" long and about 8" tall

treating just the pieces isnt feasible.
I am setting up another system just to q/t SPS I'll be wholesaling some too

 

[cali_reef]

I think you emeralds went to that big algae bubble in the sky,

they are very sensitive to the interceptor

That would be a good thing.. :lol:

The two larger emeralds in my reef just won't die..

 

[jhale]

I treated for red bugs the way Frank/Gipper mentioned.

It worked for me at the time because I was dealing with mostly frags.

This would not work in an established tank with larger coral.
There is just no way to get all the Acropora out, and if just one frag is sitting in the back and a red bug finds it, your whole treatment plan is wasted.
In Franks/frogmans case it would be better to spend time rounding up all the hermits you can. It's not too hard they like to eat at night a few hours with a flash light and you can get most of them.

set up a small tank for them and keep them in for the duration of the treatment. give them some new sand to play in, or some dead rocks, and don't forget to feed them. the bugs will die in five days with out a acropora to host in so don't worry about the bugs hitching a ride on the hermits or other crabs. it would be highly unlikely they would be on a crab anyway. the bugs spend their lives on acropora, and that is where they lay their eggs.