pests!!!

[am3gross]

ok.. here is the question. if you have a pest like redbugs, aefw, nudibranches, etc how do you treat? now everything that i have read says that there are dips of interceptor, or the tmpcc or many other ways to dip your corals. i would like to know if you take all the corals out of your tank and let it run for an amount of time if that would kill off any and all pests?


here is the reason why i ask this question... i have in the past 5 years bought many colonies of zoas and many sps... but over time they just dwindle away... i cant see even with the glasses that i have to see if i actually have any of the pests that may be killing my stuff off... so i was thinking about getting rid of all the corals that i do have and letting the tank run coral less if it would mean that i would kill off any pests that i may have... i just went thru a total fish overhual after i got a bad case of ick... i now QT all the fish... now that i am ickless i want to work on the coral side of the house.... and i will QT all new coral as well... lets get some discussion going on this topic.. i cna use all the help i can get....

 

[iap]

If you do have redbugs you can get some interceptor and treat the entire tank. Just take out your shrimp and crabs if you want them to live. Altho mine didn't die when I did it. I can only speak on redbugs as I just found some and treated for them.

 

[am3gross]

the thing is that i really dont want to take what very few frags out of the tank that i have and dip in interceptor. i want to try and see if i can kill this stuff off by starvation... to me that is the best way cause you are not introducing any thing man made into the aquarium. i am for right now against putting any chemical into a tank.. i may change my mind but as of right now i would not like to use interceptor... i appreciate the reply please dont get me wrong...

it does not bother me to redo my coral selection.... i redid my fish selection so i can easily redo my corals as well..... and if starvation works then i want to go that route... then i will QT my new corals that i get..... any other suggestions?

 

[iap]

Oh.. Well if you take your acros out of the tank for a period of time. If there are any redbugs in your tank they will die with no acro to feed on, but if you don't dip the acros you have removed the redbugs will just hang out on said frags and you will have redbugs still when you put them back into your display tank?


But yea if you remove eveything from your tank. Whatever pests were in There will die wthout the corals to eat on. So yea putting brand new corals that are dipped and qt to inspect for pests will be good to go when you add them to your tank. If you check the sticky up top it will tell you eveything you want to know.

 

[am3gross]

yeah i am currently reading a really long thread about when melev had a bout with aefws... i also posted on my local forum and i am getting some converstion going there as well...

if i take any coral out it will be put in a QT and treated... i will not go thru anything like this in the future, i use to think that i did not have to QT fish, thanks to folks here at RC and the knowledge that they share i now QT my fish... no exceptions there.. now i am working on the coral side of the house... i will make it right! there are so many different pests out there it is crazy. you can use this product and it will kill this.. use another and it will kill this... if starvation kills every thing then to me thats the easiest. and possibly the cheapest!!!. i am still doing my research... i am not just asking and sitting back and waiting for answers.. i am reading on it as we speak... thanks for the quick replys.. you are very helpful!

 

[iap]

Glad you think I am helpful hehe. I too never qt anything but my recent discovery of redbugs has made me change my tune and am setting up a qt tank and going to run the routine on anything new added to my display tank. I don't want to risk killing my whole setup when it could be avoided! I hope your local reefers get you squared away and your tank comes back better than before!

 

[am3gross]

i am sure my locals will get me where i need to be, but i am thankful for RC for all the knowledge that is here and available to read at any point .. so with both resoures i am sure i will be set free of all pests!!! truely amazing..

 

[am3gross]

so here is the plan.. tell me what you think please!!!!!

im taking all coral out of the tank for at least 3 months... i will not be putting any of the coral back in that i currently have. i am dipping all coral that i have now before putting in the QT... i will sell what i have currently to people and i will tell them that they need to be dipped... coral will be cheaper then if it was a healthy coral.. after the 3 months i will start stocking back up using the QT and not putting anything in my display until it has been thru a 2 month QT process... please tell me what you think and if this will get rid of any pests that i have.. i am not going to treat the display... just wanting to starve everything by taking all the coral out...

 

[MechEng99]

I think just setting up a QT - dipping all your corals - then moving them over to the QT for 2 months will do you wonders. Don't think you need to sell off stuff (unless you just want to restart totally anyway). The only thing I can caution is that I thought Montipora Eating Nudibranchs could live much longer than 3 months without food (maybe someone could chime in on their lifespan.)

 

[am3gross]

Montipora Eating Nudibranchs ....


if there life span is more then 3 months........ well im going to research them right now... i have not had any montipora in my tank in a really long time. i will see if i can find out there life span and any other info.....

 

[scottwhitson]

I am with MechEng99 there is no reason to sell all your corals. The new coral you will buy will have to be treated the SAME way that you would treat the corals that you are removing from your display. You stated that you are against putting any chemical into a tank, if that is the case then a QT is NOT going to do any good. You have to treat the corals that are in there. The pests will starve out of you display if it is Acro free but they will still thrive in the QT with Acros.

 

[am3gross]

i am against putting chemicals in the display because of the total water volumn.. i will treat the QT... i agree that there is no reason to have a QT if your not going to treat anything....

 

[am3gross]

well i am having some thoughts on the whole getting rid of my stuff and starting over thing.... i took all my corals out and dipped them yesterday.. today every thing looks really good.. polyp extension is good and justs every thing looks great.. i am going to keep stuff in the QT for a little while and see what happens. i bought a magnifying glass and i am looking my stuff over and so far i have not seen any thing that concerns me... i may have jumped the gun a little on yanking every thing out... the magnifying glass may be the best purchase i have made with my reef....

 

[scottwhitson]

Have you taken a Turkey Baster to your corals? That is a great way to find out if you have AEFW. Baste your corals pretty aggressively and see if any flatworms blow off.

 

[am3gross]

good idea.. i will give that a try.. with my new magnifying glass and the corals in a smaller tank and easier to observe i really think that i may have been paranoid.. i have not seen anything on them.. i did dip them in some tmpcc but i am sure that would not get everything...