Treatment #1
Treatment #1
- 1/4 of a 23mg interceptor tablet was used to treat 100 total gallons
- Drug name is Milbemycin Oxime
-All filter media ( Micron filter bag/Carbon ) was removed prior to dosing
-Skimmer was removed from sump altogether ( needed to be cleaned )
-ALL lighting was turned off ( I had a concern that with the lights on the fish may see some small particles as food and injest them ) I was worried about the effects, possibly over-cautious
-All pumps & powerheads were left on during treatment
-I disolved the 1/4 tablet for aprox 8 hours in tank water prior to treatment, this seemed to help disolve even some of the harder small particles
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Hour 1- After the first hour I noticed little if any change in ANYthing at all. There was NO milky appearence to the water at all, and there was no visible negative effects to either the snails/clams/fish/or corals. The ONLY thing I noticed was a bit of extra slime being produced by my slimer ( no more so than during a water change.)
Using a flashlight I examined each frag, the bugs seemed totally unaffected at all. Also the pods seemed to be completely unaffected also at this point.
Hour 2- After visually examining the corals, I still saw NO bug die off.
Everything else was still apparently unaffected by the treatment. There was even more slime around the slimer, and even the other frags seems to be producing extra mucus ( Keep in mind all I have is SPS with the exception of one Ric colony ). During this second hour there was a slight decrease in pod movement throughout the tank.
Hour 3- Dramatic/complete void of all pod movement, even so far as seeing dead ones floating around in the water.Fish/Clams/Snails/Frags seemed fine ( aside from the excessive mucus the frags were producing at this point ) This 3rd hour is when I noticed a slight decrease in bugs on several of the frags. There was still a good bit on them, but a slightly noticable decline. I even noticed a couple falling off one frag in particular.
Hour 4- After a VERY tedious examination of all the corals, I could not see 1 single bug on any of them. The slime had also seemed to reduce in amount around the frags, and I noticed a good deal of polyp extension on several frags. The worst bug infested frag had no polyp extension at all however ( this had been a problem for about 6 days now both during day & night time ) All else seemed fine,I noticed that the snails were still going about their business grazing. I shinned the flashlight into the caves the fish hide in to check on them and they were fine, not even the slightest increase in breathing.
Hour 5- Still no bugs visible at all. Frags had shed their excessive mucus. I noticed a lot of dead pods all over the bottom of the tank and floating around, in the hundreds.
Hour 6- As it had been for the previous two hours all frags were visibly bug free, all fish/corals/clams/snails were in apparently perfect condition. I did however notice that the polyp extension had decreased somewhat by this point.
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A 20 gallon water change was then done, and 2 fresh cups of Black Diamond carbon were added into a filter bag installed onto the sump drain. The skimmer was hooked back up, and for several hours had to be turned all the way down due to excessive overflowing. My nightly ( even though it was moring) dose of b-ionic was added at this point, and I left the system alone till Sun. afternoon.
A examination of the system at that point showed normal ( actinic only ) polyp extension, and still a complete void of any pods at all. EVERYTHING else was seemingly unharmed during the treatment.
*Now here is the promising part*
Of all the frags in the system, one was noticably more infested than the rest. It had for several days had absoultly no polyp extension at all, and some slight bleaching along the base. When I got home from work this evening, the halides were on, the water was next to crystal clear ( only slightly cloudy, due to the water change IMHO more than anything else ) And there was for the first time in at least a week maybe a dozen polyps halfway opened on the worst frag of them all. This evening after lights out, there was even better polyp extension on the same frag. Not 100% better, but much better than previously. I also noticed that ALL the other frags had more extension than I actually thought possible.
It was interesting that once the bugs finally started to die off, thats when I noticed them more on frags I had until that point thought were unaffected at all.
The skimmer is now running at regular strength producing a nice wet skimmate, and as of now ( 24 hours later ) I have replaced the 2cups of carbon with 2 fresh cups, inside a clean filter bag.
I was thinking of maybe leaving it as is, and seeing if one treatment was enough, but I have decided that I WILL do a second treatment next SUN. exactly one week from the first as prescribed. I am however not entirely sure I will do a 3rd as I am not convinced that more than two are nessesary. I do think that 2 treatments is required at the very least at this point.
Anyhow,
There it is,
To all of you concerned about this treatment ( as I was, to the point of an ulcer ) I feel confident now that I made the right decission. And believe that this was absoultly worth doing. Especially now seeing polyps on an otherwise dying frag, and seeing how healthy and vibrant the others looks not even 24 hours later.
Chris
