Red Bug Treatment's Impact on Inhabitants

Where is the best place to get the interceptor? I found on pet meds site but it states its flavored does this matter and what strength should I get. 120 gallons of total water.
 
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...... ? ;)


Huh?

Do you think that this has more to do with the fact that people are staring harder than they ever were at there sps once they've had RB's

If you and I dont mean you personally were irresponsible enough to let RB's get into your system then it would really just be a count down to find flatworms as well, at some point.

people get very aware of whats on there sps after finding red bugs is all I am saying. I don't know if I buy that red bugs somehow keep AEFW's in check.



anyway

sorry to drift this thread a little
 
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.

Nothing added post red bug treatment. The AEFWs were there all along but were being kept in check by something. That something may even be the red bugs. There are lots of reports about this all over the web.

Here's one:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1263609
 
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Hey coolcorals,
Just FYI... I have started interceptor on Thursday night and posted preliminary observations here.
 
Where is the best place to get the interceptor? I found on pet meds site but it states its flavored does this matter and what strength should I get. 120 gallons of total water.

You need a Rx from a vet to be able to buy Interceptor (at least in US and Canada). You can buy it directly thru Vet or on-line. Probably easiest if you already have a Vet for your cat or dog (I did). I did some research and sent our Vet links to D Dortin, E Borneman and Liveaquaria.

I ordered mine on-line and they were very familar with it's use for red bugs - seems it common. That's why I started the thread - this seems to becoming more common, but a somewhat overlooked pest.

I've read there's been discussion on the Veterinary Information Network about Interceptor's for red bugs - might try asking your Vet to check it out there.
 
Nothing added post red bug treatment. The AEFWs were there all along but were being kept in check by something. That something may even be the red bugs. There are lots of reports about this all over the web.

Here's one:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1263609

Keep posting any changes (or no changes). Seems these bugs have been around for a long time, but not seeing alot of follow up info - except for those dealing the AEFW after.

Does everyone get AEFWs after a Interceptor treatment? Or do we only see posts from those that do. It does appear that whatever is keeping AEFWs in check is adversely affected by the Interceptor treatment. Not a surprise, since it's a very broad treatment, so will kill a lot of seen and unseen inhabitants. I'm still not convinced it's RBs and all tanks have AEFW (could be wrong).

Good info in link. Keep posting experiences with the original posts list of animal - anyone have different experiences with safe and harmed?
 
These people have noticed AEFW after they have noticed the red bugs. That doesnt mean they didnt have the flat worms long before they noticed them in their tanks. The same unsafe practices that contribute to the spread of red bugs also contribute to spreading AEFW. It makes sense the same tanks would contain both parasites, possibly spread from the same sources. Perhaps the flat worm populations take longer to develop, hence the delay until after the redbugs are gone?
 
Inerceptor

Inerceptor

Snails and serpent stars did fine. I did the full treatment x3 and had no losses except a couple crabs I could not get out
 
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

Interesting I don't buy that, in the 3 times I have done redbug treatments, I have never seen AEFW follow.
 
I thought I would chime in here, I did get AEFW after treating for redbugs. I didn't make a connection at the time but I do feel that there is some validity to the argument that redbugs may help keep AEFW in check. I don't think anyone argues that redbugs cause AEFW but rather that redbugs may keep AEFW under control so that they are not noticed.
 
These people have noticed AEFW after they have noticed the red bugs. That doesnt mean they didnt have the flat worms long before they noticed them in their tanks. The same unsafe practices that contribute to the spread of red bugs also contribute to spreading AEFW. It makes sense the same tanks would contain both parasites, possibly spread from the same sources. Perhaps the flat worm populations take longer to develop, hence the delay until after the redbugs are gone?

Interesting I don't buy that, in the 3 times I have done redbug treatments, I have never seen AEFW follow.

I thought I would chime in here, I did get AEFW after treating for redbugs. I didn't make a connection at the time but I do feel that there is some validity to the argument that redbugs may help keep AEFW in check. I don't think anyone argues that redbugs cause AEFW but rather that redbugs may keep AEFW under control so that they are not noticed.

Does seem interesting that the AEFW have showed up in some tanks. Does anybody have both RBs and AEFW active at the same time? So little seems known about RBs, that it's tough to say they have any impact on AEFW populations.

It is possible that something else in the tank does keep AEFWs in check that is wiped out during the Interceptor treatment. But it's unclear what that is, since there's no known predator of AEFW in the reef tank. Do AEFWs take longer to have populations that impact corals/become apparent?

Not convinced it's RBs yet - too much random uncontrolled data, but it's certainly something to watch out for! Keep your experiences coming!
 
