Red Bug Treatment's Impact on Inhabitants

[coolcorals]

Tank has Red Bugs, so after a lot of research, have decided to treat with Interceptor over other options for various reasons. Will have to be an in-tank treatment, so want to confirm my research before I blast my tank with an insecticide made for cats and dogs, not fish or Red Bugs.

Interceptor, like all others options, is not made for RBs only, so will have an impact on inhabitants. So, here's my current "impact" knowledge with best guess in paranthesis.

• Pods (Red Bugs (I hope) and various types of pods): Will Kill.
• Crabs (Regular and hermit): Will Kill.
• Shrimp: Will Kill.
• Corals (SPS, LPS, Soft): Unharmed.
• Fish: Unharmed.

What about the other inhabitants? I believe they are safe, though are rarely mentioned:

• Snails & Abalone: (Unharmed?)
• Clams: (Unharmed?)
• Featherdusters and Worms: (Unharmed?)
• Starfish & Brittlestars: (Unharmed?)
• Sponges: (Unharmed?)
• Sea Fans: (Unharmed?)
• Anemones: (Unharmed?)
• Sea Slugs (Hares & Nudibranchs): (Unharmed?)
• Sea Urchins & Cucumbers: (Unharmed?)
• Chaeto (Marco Algae): (Unharmed?)
• Beneficial Bacteria in LR and Sand: (Unharmed?)
• Coraline: (Unharmed?)

Hope to hear from others that have performed treatment to confirm my understanding. Feel free to change my list or add other inhabitants. Thought this would be a good place to share with others, since we aquarists are doing the experiments thru trail and error. This thread is just for Milbemycin Oxime (Interceptor). There are other separate threads on other treatment options.

Once I start treating, will post my experiences.

 

[James404]

Looks like you have it correct. I treated my tank which included starfish and snails and I only ended up losing my shrimp and pods, hermits would have died too if I had some. All the others should be ok with the treatment.

 

[Tony B (UK)]

And post red bug treatment, buckle up for the approaching AEFW wave. Do a search on the forums, you will see the majority get aefw post interceptor. Milbemycin Oxime upsets what ever form of equilibrium there was, which gives aefw an opportunity to proliferate. This all too common occurence leaves me thinking that one of the natural aefw predators must be a crustacean, perhaps something smaller than copepods...... ?

If I get red bugs again, I will go for a dragon face pipe fish; a proven natural predator.

Regards,

Tony

 

[smtank]

Looks like a correct list to me. I lost all shrimp, crabs and pods took a huge hit. Honestly I wish I could have saved them, but that meant tearing the tank apart to catch them. I think that if you do not dose enough that it does not kill the shrimp and crabs, you maybe looking at a re-infestation in a couple months.

Treatment was easy, coral's coloration, growth and PE has never been better and I would do it again without hesitation. But I will not re-introduce crabs and shrimp to the system again.

Also I do not feel that doing a water change, and running carbon within 24 hours post treatment is a must. But I do not have any inverts such as clams, urchins, anemones and the medication does not target those, only arthropods.
I also saw an improvement in water clarity and diminished film algae for about a month after treatment.

 

[Brian Chong]

My acro crabs and my peppermint shrimps died and my crocea mysteriously died shortly after but I doubt it was related. Some of my pods, all my slugs and my cleaner shrimp survived. I only did one treatment because I didnt want to risk killing my cleaner again. I have more on standby should i see any red bugs again

 

[mandingCa]

My acro crabs and my peppermint shrimps died and my crocea mysteriously died shortly after but I doubt it was related. Some of my pods, all my slugs and my cleaner shrimp survived. I only did one treatment because I didnt want to risk killing my cleaner again. I have more on standby should i see any red bugs again

With only one treatment it isn't a question of if, it's a question of when will the redbugs return.



Here is what I can contribute:
Dead list
Pods,redbugs, shrimp, hermits, Sally lightfoot, Mithras(emerald)crabs

Safe:
Clams, snails, linkia star, serpent star, brittle star

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mark 75g]

I did three treatments to my 175g system. Lost all my cleaner shrimp but my 2 Fire Shrimp survived the whole ordeal. It has been 3 or 4 months since doing the treatment and all of the sudden I have hundreds of little starfish showing up all over the tank. It did not seem like I lost alot of pods either becuase they are in full force. All my snails survived as well.

 

[coolcorals]

Looks like you have it correct. I treated my tank which included starfish and snails and I only ended up losing my shrimp and pods, hermits would have died too if I had some. All the others should be ok with the treatment.

Just occurred to me, I should've provided my inhabitants! I don't have all those that I listed in my 40g, but do have a lot. My corals are mainly SPS, but I do have a lot of LPS. Only softies are a very few polyps of Zoas/Palys. And a few fish.

