Red bugs and Acros live in Harmony?

[MauiReefer]

Hi everybody. I have recently discovered red bugs. I did dip and treat what I could, and have not seen many since. I did see a few, that I believe I siphoned out during a water change. I was planning on treating the entire tank with Interceptor, but if I could avoid the stress I would prefer that.

Any feedback on successful tanks that have small populations of these pests?

Do or will they populate quickly if left unchecked?

My rainfordi goby is always picking at everything I wonder if he is taking some periodically.

I am just curious. For now my polyp extenison and growth has been getting better since the dip and i would rather let it be.

BUT if eventually the red buggers will take over, then I have no choice but to treat the entire tank.

 

[buy_baff]

I had to do a intersepter treatment once and it didn't faze the corals one bit zero stress. Just treat your tank and be done with it.

 

[Southreef]

I haven't personally left my tank untreated but it is my understanding that they will begin to reinfect your dipped coral pretty quickly, and recover their lost population by reproducing every 7-10 days(I think that's a correct time frame). This is why the recommended tank treatment regimen is 3-5 weeks long depending on the severity of your infestation.

As far as stress on your tank: The interceptor treatment definitely wipes out a lot of microfauna and even some not so micro fauna like some crabs and some shrimp. This is where I do have personal experience... My cleaner shrimp survived all three treatments however the few blue legged hermit crabs I could not catch were all wiped out. Also, all peppermint shrimp were completely wiped out.

The good news is that after treatment, you can grab a bottle of copepods and some live phytoplankton to help repopulate your microfauna relatively quickly.

It sucks but think of it this way too, if you want to trade frags, it makes it a little difficult for you to find takers knowing that you have red bugs. Best of luck in your search for a solution, it seems like the best thing to do is treat your tank and save your valuable colored sticks

PS Keep an eye on your ALK and CA levels post treatment. When I finished treating, coral growth took off and I almost crashed the tank due to the increased ALK/CA demands going unnoticed.

 

[MauiReefer]

I was thinking that I should treat regardless. I did set up a qt for the inverts in preparation. And am just waiting for the interceptor to show up. Guess I will do it when I can just to be safe. Thanks.

 

[rblackmon]

Ok, I have to ask here. I noticed the little bastards in my tank not too long ago. I cannot find ANY damage what so ever. However I still want to treat the tank. My concern is for my anemones and clams. I really do not think I could get them out of the tank.... should I be concerned? Please someone answer my dumb question!

 

[rovster]

I would treat. Done it twice, very little downside.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Ok, I have to ask here. I noticed the little bastards in my tank not too long ago. I cannot find ANY damage what so ever. However I still want to treat the tank. My concern is for my anemones and clams. I really do not think I could get them out of the tank.... should I be concerned? Please someone answer my dumb question!

The only things in any danger are crustaceans.

 

[rblackmon]

Perfect, thank you. Did any of you guys start pulling them and throw them into a separate tank? I suppose I need a bit of a boost for my clean up crew anyways. (not that I'm just gonna let the current ones die!)

 

[Reef Bass]

I've treated with Interceptor a couple times. If you don't remove your shrimp and crabs before treating, they are likely to die. A few may survive.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Redbugs don't kill acroporas or Sps they only irritate them so they will not have PE. The. What happens Sps can't feed and will eventually loose color then STN or RTN and die. Just treat them in tank treatment or dips. Both work but in tank is the best as they are free swimming and will travel from one place to another.

 

[rblackmon]

hmmm good to know. honestly I'm only nervous about my anemones. Its kinda of my pride and joy in the tank! I've read that there are websites I can get interceptor online from Australia. Does anyone have a link to such a website they have ordered from/trust?

 

[rblackmon]

anyone?

 

[tripdad]

The search function is your friend, it's all there and easy to find.