RED BUGS!! kill em or live with em?????

[john rochon]

500g system, had redbugs, both in this tank and my 90g. didn't know I had them until corals started just not looking right. faded,a few RTN'ing. no polyp extention.
found out about REDBUGS and checked my acros, sure enough! had them.
dosed interceptor, dramatic dramatic improvement!!!!!!! nothing else changed in my normal husbandry of the tank.
what more proof does anyone need?? if the corals are stressed and not feeding [ie;polyp extention] then eventually some of them will die from the irritation/starvation]. some may resist but anyone whos had RB's and finally dosed knows theres a difference in most ACROS. were's the debate????

 

[chrisaggie]

I have found that a triple dose of interceptor for 6 hours will kill the red bugs in 1 shot.

 

[taflaw]

The debate for me is why would I want to use a de-worming medication for dogs only available by prescription from a veterinarian to treat Acropora corals for a pest bug that science knows very little about when my reef appears to be thriving with red bugs. Interceptor does not discriminate between red bugs and other inhabitants like shrimp, amphipods, copepods, and crabs and the long-term ramifications of this treatment are still not known. I am living with red bugs and I have not experienced problems with loss of coloration, polyp extension or poor growth rates.

 

[poknsnok]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8357233#post8357233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by taflaw
The debate for me is why would I want to use a de-worming medication for dogs only available by prescription from a veterinarian to treat Acropora corals for a pest bug that science knows very little about when my reef appears to be thriving with red bugs. Interceptor does not discriminate between red bugs and other inhabitants like shrimp, amphipods, copepods, and crabs and the long-term ramifications of this treatment are still not known. I am living with red bugs and I have not experienced problems with loss of coloration, polyp extension or poor growth rates.

the vast majority of users of this deworming medication to eradicate red bugs are satisfied with the results. IMO... IME, I lost pods which are coming back, the color, growth, polyp extension and overall appearance of my acro's have greatly improved.. its been almost 4 months since I treated and all is well.. I change 15% of my water weekly..

 

[blstravler]

For me, I have done the treatmant as outlined by Dustin twice over the past few years. Now I want to see what the long term effects are, because over the past few months I see no side effects on my coral in living with them.

pham411-

I did my second treatment 3 days later after my first and my 3rd treatment 5 days after that.

 

[Zoom]

This is from my 200G reef log book when i had the red bug..
2004 i'm bug free now for two years . This is to verified that you need to use half a pill to every 100 Gallons of tank water if you like to kill them for good.


4-9-04 Water change 30G
4-15-04 I treat the tank today for the red acro bugs I use the old Jewlery scale I use 6 edn of the interceptor that is just half the large dog interceptor pill everything is ok , all the acro crab I had look like They dead .I did 30G water change and use carbon the next day .
4-25-04 I treat the tank again for the Red bugs Change 30G of water and use carbon.
5-6-04 last and final red bug treatment change 30 G and use carbon the next day not one problem no more red bugs!!!
5-20-04 30G water change and clean gravel.
5-26-04 water change 30g
6-14-04 Tunze streams in the tank
6-20-04 Water change and take some of the old sand out
6-27-04 Water change
7-10-04 The red bugs are back
7-11-04 I treat the tank at higher dose at 10 edn about 3/4 pill
My next dose will be at 7-28-04
7-21-04 I treat the tank again to day with higher dose yet 12 edn that is whole pill.
I can not wait any longer was more red bugs in my acros to day
7-22-04 I did a 34 Gallon water change the next day and take the carbon out that night.
8-5-04 water change
8-16-04 no more red bugs the last treatment of 12 edn one whole pill kill them for good .
9-25-04 No more red bug all the acros look colorful and full of polyps.

 

[pham411]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8355570#post8355570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
It will not work !! I know i treat my tank five times they way you did . Yes the will fall off and die and about three weeks to a month they will be back . You need half a pill of the large dog interceptor for 100 Gallons . A good indication that the treatment was not strong enough is that your Acro crabs still alive.

of course i will fallow up on my first treatment 2 more times.
to get remaining bugs.

 

[pham411]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8357233#post8357233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by taflaw
The debate for me is why would I want to use a de-worming medication for dogs only available by prescription from a veterinarian to treat Acropora corals for a pest bug that science knows very little about when my reef appears to be thriving with red bugs. Interceptor does not discriminate between red bugs and other inhabitants like shrimp, amphipods, copepods, and crabs and the long-term ramifications of this treatment are still not known. I am living with red bugs and I have not experienced problems with loss of coloration, polyp extension or poor growth rates.

i also didnt find any problems occuring with my bugs. everything was looking great. only reason that pushed me to do it was that it was kinda embarasing when my friends came over. plus its easier to trade with people. the procedure was not harmfull at all. i was expecting to loose shrimp and crabs but in the end i lost nothing but bugs. over all im happy. everything seems to be doing the same.

