Red Bugs.. My Expierence.

[reefmonkey29]

hay i dont know a hole lot about saltwater tanks am only 20 i notice in my 39gal tank some type of cockroach/shrimp looking thing running around at night it a whole lot i only see them at night i am wondering if its a pest or just baby shrimp its hard to explain can some1 who knows what their dong plz give me a call 347-351-6689 thanks very much

 

[DrHarryLopez]

Welcome to Reef Central and the NYReefClub forum!

 

[cullyisgully]

hay i dont know a hole lot about saltwater tanks am only 20 i notice in my 39gal tank some type of cockroach/shrimp looking thing running around at night it a whole lot i only see them at night i am wondering if its a pest or just baby shrimp its hard to explain can some1 who knows what their dong plz give me a call 347-351-6689 thanks very much

If you can post a pic it would help alot buddy

 

[Awibrandy]

For anyone wondering if they can dose their tank with the Bayer Complete.
NO, don't do it. I accidentily spilled half of the 12 cup mixture I had prepared for dipping into my tank.
Fish died within 30 minutes.;( I believe the good bacteria also perished. Snails & crabs survived. Corals do not seem to have been affected.
I got 3 out of 6 dead fish out. I could not find the other 3. I was not about to pull my 155 gallon tank apart to find them. 3 days later I have a diatom bloom, and some GHA.

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

Uggghhh... sorry to hear!! Weekly w/c's untill you've changed out the ENTIRE total water volume and change out the carbon every 2 weeks. Keep us posted Awi....

 

[Awibrandy]

The day it happened I did a quick 30 gal water change, and throw in about 2 lbs. of gac in a nylon bag in the return chamber by the return pumps. This past Thursday I did another 40 gal water change. Today I changed out the gac & gfo in the BRS' reactors. I had cut the photo period down to 4 hours for both blue & white LEDs. As of yesterday evening the diatoms were barely noticeable, and the gha is just about gone as well. The only gha to be found is on a couple of snails, and a 1/4" X 1/4" tuft on a rock. Lights are still out getting ready to increase the blues. I will also run some test today.

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

Good job Awi... I'm sure you'll be fine in due time. Just watch out for the cycle since you mentioned that you think the bacteria load died aswell. So no restocking until your sure... I know you have things under control GL.

 

[Nanighan]

I know this is a thread about chemical treatments for red bugs, but curious to know what kind of fish you guys have. About 1.5 years ago I discovered AEFW in my system and picked up a yellow candy hogfish. In less than week I notice improvement in the corals etc. I have witess it yank out the flatworms and devour them . Also it seems it eats AEFW as soon as they hatch as there are none to be found today.
Last week I notice a buddy had red bugs. I checked my system as he gave me some frags. Sure enough I found a few of them on a stag frag and nowhere else. This week there are none to be found in that frag or anywhere.
Just my experience. Its the single best purchase I have made

 

[Awibrandy]

I know this is a thread about chemical treatments for red bugs, but curious to know what kind of fish you guys have. About 1.5 years ago I discovered AEFW in my system and picked up a yellow candy hogfish. In less than week I notice improvement in the corals etc. I have witess it yank out the flatworms and devour them . Also it seems it eats AEFW as soon as they hatch as there are none to be found today.
Last week I notice a buddy had red bugs. I checked my system as he gave me some frags. Sure enough I found a few of them on a stag frag and nowhere else. This week there are none to be found in that frag or anywhere.
Just my experience. Its the single best purchase I have made

I had a similar experience a few years ago while helping out two reefers. I picked up an anemone from the one selling it to deliver to the one buying it. The one making the purchase couldn't make the trip to pick it up, and since he lived near my mom I agreed to take it to him. Problem was that it came on a rock. I didn't know that the seller had flat worms in his system, and I put the darn thing in my tank overnight. You guessed it. The next morning there were flatworms all over my euphyllias. I dipped it in the Seachem Coral dip, and they fell right off. Of course there were others still in my system which my wrasse took care of. At the time I had a few wrasse.

Thing is; I am not sure that wrasse eat Red Bugs.

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

@ Nanighan... thus the reason for RC, to share information. Anything to help combat these minute buggers will help. So post away buddy!

@ Awilda... good job posting ur results also. :thumbsup:

My $.02
I can understand why these critters can multiply within a few weeks to plague proportions under our closed systems (wheather AEFW's, Planaria, or Red Bugs) because we have no real combatants or proof of which predator will eat them. So your information is good guys.
Now I know in the wild with the vast majority of fish predators to eat these buggers it's all under control. That's why it's important to always dip and try to QT your corals.

 

[Nanighan]

I know this is a thread about chemical treatments for red bugs, but curious to know what kind of fish you guys have. About 1.5 years ago I discovered AEFW in my system and picked up a yellow candy hogfish. In less than week I notice improvement in the corals etc. I have witess it yank out the flatworms and devour them . Also it seems it eats AEFW as soon as they hatch as there are none to be found today.
Last week I notice a buddy had red bugs. I checked my system as he gave me some frags. Sure enough I found a few of them on a stag frag and nowhere else. This week there are none to be found in that frag or anywhere.
Just my experience. Its the single best purchase I have made

Just want to update my post above. My hogfish jumped out of my tank about 1.5 months ago, and sure enough red bugs are starting to appear again, but no flatworms though. This time I got a six line wrasse and I can confirm that at least my particular one will eat red bugs (saw with my own eyes!).
It seems they will live in your system unless you dose interceptor, which I have not tried.
As sps keepers it is pretty tough not to get any pest unless you are diligent about quarantining. Good luck just my experience once again

 

[cullyisgully]

Just want to update my post above. My hogfish jumped out of my tank about 1.5 months ago, and sure enough red bugs are starting to appear again, but no flatworms though. This time I got a six line wrasse and I can confirm that at least my particular one will eat red bugs (saw with my own eyes!).
It seems they will live in your system unless you dose interceptor, which I have not tried.
As sps keepers it is pretty tough not to get any pest unless you are diligent about quarantining. Good luck just my experience once again

The 6 line should keep your tank in cheek

 

[Nottick]

From what I understand dragon pipefish eat red bugs...

Where are we getting interceptor these days? I want to treat my system however am having a hard time locating it