Red Bugs?

I certainly wouldn't pass on stuff without letting the other person know as I wouldn't want it done to me.

I know you wouldn't do that. Just might be handy for someone who comes across this thread to think twice before trading frags if they have red bugs. I think a lot of people have red bugs and don't realize it - it only becomes apparent after they take some macro shots like you did as they are so hard to see with the naked eye. Both times I treated for RBs I discovered them exactly that way.
 
I ended up binning the affected corals and I've added 2 of these.


Pipefish by --Aaron--, on Flickr

I had a chat with someone who treated using worming tablets and it put me off from their experience. I haven't had a lot of time to take macros and look for more bugs of late, hopefully I'll have some time over Xmas to have a look.
 
IME, dragon pipefish may eat red bugs, but they won't take care of an infestation. They seem to prefer eating everything else first. Mine would scoot around the rockwork picking off copepods, and accepted cyclopeeze. But I never saw them eat red bugs. Furthermore, if you decide to treat with Interceptor/Sentinel, my suggestion is to remove the pipefish. I treated my tank with Interceptor and my pipefish died the same night. I don't think it was a coincidence. I suspect that the pipefish ingested copepods that were poisoned and indirectly killed the pipefish.

I firmly believe that any red bug infestation should be immediately treated with Interceptor. It's a relatively easy process, and if you have a SPS dominant tank and/or have a heavy infestation, the results after the Interceptor treatment are immediate. I saw increased polyp extension and the corals all colored up.
 
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