 

[pham411]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8361373#post8361373 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
This is from my 200G reef log book when i had the red bug..
2004 i'm bug free now for two years . This is to verified that you need to use half a pill to every 100 Gallons of tank water if you like to kill them for good.


4-9-04 Water change 30G
4-15-04 I treat the tank today for the red acro bugs I use the old Jewlery scale I use 6 edn of the interceptor that is just half the large dog interceptor pill everything is ok , all the acro crab I had look like They dead .I did 30G water change and use carbon the next day .
4-25-04 I treat the tank again for the Red bugs Change 30G of water and use carbon.
5-6-04 last and final red bug treatment change 30 G and use carbon the next day not one problem no more red bugs!!!
5-20-04 30G water change and clean gravel.
5-26-04 water change 30g
6-14-04 Tunze streams in the tank
6-20-04 Water change and take some of the old sand out
6-27-04 Water change
7-10-04 The red bugs are back
7-11-04 I treat the tank at higher dose at 10 edn about 3/4 pill
My next dose will be at 7-28-04
7-21-04 I treat the tank again to day with higher dose yet 12 edn that is whole pill.
I can not wait any longer was more red bugs in my acros to day
7-22-04 I did a 34 Gallon water change the next day and take the carbon out that night.
8-5-04 water change
8-16-04 no more red bugs the last treatment of 12 edn one whole pill kill them for good .
9-25-04 No more red bug all the acros look colorful and full of polyps.

wow after all that and still bugs. well that sucks. you know what they say. "if you cant beat em...., live with em???". do you see ne damage from the bugs?

 

[Zoom]

Ok you check my reef log post . all you have to do use half a large dog interceptor pill two times in 10 days and you done.

 

[poknsnok]

i treated with 1 pill for 24 hrs. did a 50% waterchange after that, ran carbon and 4 months later... still no sign of bugs. Unless I reintroduce them I believe they are gone..

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8363130#post8363130 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
i treated with 1 pill for 24 hrs. did a 50% waterchange after that, ran carbon and 4 months later... still no sign of bugs. Unless I reintroduce them I believe they are gone..

Ye i notice that my self one good amount of interceptor will kill them for good.

 

[exoticaquatix]

i did a 50lb dog pill in my 65 gal for 24 hours, did a 30% water change and am still running carbon before the crabs go back in. its been less than a week and my corals already look way better, i should never have put this off! i recommend immediate treatment to any one.
-nick

 

[caseyjones]

I have a question about using a QT...do have to remove all SPS or just the Acros? I've never seen them on my montipora or pocilliporas, and from what I have read so far the red bugs seem to only like smooth acroporas? Does anyone have any knowledge on this?

 

[poknsnok]

supposedly they affect only acros. BUT... there could be a few left scurrying around the rocks and sand left in the display. I dont know if anyone is sure how long the little bastards live without acros to feed on. So i would be wary of returning your acros too soon..

 

[caseyjones]

I've read (from a very reliable source) that they can make it 3 days without acros...say 5 to be safe. I was planning on keeping them out of the main system at least a week, maybe longer if more than one treatment is needed. Thank you for your help poknsnok

 

[RichConley]

One thing to note guys: This medication is meant to be taken as a whole. The active ingredient is NOT consistenly mixed throughout the pill. If you're cutting the pill in half, theres no guarantee you're even getting ANY of the drug. If you're gonna treat a smaller tank, use a smaller pill, not a part of a bigger one.

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8432354#post8432354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
One thing to note guys: This medication is meant to be taken as a whole. The active ingredient is NOT consistenly mixed throughout the pill. If you're cutting the pill in half, theres no guarantee you're even getting ANY of the drug. If you're gonna treat a smaller tank, use a smaller pill, not a part of a bigger one.

How do you know it's not?

At any rate crushing the whole pill and then using what you need is the preffered method.

Chris

 

[chrisaggie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8432354#post8432354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
One thing to note guys: This medication is meant to be taken as a whole. The active ingredient is NOT consistenly mixed throughout the pill. If you're cutting the pill in half, theres no guarantee you're even getting ANY of the drug. If you're gonna treat a smaller tank, use a smaller pill, not a part of a bigger one.

I would also like to know why you say this. What is your source?

 

[exoticaquatix]

they dont make each pill from an individual batch of ingredients do they? id think that the process of manufacturing the pills would require a homogenous mixture of each ingrediant, active or not. a homogenous mixture would then have to separate after the individual pill was made in order for there to be an uneven distribution of the actual medication. even so, cutting the pill and then crushing it would mix the componants again. i dont see any relavance to this statement.
-nick