How to KILL red bugs

[Allmost]

Hello all SPS lovers

so for the last 5 months or so, my SPS have been under fire.

I have red bugs in the tank, which are on most SPS, and also some big hairy black crabs which just love eating my sps ! and some flatworms in sump, which I dont think are as bad as other 2.

using Zeovit and perfect water conditions, the effects of RB were minimal, and due to the amazing growth rate, the crabs were just trimming my new growth instead of eating my colonies away.

now its time to upgrade

I am planning on the 125G new tank, and will have it all here by the end of the month, but here is the problem, it will have to go where this tank is !!

soooo, here is my plan, PLEASE advice on what you think give me your opinions, I would love to hear from some experts

Im planning to take the 65 G down, saving all the water and ... . drain it and take all corals and fish and rocks out.
move the tank/stand/sump to my room, (I wont remove the DSB in the main tank, I think I can lift a tank with like 3-4 inches of sand in it right ? or should I trow the sand away and go BB ?)and set up the tank again, use the same water and rocks and corals and fish. (so a simple move)

then set up the new tank and cycle it for 14 days using Zeovit cycle.

now it will be time to move the fish and corals over, and to take the old 65G down. but I want a SURE method to kill all the Red bugs, and crabs so I know I wont transfer them. what should I dip them in ? should I do all at once ?
I was thinking the most reliable method would be to set up 2 tanks, 10 G each, and fill them up with water from the 65G. have a power head and heater in each, out some interceptor in one tank. remove corals from the 65G, dip them in the interceptor mix, then remove it and dip it in tank water for a bit to wash the interceptor off, and place the coral in the new 125 ?
would this be okay ? and sure way of making sure all RB are dead ? should I follow this with a revive bath and then tank water and than new tank ?

the reason I dont do interceptor treatment now is that the same tank is connected to my seahorse tank, and also there are alot of shrimps int he set up I dont want to loose. seahorses are NOT dependant on the pods, but I dont want to risk it, specially since I will have time

thank you all for reading and your help

 

[MikeandNicole]

Interceptor is not a harsh treatment and can be dosed directly into the tank. The other thing is that interceptor does not kill the eggs so you really need a 3 week regiment dosing every week to make sure you kill the eggs. The best thing would be to dose the corals before you move them into the new tank in the holding tanks. Secondly, you can dose the new tank as well as this is not a huge problem.

How big are the black crabs you said are eating the SPS? I am sure a revive dip or something similiar will at least knock them off the corals.

Be patient, slow and deliberate when you switch tanks over, having the 2 10 gallon holding tanks and giving your corals time to adapt to changes will help. Plan it out well before you move your first hermit crab out.

Be careful with moving the deep sand bed around. I have never moved one but I think it could pose numerous issues if moved around without the proper precautions being taken.

 

[Allmost]

well we simply do not know enough about interceptor. and what it does in salt water, if it fully gets removed after, its effects on fish and other inverts or .... I dont want to argue about this as I am in no place to say why I feel this ways, but just not seeing any immediate downsides to it doesnt make it safe. so I rather not nuke the tank, specially the new one.

good point in RB eggs, but cant do much about them right ? I guess another dip in revive after interceptor would help. and then wash off in the tank water. but again, there hasnt been any sighting of RB eggs ! no studies on it so cant say for sure.


the black crabs are in the tank, MANY of them, small to big lol they made a nice huge family eating my sps haha, so when I move the corals over, I wont take any of these (hence why Im going to use new LR )

anyways, thanks

 

[NeverlosT]

I removed all the snails/crabs/shrimp that I could and dosed the tank twice with interceptor, each time followed by a large waterchange. The red bugs died quickly. Bada boom.

only problem was apparently the red bugs were keeping the AEFW in check and once they were gone...

now two months later the tank has been acro fallow, the acros have all been Coral RX dipped many times, and it looks like ive beaten the AEFW too.

Good lord I dont ever want coral parasites again. Lets hope you are lucky, the red bugs are BY FAR the easier parasite to dispose of.

 

[Allmost]

good to see you got them

to be honest, only reason I want the RBs gone is so I can start selling frags again I stopped as I didnt want others tanks to get infected. but the RBs arent doing much damage to the corals.

thank you

 

[29reef]

Inteceptor treatments are safe. They have been used for years. If you want to get rid of the RB then do the 3 treatments. It seems silly that you've got some sort of notion that interceptor can harm your tank. It's safe. I've had many inverts make it though multiple treatments just fine. Activated carbon and the skimmer will remove the rest after your done with your treatments. Post on the zeo forums if your unsure of treatment in a zeo tank. As for the flat worms it's best to try natural predators before medication.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

interceptor or ivermectin (both the same family of drug) would be the way to go; I too would have a hard time dosing my tank, but if you can't pull your acros for treatment (and that may be overly stressful and worth not wanting to do) treating the tank is the option. I just asked my veterinarian other about duration, she said when used for heartworms it only lasts one day in the dogs body; that's why its given every month for the animals life. In tanks My bet is carbon alone would render it to useless levels in no time, add in all the other tank organisms processing it, coupled with by now tens of thousands of successful treatments with pods rebounding well after reintroduction, I would say there are no residual issues to worry about. The one thing I've always questioned are peoples statements about worm life being unaffected which makes no sense to me, as that is what interceptor was designed to do?