Snails and serpent stars did fine. I did the full treatment x3 and had no losses except a couple crabs I could not get out

Thanks for the info about the other tank inhabitants!

I'm still dragging my feet on the treatment, as I gather info. I know it needs to be done, but hate the idea of wiping out all the "unknown" populations. Plus still setting up my QT (my first, which explains my current RB issue) - it's been running a couple weeks, but want to ensure it'll be a safe invert home. Don't want to move them, just to kill them in a 5.5g QT!

I have done 2nd Revive treatment on different group of infested corals. Lots of RBs were knocked off - unclear whether they died or just were stunned. Didn't see any AEFWs. It does appear the dipped corals have RBs resistence for some time after treatment.
 
:idea: A question to anyone who's done the "remove Acros from DT" treatment approach: Has anyone that's done the outside DT treatment noticed an AEFW "explosion"? Seems if RBs somehow controlled AEFW, then any treatment wiping out RBs would pave the way for AEFWs.
 
I thought I would chime in here, I did get AEFW after treating for redbugs. I didn't make a connection at the time but I do feel that there is some validity to the argument that redbugs may help keep AEFW in check. I don't think anyone argues that redbugs cause AEFW but rather that redbugs may keep AEFW under control so that they are not noticed.

I can see how you assume red bugs may keep AEFW at bay, but this may not be the right assumption. Red bugs may not touch AEFW at all. Another assumption is that another tiny creature (it may or may not be a crustacean) could prey on AEFW. Just like the paraiste AEFW are tiny in relation to their larger host acroporas, then it may be reasonable to assume that some of the predators (there's more than one AEFW predator) could be microscopic too.

Regards,

Tony
 
Unfortunately, one of the after effects of my short Revive dip, seems to be die off on the SPS itself. Had a ORA Green Acro who's tip start to die, which I fragged off and it's doing better.

From my last dip group, a Blue Deepwater Acro has a full branch that turned white shortly after dip. I fragged off a large branch, but I don't think this frag will make it. After the Revive dips, RBs are mostly gone, coral gets a bit better color, but doesn't get full color or polyp extension.

My Revive dips follow dosage directions exactly, use clean aged SW and last 4 to 5 minutes only. It still seems stressful to coral (maybe weaken b/c of RBs?), so wondering if this cure is worse than the disease!
 
I can see how you assume red bugs may keep AEFW at bay, but this may not be the right assumption. Red bugs may not touch AEFW at all. Another assumption is that another tiny creature (it may or may not be a crustacean) could prey on AEFW. Just like the paraiste AEFW are tiny in relation to their larger host acroporas, then it may be reasonable to assume that some of the predators (there's more than one AEFW predator) could be microscopic too.

Regards,

Tony

Quite true, when treating the tank with interceptor it kills a lot more than red bugs. Red bugs are what come to mind as that's what people tend to treat for, but it is worth keeping in mind they are not the only thing affected by the treatment.
 
Well, the Deep Blue Arco died from the Revive dip. Weird thing was the coral was healthy and colorful before dip, just overrun with RBs. Unfortunately, dip was big mistake on that one - coral quickly bleached. The cure (Revive) was much worse than the disease (RBs).

After reading (& re-reading & re-reading) all the sometimes conflicting and mostly fragmented info about different treatments, I've decided that Dortin's in-tank treatment is not the best approach for me. Wiping out my delicately balanced tank eco-system, just did not seem like a good idea or worth the risk.

But my corals were starting to look rather bad and after noticing a bit of bleaching on more and more, I decided there were only two options - out of tank treatment (Borneman) or letting nature take it course (which I assume would be to wipe out my Acros).

Bit the bullet and turned my invert QT into an Acro QT. Tough part was four of my nice Acros were well encrusted on my LR, which is huge and not something that could be removed. After a hour or more of dedicated cutting and carving, the Arcos were removed - along with a bunch of smaller pieces. Hope this'll do more good than harm.

Performed first treatment today - about 5x Dortin's dose or half Borneman's. Treatment duration was 8-9 hrs. Unfortunately, the light for the QT is not sufficient for SPS, but it appears all visible RBs are gone. Corals are not happy - forced removal from DT, new QT, weak light, not the best flow and an Interceptor treatment!

Since I suspect they'll be in QT at least a week (up to 3 or 4), will need to find a better light ($$$). There's been a bit of mucus, some corals are showing polyps (though these were same that did in DT) and so far none have bleached.

Thanks to those that posted about impact on inhabitants, but I'm glad to say I won't have to find out - for now!
 
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