my blue stag has red bugs... need advice, plz help, more info provided...

[Pallobi]

like i mentioned, blue stag has red bugs...

unlike many, i have no way to get interceptor, and i wana know if i have any other options...

couple more ?'s... are monti's in the acro group affected by these red bugs, i do not believe birdsnest are, however icould be wrong...

i really need to know if i have any other options here, besides getting rid of all my corals in the acroporidae family...

thanks guys, and yes i am learning the hard way...

 

[bassking16]

Well, you could pull your Acro's out and try one of the dips on the market. I've used Revive in the past, and it did okay. Dipping is pretty harsh and stressful for the corals though. Your montis and birdsnest coral won't be affected by the bugs. They only infest Acros as far as I know. The only other way to kill the bugs and their eggs, that I know of, is to pull all your Acros and put them in a QT for a while while the bugs in the DT die off. Then dip your acros before reintroducing them in your DT.

I just had a fight with Red Bugs a couple weeks ago, but I was able to get some interceptor from a local vet. I printed up Melev's article on it, and showed that to the vet. They didn't have any problem selling me the meds.

If I were you, I would try a couple different vets in your area to see if you can get some interceptor. That stuff worked great for me. I lost a few hermits, and my cleaner shrimp, but I also killed every last redbug, and my Acros have never looked better. They all brightened up, and the polyp extension is amazing. Cost me $10 for one large dog pill. I only used half. I am holding the other half in case a few eggs survived.

Best of luck, Red Bugs Suck (but are one of the easier pest to get rid of IMO)

 

[JPMagyar]

Options.

Options.

No you do NOT have to get rid of all your acros. Red bugs are somewhat selective in what they harm, and many many acropora's are unaffected by them. Several years back I had red bugs, but I have been red bug free since my second treatment with Interceptor. I am a strong believer in treatment, but I would offer the Greenwich Aquaria show tank as an example of the alternative philosophy called "let it be." Jason, the propietor, does not believe in treatment and his tank had red bugs, but no longer has any sign of redbugs. Also, the picture below was my prior tank about 4 years ago at the height of my red bug infestation. As you can see it wasn't really a problem. On the other hand if your tank has any other issues which may be stressing your acros they will likely be more susceptible to problems from the red bug infestation. I recognize there are many here on RC that are philosophically opposed to treatment, but having been through 2 complete treatment regimens I can say that for me it was really "No big deal".

Feel free to drop me an email at PeckJA @ aol dot com if you think you'd like to talk about this or need a source for a vet that understands aquariums. Whatever you choose, Good-luck, and be sure to keep us informed.


JP