red bugs

[davemc1234]

hi since october 2007 my sps colinies have started to receed back from the tips and die, i have questioned everthing and checked. Today i used a mesicope magnifyer to study the remainder of the colinies and found small red flee looking bugs that seem to be feeding on the colinies.since october it has been a nightmare when colinies up to 12" JUST DIE.
Can anyone offer me advice on how to deal with this problem, what to use and how to deal with this problem.

Many thanks
dave

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

red bugs are yellow.....

they do have what appears to be a red spot though...

if it is them...then interceptor is the only thing tested so far that works...try a search for it as there are multiple, multiple sites and threads about how to treat them...

as of late some have reported that the interceptor treatment reveals an even nastier plague to SPS...AEFW...and some have speculated that the redbugs keep the AEFW at bay...either by eating them...or the treament itself kills some other form of life that was keeping them at bay...

either way having any sort of these is nasty...i have had the redbugs for a little over a month now...and have been tardy about treating them...however...they seem to all but disappeared on their own...the infected acros are displaying beautiful colours again and full polyp extension...not sure where to go from here myself...

 

[davemc1234]

hi and thanks for the reply yes they do seem to be yellow with a red spot, their does not seem to be a plague just a few after removing colonies that had died. Most of the corals have been removed and some colonies which have been dieing over a period of time are starting to come back. Do you know if the red bugs can multiply in the aquarium and if so mine should be at plague proportions because it has now been five months . I have been wondering whether it may possible for the coral to have its own defense toxin that it may give off. I also have two six line wrasse and maybe they might eat them. The main problem i seem to have is where they damage the tissue cyno which then causes problems on the coral.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

6line wont eat them...and yes they can grow to plague proportions readily...depends on your acro load in the tank...and what type of acros they are..

my tricolour acro...pink green and blue was yellow with them on it...now i can only see one or two here and there on it...

 

[davemc1234]

thanks for the reply,my stylophora,seariatopora montipora and acros have all been practley wiped out the tisue seems to stn and then cyno takes a hold, but i do not see more than a couple on the coral, so do these bugs eat all corals. TYHANKS DAVE.

 

[DT's_Reef]

dragon pipefish supposedly do a good job of eating red bugs and are easy to keep if your system can sustain a mandarin. I have a pair and they comb over my entire reef constantly. Very cool personalities too...always out in the open and not skittish at all.

 

[gws3]

I had red bugs, and as most people say they only went after smooth-skinned acros. I highly doubt that the red bugs was the cause of the loss of a stylo.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11868991#post11868991 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davemc1234
thanks for the reply,my stylophora,seariatopora montipora and acros have all been practley wiped out the tisue seems to stn and then cyno takes a hold, but i do not see more than a couple on the coral, so do these bugs eat all corals. TYHANKS DAVE.

 

[davemc1234]

Well it does not get much worse,today on observing my corals i have also found a coral eating nudibranch on my montipora done damage in one day.Could these also be eating all my other sps.So i not only have red bugs but also these to content with. all my corals are showing bad tissue damage. At a complete loss

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

monti eating nudies will do an amazing amount of damage...and will only hunt your montis...

redbugs generally will only go for smooth acros...they dont seem to like the furry stylo's and birdsnest, millies etc..but they will attack them if that is all that is there to eat..

i dont think AEFW have any specific dietary needs aside from acro...

 

[stangreef]

i had the dreaded aefw but after i removed all my sps for 6 weeks, they all died,, touch wood, none in my tank as of 4 months..