 

[Allmost]

Inteceptor treatments are safe. They have been used for years. If you want to get rid of the RB then do the 3 treatments. It seems silly that you've got some sort of notion that interceptor can harm your tank. It's safe. I've had many inverts make it though multiple treatments just fine. Activated carbon and the skimmer will remove the rest after your done with your treatments. Post on the zeo forums if your unsure of treatment in a zeo tank. As for the flat worms it's best to try natural predators before medication.

thank you,. as I have posted above, I will be removign the acros and dipping them in interceptor and place them in new tank, so no way of treating 3 times, I just dont believe in that.
Im only worried about Seahorses's health and that is why I wouldnt nuke a tank.

 

[Allmost]

interceptor or ivermectin (both the same family of drug) would be the way to go; I too would have a hard time dosing my tank, but if you can't pull your acros for treatment (and that may be overly stressful and worth not wanting to do) treating the tank is the option. I just asked my veterinarian other about duration, she said when used for heartworms it only lasts one day in the dogs body; that's why its given every month for the animals life. In tanks My bet is carbon alone would render it to useless levels in no time, add in all the other tank organisms processing it, coupled with by now tens of thousands of successful treatments with pods rebounding well after reintroduction, I would say there are no residual issues to worry about. The one thing I've always questioned are peoples statements about worm life being unaffected which makes no sense to me, as that is what interceptor was designed to do?

thank you what has me puzzled is all the assumptions made when using this method ! why 3 times ? we have no Idea if RBs even lay eggs .... maybe treatment is not strong enough ? ...


anyways, I didnt make this thread to argue about interceptor, but to ask what the best/easiest method would be.

I have to MOVE the tank to my room.
set up new tank.
move livestock over.

at which STAGE do you think I should do the treatment ?
before moving the tank ?
after moving the tank ?
while moving the tank ?
dip corals before moving them to new tank
wait for new tank to cycle, move all the shrimps and seahorses over and then treat the old tank ?

(but again, I dont want to have the old tank running for 3 weeks to do 3 treatments .... so 1 is enough.)

this is not an interceptor thrad, but rather me asking reefers for their advice on when to do this treatment. I know it is safe with ZEO and everything else, so lets not argue about interseptor or ...

 

[Allmost]

okay apologies to everyone, I have said so much in this thread that it seems confusing

here is the plan, please advice on it :


lets just say I have a 65G SPS tank matured full of corals and red bugs. lets call this old tank

and a 125G tank which is well cycled. lets call this new tank

I Will get 2 units of 10 G aquariums.

pure old tank water into both aquariums.

dissolve Interceptor in one.

place corals in interceptor dip for 1 hour.

take acros out of interceptor and place in tank water to wash it off (wash the medication off)

place coral after dip in new aquarium.


does this sound good ? what modification would you make to this ? how would u make the solutions stronger to be sure ? should I dip in revive after dipping in interceptor to give it a second dip ? Iodine ?


thanks.

 

[29reef]

I would move all corals and rock to the new tank and leave your fish and livestock in the old tank. Treat the new tank at least 2 times and then move the fish over. I don't suggest you transfer water when you move the fish from the old tank to the new. Interceptor as a dip is ineffective as a means of treatment once a entire tank has been infested IME. I've kept sps for over 7 years now and have done many treatments over time (mostly due to poor QT on my part) but interceptor is so mild that I have no problem with using it.

 

[Allmost]

thank you 29reef.

http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html
I got the dipping Idea from here, doesnt work ?


I will NOT be using the same Live rock. so absolutely NOTHING gets transferred between the tanks except fish and corals and inverts with no water of course.

and I just want to DIP the corals to be sure Im not transferring the RBs

 

[edandsandy]

I removed all the snails/crabs/shrimp that I could and dosed the tank twice with interceptor, each time followed by a large waterchange. The red bugs died quickly. Bada boom.

only problem was apparently the red bugs were keeping the AEFW in check and once they were gone...

now two months later the tank has been acro fallow, the acros have all been Coral RX dipped many times, and it looks like ive beaten the AEFW too.

Good lord I dont ever want coral parasites again. Lets hope you are lucky, the red bugs are BY FAR the easier parasite to dispose of.

I had the same experience with Red Bugs and AEFW.. I didn't notice the AEFW until the Red Bugs were gone.......:blown:

It is a long slow progress, but I think I am finally at the end of the bug problem..... Nothing goes in the DT with being QT first!

 

[edandsandy]

okay apologies to everyone, I have said so much in this thread that it seems confusing

here is the plan, please advice on it :


lets just say I have a 65G SPS tank matured full of corals and red bugs. lets call this old tank

and a 125G tank which is well cycled. lets call this new tank

I Will get 2 units of 10 G aquariums.

pure old tank water into both aquariums.

dissolve Interceptor in one.

place corals in interceptor dip for 1 hour.

take acros out of interceptor and place in tank water to wash it off (wash the medication off)

place coral after dip in new aquarium.


does this sound good ? what modification would you make to this ? how would u make the solutions stronger to be sure ? should I dip in revive after dipping in interceptor to give it a second dip ? Iodine ?


thanks.

1 hour dip is not long enough...... we treated our tank for 24 hours 3 times.....you will not get the results you are looking for in 1 hour..... sorry.....

 

[Allmost]

thank you everyone, seems like I just gotta do it. risky but oh well ..

I was thinking this is the same feeling I had before dosing vodka ... then found out it was for nothing

hunt for the pill is on. thank you again everyone, will post some pics once the treatment is done.