Red bugs worth the trouble?

Reef1ruler

Reef1ruler

New member
Just noticed that a couple of my acro's have red bugs. After reading around it seems like it's a very common problem that's difficult to fully solve unless u treat the whole tank which I'm against since I have crabs and shrimps I won't be able to remove. My question for you sps experts is: Is it worth taking the time to remove all the acros and dip them in a seperate tub? I only see red bugs on about 4 acros and they don't seem to be bothering the coral although I would like to see some better growth out of some of them. Plz leave your comments and opinions on if I should try to treat or just leave alone. Thanks in advance!
 
Dosing interceptor was easiest and best thing I have done to my tank. I only dosed a third of a tablet once and it eliminated all of the red bugs. My fire shrimp survived and I only lost one hermit crab. The next day all of my polyp extension improved dramatically.
 
Treating the tank helps in the long run. Red bugs will keep polyps from extending. Color then usually suffers. You can order interceptor on line.
 
Or get it from a local vet. It's easy to get again.

Your corals will be better off treated with interceptor. Only one treatment is necessary, they are live bearers. Pods will come back stronger than ever in my experience and quickly. Acros will grow faster and be prettier. Plus you can trade and sell frags. At some point your acros will become weak and the red bugs will start to hurt the color and growth, wether it be a dosing accident or equipment failure. Something will stress them at some point most likely.
 
Ok so i will treat. Now is taking the corals out and dipping them individually a bad option? I would really prefer not to put a dog medicine in my reef. And what are the side effects of putting interceptor in the display, if any?
 
Reef1ruler said:
Ok so i will treat. Now is taking the corals out and dipping them individually a bad option? I would really prefer not to put a dog medicine in my reef. And what are the side effects of putting interceptor in the display, if any?
Click to expand...

None to corals and fish. Acro crabs dont fair well though. Pods seem to do fine.
 
Dipping corals won't help, there will likely be free floating or bugs moving on rocks. Dipping helps keep the numbers in check when certain colonies are infested. No side affects if done right. Pods don't die off like people often say they do. Mine actually blow up in population a week or so after. It won't hurt anything but crustrations, shrimp, crabs, ect... Watch parameters in the following weeks. Dosing may need to be increased as well.
 
Everything piper said^^^^^

I used Dr. G's coral dip in my tank as it uses the same ingredient in interceptor. It is a liquid in a bottle and one capful for a period of 3 hours and ALL red bugs were gone. I have crazy polyp extension ever since. Three 10 percent water changes and your tank is back to normal. I cant recommend it enough....it also kills aefw per the bottle.
 
NaturalReef said:
Everything piper said^^^^^

I used Dr. G's coral dip in my tank as it uses the same ingredient in interceptor. It is a liquid in a bottle and one capful for a period of 3 hours and ALL red bugs were gone. I have crazy polyp extension ever since. Three 10 percent water changes and your tank is back to normal. I cant recommend it enough....it also kills aefw per the bottle.
Click to expand...

Am I understanding you right? You dosed the tank with the Dr G's coral dip?
 
Affirmative! They use the same ingredient. It works great and you have 98 percent of the bottle left over for dipping corals or if you were infested again. Pods,crabs were fine. PA has it....i think $15 a bottle
 
I checked out Dr. G's dip on PA. Just to be clear, at 4 places on the page, it states product is not for tank dosing, as "it may affect and may kill Invertebrates, Clams, Snails, Crabs, Fish, Shrimp and Copepod populations". That said, it does use the same active ingredient as Interceptor (milbemycin oxime), plus vitamin C, so it should be safe with the usual concern for arthropods.

On two occasions I have tank dosed Interceptor with great success and no visible affect on anything except arthropods. The first time I QT my crabs and shrimp. The second time I did not and while some arthropods survived, it was obvious to me that there's a negative impact, as some died and others became very lethargic.
 
It's always something in this hobby. When you think you have your tank going good something manages to pop up. And maybe that's what keeps it so interesting and manages to always bring us back for more. I definitely have learned my lesson about not having a good quarantine for new corals. Normally I dip all new corals in Coral Rx before I place them in the tank but have been lazy and skipped out on a few. Sometimes it takes a mistake to learn the way in this hobby.
 
Tell me about it.. I been reefing since 2004 and never had a pest ( that I knew of :) ) and now I have been dipping for aefw and looks like I might have red bugs also. When it rains it pours :bounce3:
 
Interceptor has the same warning from the guy who discovered its effectiveness. I used one capful per 20 gallons and it was extremely effective.
 
I had red bugs a few years ago. They were only on 2 colony. Since they are a parasite they are typically only on food source. I'm sure they migrate to find other sources but the only acros they seemed to like was my bonsai and Hawkins. I was in the same boat as you. I didn't want to fish out 50 hermits, etc etc. the right way is to dose the whole tank I agree with the others. But I wanted to try dipping affected colony's first. It worked. 3 dips gone. I still keep both corals around as canary. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe I caught them early. Maybe trace amounts got in water and killed them off. Who knows but it worked for me. I used interceptor flavor tabs.
 
Gmerek2 said:
I had red bugs a few years ago. They were only on 2 colony. Since they are a parasite they are typically only on food source. I'm sure they migrate to find other sources but the only acros they seemed to like was my bonsai and Hawkins. I was in the same boat as you. I didn't want to fish out 50 hermits, etc etc. the right way is to dose the whole tank I agree with the others. But I wanted to try dipping affected colony's first. It worked. 3 dips gone. I still keep both corals around as canary. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe I caught them early. Maybe trace amounts got in water and killed them off. Who knows but it worked for me. I used interceptor flavor tabs.
Click to expand...

Interesting...maybe I can try dipping the infected pieces first before I treat the tank. I understand treating the tanks a much safer option in terms of red bugs being eliminated. Although I'm really not sure I can fish out all my sensitive invests.
 
NaturalReef how did you come up with the 1 capful per 20 gallons? Checking the website says 1 8oz bottle makes just over 2.5 gallons of dip
 
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