Red bugs on your sps? Share your exp.

If anyone's interested, I tried the Seachem Reef dip last night. What a difference!!! I dipped four frags last night that were badly infested with red bugs. Among them were a Tizardi and a Nana that were really suffering. They both had almost no polyp extension & the Nana had lost most of it's color.

So I took a gallon of tank water & added twice the recommended dose of Reef Dip. I soaked the corals for @ 5 minutes and kept them agitated the whole time using a turkey baster & also by just shaking them in the mix.

I then removed them & placed them back in the tank. Unfortunately I don't have a Q set-up.

Anyway, I took the tray, which is a clear, plastic food storage tray & placed it over a white piece of paper. Without eve a magnifying glass I could see literally hundreds of red bugs. Most appeared to be dead but some would occasionally swim in a tight circle as though having a convulsion.

The change in the frags is amazing, the Nana especially. I'd say within 10 minutes of being placed back in the tank the polyps were out like I haven't seen in a long time. I can still see a couple of bugs & I'll probably have to repeat the dip in a week or so; but it seems to work.
 
Travis said:
ReeferMac, O3 kills anything it comes into contact with. So if there was a correlation it would be that the larvae would be killed by coming into contact with the ozone resulting in less bugs.
Click to expand...

I was thinking it might have something to do w/ the higher ORP readings you'd get in a tank w/ a controller and ozone.
It might be one of the things that ties some of the threads together, the way some people's tank's are severely affected, and other's don't show much trouble from it? Perhaps there's a correlation between the ORP value being elevated (either as a result of Ozone use, or just general good husbandry) and the little buggers 'taking over'? Just trying to think out loud.

That's a good story Ike. I've got a lot of corals attached to larger pieces of rock, and no Q-tank either, so I'm interested in ways I could treat my tank in 33-gallon Rubbermaid totes. :D

- Mac
 
Hey Mac,

I just have my frags super-glued to pebble sized pieces of rock, which I then epoxy onto large pieces of rock in the tank. The frags grow over the super-glue in a week or so & become permenantly attached to the pebble. The epoxy hold the pebble in place but can be removed if needed. It's not a permenant bond. I just take a sharpened wooded dowel & work around the epoxy base until it comes loose. So far it's a decent system.

I don't see why the 33-gallon rubermaid wouldn't work. Just fill it up with old tank water at your next water change, keep the temp the same as the main tank. Drop in a couple of powerheads, add the Reef Dip & dip away. I think a double dose was 10ml per gallon. Just keep an eye on them while they are being dipped.

I don't know what it will do for the bacteria & other life on the LR itself though. But if you can save the colonies who cares?

In fact your big rubbermaid container idea sounds like a great way to dip any large coral colony.
 
i also use reef dip on any sps's that i think may have the red bugs. however, i use one capful (cap off the reef dip bottle) of reefdip per cup of tank water. i soak the frags for 5-10mins and then immedieatly place them in another container with clean tank water to rinse off any remaining reef dip and then place the dipped frags in a critter container in the main tank. if no bugs are observable within a week, i place the frag into the tank.
 
Ike185,

This has been thoroughly discussed in previous pages of this thread.

The dip does improve the corals. But without the entire system 100% erradicated they will likely reinfest.

I have been optimistic in the past with the dip and looks very positive for the first 6 weeks or so but then you will likely find them back in the same #s as before.

You may get positive results if you only have a few acros and most are frags where you can visually see all areas of the coral to inspect.

Also, if you have any acro crabs the dip will kill them.
 
Neat Dustin. Would love to help, but.. I've only got the one tank at the moment. If you don't get enough volunteer's for the experiment however, I think I'll give it a go (WTF, right?)!

- Mac
 
I just wanted to do a follow up post after I did a coral dip
I dipped my infected corals in a "SeaChem Coral Dip" solution for 5-10 minutes with a power head and a turkey baster. Then I dunked them in saltwater for rinsing and them returned them to the tank.. Pictures are "Before" "After" ... and then the Red Bugs filtered through a paper towel and dumped on a piece of paper for photographing.. wish I had a MicroScope camera... But this is the best I can do... you can see.. in just 3 corals ... there are TONS of the little bastages. But the Corals are doing 80% better.. still recovering... oh yeah pics are after 48hrs...
hope that helps those in need.
3871Green_Acropora.JPG

3871Salon_Christmas_Party_1-24-04_029__Small_.jpg

3871Salon_Christmas_Party_1-24-04_022__Small_.jpg

Just the Red Dots... rest is sand and other particles
3871Salon_Christmas_Party_1-24-04_024__Small_.jpg
 
It's been almost a month since I dipped my A.caroliniana in Lugols. No sign of them on any of my acros. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Unless you treat the whole tank, they are going to come back. I have dipped every single sps coral in a system every 7 days for a month and a half in a very very high strength lugols bath, and they still come back a couple of months later.

Doing the baths on an individual coral will help for a short period of time, unless the bugs jump back on while its in a weekend state after a dip.
 
Dustin said:
Unless you treat the whole tank, they are going to come back. I have dipped every single sps coral in a system every 7 days for a month and a half in a very very high strength lugols bath, and they still come back a couple of months later.

Doing the baths on an individual coral will help for a short period of time, unless the bugs jump back on while its in a weekend state after a dip.
Click to expand...

Or unless you move the infected colonies to a quarantine tank until your confident you can move them back. I realize in my case it was easy since only one coral was affected. But I don't agree that in my case it is likely for them to come back. But thanks for the optimism. :rollface:
 
I posted what I did a couple of weeks ago. But just so what I said above makes sense:

I removed the affected colony and dipped it in a strong lugols dip. I swished the coral vigorously in the solution to make sure the parasites were removed. I then moved the coral to a qt tank. A few days later I could see a couple of parasites near coralites but they were not moving. I figured they were toast but just to be careful I did another dip as above. A couple weeks later with no sign of them I moved the coral back to my main tank.
 
I have seen them come back on two occasions after dipping every 7 days 4 times, then every 14 days twice, and once again 30 days later.

15 minute baths in excessivly high amounts of lugols (1 ml/l), on every single coral in the system.
 
Hey! I just thought of something!
Are these 'bugs' present in other reef tanks around the world? I've seen folks from Mexico, various parts of Europe, England, and even the Pacific Islands posting here.... are any of them noticing these bugs? Is it specific to the US, or only in partial distribution?

- Mac
 
They are in Europe too that I know of (think it was mentioned in this thread) a fellow who had never had any trades with the Americas had them.

I have had a TERRIBLE experience with these bugs.....I seem to have the devilish kind....they find any new frag within hours, dozens on the frag within a few days, and usually bleaching soon thereafter :( My Interceptor is on the way! :)
 
Finished one Tx. The red bugs are gone. I lost most acro crabs. The large peppermint shrimp made it. Everything looks good...even the Purple monster!

Brad
 
Brad A. said:
Finished one Tx. The red bugs are gone. I lost most acro crabs. The large peppermint shrimp made it. Everything looks good...even the Purple monster!

Brad
Click to expand...

Brad A. did you use Interceptor? If so, how is your Copepod population after treatment. That is the only negitive I have read.
 
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