red bugs help!

[reefsahoy]

i think i have red bugs on my acros. what is the treatment for these suckers. Chrisaggie, i've noticed you treated your tank as stated on another forum. how did you do this and did it kill all your shrimps or crabs?

 

[Ryanqk]

Man you should have seen the presentation at the meeting last night about red bugs and flatworms, i dont have any SPS myself but maybe someone remembers the recipe for the red bug dip or something, I believe you have to take every piece of acro and put them in a quarintine tank and treat them with a dog medication (intercept) or something. Anyone else remember?
Ryan

 

[reefsahoy]

i know i missed a good one. i was ill and could not attend.

 

[jeffbrig]

Interceptor (milbemycin oxime) is what you need. It is an off-label usage, but an understanding vet should sell it to you (especially if it's someone you use for your other pets). If you don't have a regular vet, you may have more trouble getting it.

Here's a wikipedia link with some info (but do you research before you folow anything):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_acro_bugs

Read carefully and understand how much you need to use as a treatment. Interceptor is sold in various strengths for different size dogs, just know what you're getting!

You have a few options for whether you want to treat in-tank (it will kill crabs, pods, etc.) or remove all of your acros and treat them outside the tank. Without a host, red-bugs in your tank should die inside a week.

Once you get them out, I would suggest treating all new acros with interceptor as a preventative. I typically hold new corals in QT for a few days and inspect them carefully with a magnifying glass. Then I do a strong interceptor dose overnight in a bucket before they go into the display tank. Just make sure to remove any acro crabs you may want to keep.

-Jeff

 

[reefsahoy]

thank you very much! I went to orlando the other day and bought 2 dragonface pipe fish. according to this article they are natural predators to red bugs. this was also what the lfs in orlando told me. do you think they will rid the red bugs from the tank naturally? i'm now considering just a wait and see approach.

 

[Ryanqk]

i doubt they will ever totally rid your tank of red bugs, in fact even with interceptor treatment you may not totally eradicate them, slow life cycle and interceptor doesnt work on the eggs.

 

[itz frank]

what chris said he uses is a 3x the recommended dose on acros after he placed them in a quarantine tank. Don't forget to scrub off the eggs. Hopefully, he'll chime in.

 

[Rogger Castells]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8415040#post8415040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ryanqk
i doubt they will ever totally rid your tank of red bugs, in fact even with interceptor treatment you may not totally eradicate them, slow life cycle and interceptor doesnt work on the eggs.

Not true, Interceptor treatment(s) will eliminate the critters, red bugs do not lay eggs, they give birth to life RB.
Interceptor is definetly the way to go, the only problem is getting the medicine.

 

[jeffbrig]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8415563#post8415563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rogger Castells
the only problem is getting the medicine.

I wonder what it's going to take before someone like Mardel starts marketing a red bug treatment for aquariums.

For now, I'm just happy I have a good vet! He had no problem giving us some, but then again he's been seeing all of our pets for years.

 

[Ryanqk]

yeah this will be the next product on the market in a year or so, probably at double the price of the normal vet cost too with some cool marketing scheme

 

[reefsahoy]

well i printed out the instructions on using the interceptor. I will go to a vet and show him what my intentions are with the product. i will let you know how it goes.

 

[astrogazer]

My GF works for a vet, perhaps I could get some for club members if interested. Let me know.

 

[chrisaggie]

If anyone in the club has any question about treating for red bugs please call me. I have a lot of experience with these things. 305-773-9295.

 

[reefsahoy]

i got interceptor from a vet. basically i showed him the instructions from the net that i printed out and explained what i was about to do. he was ok with it. i'll be calling chrisaggie soon to verify what i've read and also his experiences. by the way, chris are you going to the tank hop in broward this week?

 

[chrisaggie]

I will be out of town this weekend and will not be able to go on the hop.

 

[reefsahoy]

chris, i'm confused. according to the instructions it states that 25 mg will do about 10 gallons of actual water. i got the large dog pills which is 23 mg. what was the dosage that you used?

 

[chrisaggie]

Where are you seeing that dosage?

 

[chrisaggie]

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45859

That is the link to the original treatment thread. I think you are confused because your pill has 23mg of active ingredinat, but it is 1 gram! 1 pill will treat 360 gallons of water. I usually use double or triple dosage with one treatment with great success.

 

[reefsahoy]

i got the info from here
http://www.ericborneman.com/Tegastes-content/Dorton treatment.htm
yes i see that 1 tablet will treat 360 gallons. so for a 90 gal tank you'd use 1/2 pill overnight? then rund carbon and complete how much % water change?

 

[chrisaggie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8447398#post8447398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefsahoy
i got the info from here
http://www.ericborneman.com/Tegastes-content/Dorton treatment.htm
yes i see that 1 tablet will treat 360 gallons. so for a 90 gal tank you'd use 1/2 pill overnight? then rund carbon and complete how much % water change?

Yes, if you want to do the chrisaggie treatment you would do 1/2 a pill for 6-8 hours. Then do at least a 25% water change and run a lot of carbon.