muddybluewater Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I am treating my Acros for red bugs. I only have a few acros so I am very confident with where they came from. I bought a Valida and a green slimer a while back from a member of the forum. I have had a fear of getting them from what I have read and have been looking for a dragonface pipefish to put into my tank in case I did get some into my tank. Well the other night I was looking at a Valida that has not been coloring up very good and saw a couple tiny spots. I set up a 10g tank last night and put all my acros in it. (there are not many) I followed Eric Bornman's directions and will keep them there for 5 days. He stated that he could not keep them alive for that long with out a host(acros in the tank) and that he could not get them to host anything but acros. I went to my vet and explained to them what I was doing and they sold me a couple of pills of Interceptor. The pills are for heart worm preventative for a 100lb dog. One pill will treat 400g of water. I crushed the pill and added a small amount to the water. After about an hour I could see them floating in the water. Bornman suggested 12-24 hours and then a water change and running carbon. I can not see any more on the Valida but will change the water in a couple hours. I will now dip everything that comes into my tank for at least 3 hours to insure that this does not happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeperKeeper Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Good luck with your treatment. Is Acro absolutely the only thing red bugs live on? I only have one piece of acro, but I've also got some birdsnest, rainbow monti and a couple other SPS. I didn't dip the acro I've got, but I will from now on. Can you tell me how to do the dip? It's Lugol's that you use, right? How do you mix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 How do you know if you have them? How long did it take for you to find out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 From reading Eric Bornman, acros are the only thing he could get to host the red bugs. I have inspected my birds nest with a magnifying glass and could not find any bugs. They seem to like tricolor the best. You can use lugols but you need 10x strength and the corals don't like it. I am using Interceptor. The corals were much happier this morning than they have been in weeks. Much better polyp extension. I did a water change about an hour ago using tank water to limit the shock and will let them sit for 4 more days. On the last day I will probably dose 1 more time just to be safe. 1 pill does 400 gal so I have enough for many new acros to be treated. I just need some money to buy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 How do you know if you have them? How long did it take for you to find out? They are very small specs on the coral. I have had this for a while but from the location in the tank and the size I could not see them and did not realize how small they are. They have a yellow body with a red head. I could not see dthe body until they were dead and floating in the tank after treatment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Daniel Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Keep an eye out for AEFW. Many people find that their tanks suddenly have AEFW (much worse than red bugs) after getting rid of red bugs. Make sure you QT all corals before putting them into your display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 20, 2009 Author Share Posted December 20, 2009 Keep an eye out for AEFW. Many people find that their tanks suddenly have AEFW (much worse than red bugs) after getting rid of red bugs. Make sure you QT all corals before putting them into your display. That (QT) is what this 10g tank will be used for after this is completed. I hope that my six line will keep flat worms out of my tank. I have had him about a year and he is doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 26, 2009 Author Share Posted December 26, 2009 Everything has been back in the main tank for a couple days and not a sign of bugs. I will give it a couple of weeks before I give it the all clear. Lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 Keep an eye out for AEFW. Many people find that their tanks suddenly have AEFW (much worse than red bugs) after getting rid of red bugs. Make sure you QT all corals before putting them into your display. The only relation to red bugs and AEFW is people not dipping before adding new corals. Every hard coral should go through some sort of idodine-based dip to remove flatworms, crabs, etc. Interceptor alwyas works as an in-tank treatment but I've had mixed results when using it as a dip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedelgado Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 I tanks has been torn up by every bad critter I can think of.This is why my once glorious collection of acropora is sitting and fitting in a 5 gal tank as we speak.All but 2 of them are covered in red bugs. The little 5 gal and my display are getting an interceptor treatment right now. I thought about just tossing them but I figured I would try the interceptor. I am a couple of hrs into it right now so far so good. Take it from me if you dont dip and QUARANTEEN(at least a month maybe more) everything and I do mean every grain of sand to the biggest fish you WILL get something uninvited.I should just give up on acros because thats what the majority of bad stuff goes for. Unfortunately I think acros are really cool looking so here we go with the interceptor. Dont even get me started on acro eating flatworms , **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Mike, how is the treatment going. They should all be dead after 1-2 hours. The good thing is that there are no eggs so once they are gon they are gone. That being said, I would still dose again in 5 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedelgado Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 the red bugs croaked!! Dosing the display was way less tramatizing than I expected. I really didnt notice anything unusual. My shrimps are still alive which worries me a little.I plan on dosing twice more in the following weeks to ensure a 100% kill and so I dont end up with some sort of resistant strain of bugs later on down the road.Afew of my lps corals were asking to be fed during traetment while the lights were on ? wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 That is great. If for some reason mine come back I will be doseing the display also but still no sign so far. Hope everything works out for you Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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