BeanMachine
Active member
Hey All,
So yeah on Tuesday night I came home and as always look at my tank. Well I recently moved my SPS frag rack to the front pane of my tank for a bit more light and flow as the frags... although alive with polyp extension... weren't encrusting as fast as they should. So I noticed a small frag with some STN at the base that didn't have it the day prior. So I put my face to the glass and what do I see? Yep I see some Red Bugs. I've been really good about dipping the frags I've purchased... but honestly can't say if I dipped 100% depending on who they were from. Before anyone asks no I don't know where I picked up the aids, nor would I blame anyone as these things are SOOOO SMALL and don't always kill the coral so they can be difficult to spot.
Over the course of the last few months, I've lost a handful of small frags... nothing crazy but have been racking my brain as to the cause. My parameters have been stable, tank was looking good, and those acros not affected have great color. The couple frags I lost to slow STN were nice but nothing I can't get back... I just don't like losing corals... I mean who does?
This will be my RED BUG progress thread. From my reefer buddies that have dealt with this before, it sounds like a piece of cake and with 3 treatments in 3 weeks, I should be bug free.
Interceptor is what most use to kill the red bugs. Its a medication for dogs that helps prevent heartworm and other similar parasites. The new formula, which unfortunately is no longer sold in the U.S., is Interceptor Spectrum. The large chewables contain 23 mg milbemycin oxime/228 mg praziquantel . The original formula did not contain the prazi, so initially people were skeptical about using such a high dose of prazi in their reef tank and nervous their fish and livestock. Over the last few years, many have used the new formula with good results, effectively killing the Red Bugs while not harming their fish or corals. The treament will, however, most likely kill your shrimp, crabs, and beneficial pods. I've read some instances where some will survive, but the majority will not.
A friend gave me enough for my treatment, which from my research 1 Large Chew pill is enough to treat approximately 400 gallons. My tank has about 150 gallons, so I will divide the tablet in thirds and treat every Saturday for 3 weeks.
As a prophylactic, I also purchased Interceptor Spectrum from a website in Canada. I intend to dip future SPS in an interceptor bath to prevent future outbreaks, or to have some on hand in case the bugs find there way back in my system. You can find it here- http://www.megapetsupplies.com/interceptor-chewable-large-p-407.html **Mods sorry if this is not OK, please delete if it isn't
So after quite a bit of reading and speaking with friends, the following is my plan for treating my display tank. I don't have any hermits, and no shrimp with the exception of a Pistol Shrimp in my nano which I intend to capture.
1/3 (treating 150 gallons approx. )of a large chew will be dissolved in a small amount of warm / hot RODI , say half a cup. I will add another cup of fresh saltwater as well.
You are supposed to remove Carbon and GFO, which I don't have. Remove the airline from your skimmer so while the pump is still working, it won't be skimming. I wasn't sure about bio pellets, which I do have, but after some reading it seems the treatment won't affect bacterial populations so I will leave that running.
I will begin the treatment at 7am Saturday, pouring the mixture into a powerhead so its dispursed quickly into the tank.
After approx. 6 hours in the tank, I will do a 25% water change, add a fresh sock of carbon, and reconnect the air line on my skimmer.
The process will be repeating every 7 days for 3 weeks, so 3 treatments.
I'll post a FTS prior to dosing my system, and report back with the results.
So yeah on Tuesday night I came home and as always look at my tank. Well I recently moved my SPS frag rack to the front pane of my tank for a bit more light and flow as the frags... although alive with polyp extension... weren't encrusting as fast as they should. So I noticed a small frag with some STN at the base that didn't have it the day prior. So I put my face to the glass and what do I see? Yep I see some Red Bugs. I've been really good about dipping the frags I've purchased... but honestly can't say if I dipped 100% depending on who they were from. Before anyone asks no I don't know where I picked up the aids, nor would I blame anyone as these things are SOOOO SMALL and don't always kill the coral so they can be difficult to spot.
Over the course of the last few months, I've lost a handful of small frags... nothing crazy but have been racking my brain as to the cause. My parameters have been stable, tank was looking good, and those acros not affected have great color. The couple frags I lost to slow STN were nice but nothing I can't get back... I just don't like losing corals... I mean who does?
This will be my RED BUG progress thread. From my reefer buddies that have dealt with this before, it sounds like a piece of cake and with 3 treatments in 3 weeks, I should be bug free.
Interceptor is what most use to kill the red bugs. Its a medication for dogs that helps prevent heartworm and other similar parasites. The new formula, which unfortunately is no longer sold in the U.S., is Interceptor Spectrum. The large chewables contain 23 mg milbemycin oxime/228 mg praziquantel . The original formula did not contain the prazi, so initially people were skeptical about using such a high dose of prazi in their reef tank and nervous their fish and livestock. Over the last few years, many have used the new formula with good results, effectively killing the Red Bugs while not harming their fish or corals. The treament will, however, most likely kill your shrimp, crabs, and beneficial pods. I've read some instances where some will survive, but the majority will not.
A friend gave me enough for my treatment, which from my research 1 Large Chew pill is enough to treat approximately 400 gallons. My tank has about 150 gallons, so I will divide the tablet in thirds and treat every Saturday for 3 weeks.
As a prophylactic, I also purchased Interceptor Spectrum from a website in Canada. I intend to dip future SPS in an interceptor bath to prevent future outbreaks, or to have some on hand in case the bugs find there way back in my system. You can find it here- http://www.megapetsupplies.com/interceptor-chewable-large-p-407.html **Mods sorry if this is not OK, please delete if it isn't
So after quite a bit of reading and speaking with friends, the following is my plan for treating my display tank. I don't have any hermits, and no shrimp with the exception of a Pistol Shrimp in my nano which I intend to capture.
1/3 (treating 150 gallons approx. )of a large chew will be dissolved in a small amount of warm / hot RODI , say half a cup. I will add another cup of fresh saltwater as well.
You are supposed to remove Carbon and GFO, which I don't have. Remove the airline from your skimmer so while the pump is still working, it won't be skimming. I wasn't sure about bio pellets, which I do have, but after some reading it seems the treatment won't affect bacterial populations so I will leave that running.
I will begin the treatment at 7am Saturday, pouring the mixture into a powerhead so its dispursed quickly into the tank.
After approx. 6 hours in the tank, I will do a 25% water change, add a fresh sock of carbon, and reconnect the air line on my skimmer.
The process will be repeating every 7 days for 3 weeks, so 3 treatments.
I'll post a FTS prior to dosing my system, and report back with the results.
