steve the plumb
In Memoriam
I used it last night and so far red bastards are dead.I am happy and my shrimp lived.Lost my hermits but they always end ep killing each other or snails anyways.I will buy some more online.
Best Red Bug Treatment?
- Thread starter Black Mammoth
- Start date
gflat65
New member
Well, humans, of course
.You will definitely want to QT... I was QT'ing, but had slack procedures. I never even thought about AEFW's. I'm down from ~55 acros to ~5-6 through the treatment. I must have done something wrong somewhere along the line, but regardless, you don't want AEFW's... I've said it before. Give me red bugs any day of the week (over AEFW, anyway)
.
Glad to hear they seem to have worked for you
IMO "completely eradicated" is not the proper term to use. "Controlled" or "controlling the population" would probably be more accurate, unless of course you remove the pipefish and still don't have red bugs 6 months to a year laterChris
Black Mammoth
Premium Member
UPDATE! GET YOUR FRESH HOT UPDATE!
UPDATE! GET YOUR FRESH HOT UPDATE!
It appears to be working! I'm glad that I caught them right away.
They were so small the day I found them, I wasn't even sure that they were red bugs. They looked like red micro dots! The next day I was able to stop by my Vet office and pick up a tablet of interceptor. I got home and there were more bugs and they were bigger! They still didn't look like the picutres, but I was pretty sure that they were red bugs. Today I was able to dose the tank with interceptor. The bugs were bigger and they were about to take over. I'm now 3 hours in to the treatment and most of them are gone!
The Bably Blue looks happier. I'm getting better polyp extension! Now I'm 90% sure this is what killed my Green Slimer. I thought it was just unhappy in the new tank. It was the damn red bugs!!!!
Thanks a bunch guys!
UPDATE! GET YOUR FRESH HOT UPDATE!
It appears to be working! I'm glad that I caught them right away.
They were so small the day I found them, I wasn't even sure that they were red bugs. They looked like red micro dots! The next day I was able to stop by my Vet office and pick up a tablet of interceptor. I got home and there were more bugs and they were bigger! They still didn't look like the picutres, but I was pretty sure that they were red bugs. Today I was able to dose the tank with interceptor. The bugs were bigger and they were about to take over. I'm now 3 hours in to the treatment and most of them are gone!
The Bably Blue looks happier. I'm getting better polyp extension! Now I'm 90% sure this is what killed my Green Slimer. I thought it was just unhappy in the new tank. It was the damn red bugs!!!!
Thanks a bunch guys!
Black Mammoth
Premium Member
Ixthys
Premium Member
PLEASE go to this link and read what an educated man in this field has to say.
http://www.ericborneman.com/Tegastes-content/Treatment.html
Notice he does NOT recommend treating the whole tank.
As far as scientific evidence can tell, Acropora is the only host and the red bugs will die in 3-5 days without this host. Therefore, if you remove your Acros and place in QT for 3-5 days, your main tank will clear itself.
http://www.ericborneman.com/Tegastes-content/Treatment.html
Notice he does NOT recommend treating the whole tank.
As far as scientific evidence can tell, Acropora is the only host and the red bugs will die in 3-5 days without this host. Therefore, if you remove your Acros and place in QT for 3-5 days, your main tank will clear itself.
It is very hard if not impossible to remove every bit of Acropora from a well established well populated tank(frags behind rocks, encrustations etc..). It is much easier and more reliable to treat the whole tank IMO. I respect Mr Bornemans knowledge on ceartain subjects and this method ceartainly seems plausable but keep in mind he recommended treating with iodine before the current method you have posted and that doesn't work. Also keep in mind these methods he has developed have centered on trying not to treat the whole tank. Treating the whole tank has been proven by countless other reefers to be safe and effective so I really don't see the point in trying to get around it
Chris
SaraB
Coral Killer
I had heard of Eric's recommendations from a local "reefer" and decided to give it a try. I do not have an well established tank, so removing 20 acro's consisting of mostly frags was not that difficult. Rather than just doing 1 treatment I am doing 3 full treatments in a QT environment and the Acro's will not return to my main tank until day 21. I figure it's worth a try and I am not sacrificing my shrimps and crabs ... and if it does not work I guess I'll have to nuke the whole tank.
tangwang
New member
Most die-hard acro reefers with literally THOUSANDS of $$$ in their tanks will tell you that treating the whole tank is a more realistic approach to using Interceptor. I can tell you right now that if I removed avery Acro from my tank, I would cause more damage than good
Matt
Matt
Dudester
Premium Member
I'm going to treat my 30g this weekend with Interceptor, and I had a few questions:
1. I plan to try to remove my hermits, emeralds, and shrimp and place them in QT during the treatment. Any chance a red bug could hitch a ride on their back?
2. I plan to put some LR from my sump into the QT so the crabs will have something to graze upon during the 3 weeks. Any chance a red bug could be in the LR?
3. Would increasing water changes during the 7 days between treatments with Interceptor reduce the amount of cyano and hair algae outbreaks I've heard about?
Thanks, all!
1. I plan to try to remove my hermits, emeralds, and shrimp and place them in QT during the treatment. Any chance a red bug could hitch a ride on their back?
2. I plan to put some LR from my sump into the QT so the crabs will have something to graze upon during the 3 weeks. Any chance a red bug could be in the LR?
3. Would increasing water changes during the 7 days between treatments with Interceptor reduce the amount of cyano and hair algae outbreaks I've heard about?
Thanks, all!
jay24k
Active member
1. Anything is possible. Without an acro host, they will die.
2. Why 3 weeks? If you treat your main tank, they die instantly. I honestly have not seen a single reinfestation on a tank that was treated just one time unless a new coral was introduced that had them.
3. I don't really see how these outbreaks happen from interceptor. I would just run carbon after 6 hrs, pop your skimmer on, and be done with it. Water changes IMO are always a good thing and can't hurt unless overdone.
2. Why 3 weeks? If you treat your main tank, they die instantly. I honestly have not seen a single reinfestation on a tank that was treated just one time unless a new coral was introduced that had them.
3. I don't really see how these outbreaks happen from interceptor. I would just run carbon after 6 hrs, pop your skimmer on, and be done with it. Water changes IMO are always a good thing and can't hurt unless overdone.
1. Very unlikely
2. I would skip that part as I would consider it fairly likely that could happen. People say Red Bugs die after ~5 days with no Acros but I have yet to see documented proof and IMO it's not worth the risk if you are going through the trouble anyway. As far as feeding the crabs they are about as unpicky as it gets.
3. Wouldn't be a bad idea for lots of reasons.....I would just be wary of going overboard and severely affect the alk or something like that.
hth and JMO, Chris
2. I would skip that part as I would consider it fairly likely that could happen. People say Red Bugs die after ~5 days with no Acros but I have yet to see documented proof and IMO it's not worth the risk if you are going through the trouble anyway. As far as feeding the crabs they are about as unpicky as it gets.
3. Wouldn't be a bad idea for lots of reasons.....I would just be wary of going overboard and severely affect the alk or something like that.
hth and JMO, Chris
jay24k
Active member
I haven't ran into that issue in my reef but I've talked to several who have. They don't lay eggs so there is no reason to suspect needing multiple treatments EXCEPT if you feel you want the assurance. The ones that I do know did it one time several months ago and haven't had them again.
Stoney Mahony
New member
I killed all my RB's in a single dip. 1/4 tab interceptor in 5 gallon bucket(app. 4 1/2 gal water) for 20 minutes. Then quarentine and your good to go. Killed all of them with no harm to the acros. Good luck!