Besides pods (good and bad), mini shrimps, bristleworms, asternia stars, various feather dusters, rock anemone, Collonista snails and stomatella snails (all hitchhickers), a cleaner shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, scarlet hermit crabs, Emerald Crabs, Pom Pom Crab, various snails (Nass, Cerith, Nerite, Turbo, Trochus, Asteria), Dersea Clam, Abalone, Limpet (I think it's still around), Chaeto (in sump) and lots of coraline.

The bad inhabitants, besides red bugs, is bubble algae, bit of hair algae, Aiptasia (though it's disappeared since I added the Peppermint), and flatworms (though they appearred to be harmless and disappeared soon after cycle).

 

[coolcorals]

And post red bug treatment, buckle up for the approaching AEFW wave. Do a search on the forums, you will see the majority get aefw post interceptor. Milbemycin Oxime upsets what ever form of equilibrium there was, which gives aefw an opportunity to proliferate. This all too common occurence leaves me thinking that one of the natural aefw predators must be a crustacean, perhaps something smaller than copepods...... ?

If I get red bugs again, I will go for a dragon face pipe fish; a proven natural predator.

Regards,

Tony

I've not heard of the AEFW side-effect before, but am concerned about what inhabitants that I might be wiping out!

Has anyone else experienced this repercussion of using Interceptor? One of my concerns about treating a tank with a med not intended for aquariums or the pest.

One thing I have noticed after a Revive dip of a few corals, including two that were heavily infested - the dipped corals seem to have no or only one or two Red Bugs. To me, this means the corals are absorbing part of the meds - for good or bad.

 

[coolcorals]

smtank, Brian Chong, Mark 75g: I plan to remove all impacted inverts (crabs & shrimp). Some will be easy and a couple won't! Cleaner Shrimp and Hermit crabs will be easy, since they are out. My Emerald crabs, not as simple, but they tend to "sleep" in my Purple Birdnest, so should be able to get them too.

The Peppermint Shrimp and Pom Pom will be a challenge. Peppermint is getting braver - out at feeding time and feeding from turkey baster. Pom Pom is only out well after lights out.

I'm planning to buy an Aqua Medic crab trap (anyone had success with this?) and hopefully catch them - at least I'll try. Just set up the QT tank for inverts tonight, so will spend the time waiting for Interceptor to arrive dialing in the QT's heater, lights, hiding spots, and flow.

I expect this to be home for 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[coolcorals]

With only one treatment it isn't a question of if, it's a question of when will the redbugs return.



Here is what I can contribute:
Dead list
Pods,redbugs, shrimp, hermits, Sally lightfoot, Mithras(emerald)crabs

Safe:
Clams, snails, linkia star, serpent star, brittle star

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the first hand experience. I hope to get all the good inverts out. But good to know I can leave snails, clams, etc. in during treatment. I know, lots of replies by me - but thanks to everyone for their posts and sharing info.

I'm afraid Red Bugs might become a bigger issue, since they are so hard to see and kill. I've found that smaller frags are much more adversely affected vs. larger colonies. I've also found that they don't always attack smooth SPS (at least in my tank). I have a couple "not smooth" SPS that have RBs, while a couple definitely smooth SPS don't have any!

So far my two Montis and Green Slimer appear unaffected/uninfested.

 

[wfournier]

I can't prove this but I believe that interceptor killed my pair of neon gobies. I had a pair of ORA yellow neon gobies which disappeared when I treated with interceptor. Never found any bodies but it's been 6 months and I have not seen then since. I've treated in the past with other fish and everything has been fine, not sure why it would be different this time.

 

[coolcorals]

I can't prove this but I believe that interceptor killed my pair of neon gobies. I had a pair of ORA yellow neon gobies which disappeared when I treated with interceptor. Never found any bodies but it's been 6 months and I have not seen then since. I've treated in the past with other fish and everything has been fine, not sure why it would be different this time.

This is the first I've heard of fish loss treating with Interceptor. I would be concerned for fish that solely on pods for food, such as dragonets. One of the reasons I decided against a Dragon Pipefish (besides unavailability).

How did you treat tank? Dosage? Number of treatments? Water changes? How did they return?

 

[wfournier]

This is the first I've heard of fish loss treating with Interceptor. I would be concerned for fish that solely on pods for food, such as dragonets. One of the reasons I decided against a Dragon Pipefish (besides unavailability).

How did you treat tank? Dosage? Number of treatments? Water changes? How did they return?

I used a little bit more than an 1/8th of a tablet in 60g or water, did a 20g water change after 6 hours and started running carbon again. Treatments were repeated for a total of three, but I never saw the gobies after the first treatment.

