Bugs on Acropora (not Red Bugs)

[ThRoewer]

I just found some tiny bugs on one of my new acroporas. They are definitely not red bugs.
Their body shape is flattened like an isopod and their color I would describe as tan - pretty much the color of the coral I found them on. They stay on the coral when it is taken out of the water and seem to be unaffected by 10 minute Coral Rx dip.
The coral showed something that could be bite marks.
To rid the coral of these I picked them off one by one with a fine tipped tweezers under my microscope.

Another thing I found on the plug, at the edge of the coral base were 3 clutches of green eggs. I don't know if these are related to the bugs - they seemed to big to be from them (unless these bugs were freshly hatched).
I removed all of those manually.

I also found a tiny critter that looked like a black bodied mite with clear to tan legs. I had seen these before on the rock of a decaying Parazoanthus colony.

Inside the dip I found a large, about 6 mm long flatworm that had a color pattern like the coral. I think it is safe to assume it feeds of the coral. It may also have been the source of the eggs.
I didn't notice that guy under the microscope because I was looking for tiny things and it was huge.

Has anybody encountered these before.
Would Bayer Advanced be more effective against bugs than Coral Rx?

Unfortunately I wasn't able to install my microscope so I couldn't take any pictures of them.

 

[ThRoewer]

I found the picture below in the SPS Pest thread:

Any ideas what is this? Do i need to do anything about it? Its some bug and it moves fast, there are few of them on this acro.

This looks somewhat similar in size and shape to the bugs I found on my coral.

 

[DSMpunk]

I can't identify it in any way, but I would treat it like red bugs anyway. I imagine a bayer dip would take the starch out of 'em

 

[MrSandman]

If you can't dip em then I'm sure interceptor will work.

 

[reef80]

Black bugs... if so then it's trouble...because interceptor even at 500% strength don't kill tbem...bayer might kill them but needs to be a higher dose...good luck.

 

[ThRoewer]

Do black bugs lay eggs on the coral or are they carrying them like most other crustacean?
Also how long can they survive without a coral to feed on - what would be the fallow period?
Which corals do they feed on?

So far I only have small frags that can easily be removed from the tank and visually inspected. If necessary I can pick the bugs off one by one using my microscope and micro tip tweezers.

The only corals I can't dip are my two porites. One was a hitchhiker on a live rock and the other is on a Christmas tree rock.

 

[Gmerek2]

Dont do anything until it becomes a problem. There are so many species of stuff just keep a close eye out

 

[MrSandman]

I had the things about 6 months ago and interceptor cleared them right up. They are similar to red bugs in that they don't kill the coral directly but rather annoy the heck out of them and cause their polyps to retract. I'll see if I have a photo but I know that they looked identical to the one you attached.

 

[ThRoewer]

Dont do anything until it becomes a problem. There are so many species of stuff just keep a close eye out

I'm just about to transition everything to a new, 4 times larger tank. The one thing I for sure don't want, is to start out with any pests in the system.
And I will do my best to keep them from now on out, because it is nearly impossible to get rid of them after they have made it into a tank.

As for Bayer Advanced, what is the recommended dosage?

 

[DSMpunk]

I use a 50/1 ratio tank water to bayer. I have gone as high as 25/1 for known infestations. I dip 15 minutes. Your mileage may vary, but I have yet to lose a coral this way.

 

[MrSandman]

Red bugs and these white bugs are probably the easiest pest to get rid of. A whole tank treatment using interceptor is extremely effective and safe and easy as long as you remove shrimps and hermits first.

If you plan to transition everything to a new tank and the only pests are these bugs why not do a whole tank treatment with interceptor instead? I think it would be more thorough this way. If you went the dipping route you'd probably want to dip everything, including your rocks and sand to be absolutely sure. Just seems like a lot of work. Just my opinion.

 

[ThRoewer]

I have too many big and tiny crustacean in my tank that I don't want to get rid off. My mandarins and pipefish would be extremely upset with me if I did.

Dipping and maybe fallow might be the only way. And maybe some crawling pipefish to keep them in check.

 

[markalot]

The flatworm yiu described is aefw, so that should be the primary concern imo. Bayer will not kill eggs so make sure yoiu remove all eggs or scrap coral and move on.