As far s the Red bugs showing up, I had they previously in a nano after which I upgraded to a 75. Eventually I decided that a 60 cube fit my space better and moved the corals to that. Tank sat without fish for a month at which point I added the gobies. A couple weeks after they were added I noticed the red bugs in the tank and treated for them. I believe that my copperband butterfly, Potter's wrasse and shrimp may have contributed to suppressing pests because after moving everything to the new tank with no fish/shrimp I have had to deal with red bugs, monti nudies and AEFW (it's been a busy 6 months lol) at this point my tank is clean though (knock on wood).

 

[dzhuo]

Timely thread. I hope you don't mind me asking a few slightly OT questions coolcorals!

1. Do you need to turn off your skimmer for the 12 hours bath?
2. I am pretty sure you have to turn off the carbon during treatment and then run it afterward?
3. According to melev's direction, he didn't mention doing water change. Do you guys do that?
4. I guess the general guide line is for 12 hours bath once every 7 days for 3 treatments. Is this correct?

 

[preef]

If I were to do it again I'd only do two treatments. My shrimp and crabs survived the first two and then died shortly after the 3rd.

I also got AEFWs after treating for red bugs. Wouldn't surprise me if the red bugs keep the flatworms in check. So far the AEFWs have only been on two corals. One got tossed. The other got pulled, dipped and the eggs scraped off. What was encrusted on the rock got covered in epoxy and superglue.

 

[coolcorals]

I used a little bit more than an 1/8th of a tablet in 60g or water, did a 20g water change after 6 hours and started running carbon again. Treatments were repeated for a total of three, but I never saw the gobies after the first treatment.

As far s the Red bugs showing up, I had they previously in a nano after which I upgraded to a 75. Eventually I decided that a 60 cube fit my space better and moved the corals to that. Tank sat without fish for a month at which point I added the gobies. A couple weeks after they were added I noticed the red bugs in the tank and treated for them. I believe that my copperband butterfly, Potter's wrasse and shrimp may have contributed to suppressing pests because after moving everything to the new tank with no fish/shrimp I have had to deal with red bugs, monti nudies and AEFW (it's been a busy 6 months lol) at this point my tank is clean though (knock on wood).

I'm still not sure about when I'll do a water change. Again, I'll try to pull all crabs and shrimp out, but will lose my pod/small shrimp population. Hopefully, I can add back in later with some quarantined LR/corals frags.

I thought I was having a rough time dealing with issues on multiple tanks, but you are really having to deal with all the pests. I think my Red Bug issue got worse after I removed a troublesome Pastel Wrasse.

Sorry to hear about the gobies. I really enjoy my Sharknose Goby in my other SW tank. Good luck in your war!

 

[coolcorals]

Timely thread. I hope you don't mind me asking a few slightly OT questions coolcorals!

1. Do you need to turn off your skimmer for the 12 hours bath?
2. I am pretty sure you have to turn off the carbon during treatment and then run it afterward?
3. According to melev's direction, he didn't mention doing water change. Do you guys do that?
4. I guess the general guide line is for 12 hours bath once every 7 days for 3 treatments. Is this correct?

I haven't done my treatment yet, but the postman left a note that my Interceptor is ready to be picked up. Still setting up QT for "rescued" inverts. Maybe someone else can add their experiences.

1. I've read you should keep your skimmer running, but disconnect the air tube, so it's not drawing in air (no bubbles, no skimming).
2. I don't run carbon.
3. I'm still not sure about the WC. Seems many do it. Maybe to try to save the good crab/shrimp/pods?
4. I'm planning to do an in-tank treatment, which is three treatments 7 days apart. Many people dip their corals, but I'd assuming the corals would have to stay in QT for the duration of treatment (3-4 weeks). Otherwise, I assume the "free" RBs in tank would just return.

Good questions.

 

[coolcorals]

If I were to do it again I'd only do two treatments. My shrimp and crabs survived the first two and then died shortly after the 3rd.

I also got AEFWs after treating for red bugs. Wouldn't surprise me if the red bugs keep the flatworms in check. So far the AEFWs have only been on two corals. One got tossed. The other got pulled, dipped and the eggs scraped off. What was encrusted on the rock got covered in epoxy and superglue.

Hmmm, that's not good. Two people who have gotten AEFW after Interceptor treatment. Did you add anything new to tank (fish, coral, LR, inverts, snails, macro algae, etc) that AEFW could've hitchhiked on?

Otherwise, it means that the AEFW were always in tank, but something that kept them in check was wiped out by the treatments. Would think the AEFW would've shown up before.

Any ideas on what natural predator (though harmless to coral) would keep the AEFW in check? Certainly would be great to know. As stated above, I hope to repopulate pods and other "good" bugs with some well quarantined LR.

 

[coolcorals]

Hope I'm not overposting in my own thread, but I have one more question. How long after I've completed the treatment (2 or 3) till I can add the crabs/shrimps back into tank? Should I do a large WC first?