Redbug Treatments

Brian Prestwood

Brian Prestwood

Premium Member
Hey All

OK, so I've read about 200 pages of redbug postings, most of it on the SPS forum. I figure its time to tap the local expertise.

Corrections are requested...

Basically, a red bug is like a flea that sucks the juices out of the SPS. Supposedly Borneman verfied this but the pics are all offline.

Dipping an SPS with redbugs on it for 4 minutes in 5 ml /l Lugols kills the red bugs on the coral. Borneman verified this.

Removing their food source from the display tank for a week kills them. Remove, dip and move all display tank SPS into a quarantine tank. Leave them out of the display tank for at least five days.

Interceptor kills them and all other small crustaceans in the tank. Three treatments are recommended.

Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus) eat them.

Dragonface Pipefish Eating Red Bugs
 
Re: Redbug Treatments

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13722435#post13722435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brian Prestwood


Interceptor kills them and all other small crustaceans in the tank. Three treatments are recommended.
Click to expand...

Brian, this is still the debate. Some pods and snails will go, but since most hobbyist want more or the quick fix, they over dose either quantity or duration.

Towards the end, snails and shrimps will become frozen, almost like a paralyzed state, but after a couple hours after a water change, running crabon and skimming, my experience is that most of them recover.
 
I treated my tank for bugs a week ago with interceptor and I haven't seen any red bugs since. I lost one hermit crab (I removed the others before dosing), some pods and that's about it. I was sweating medicating the tank but it turned out to be no big deal.
 
Glad to hear that things went well. I would still do at least do another treatment as you want to break the llife cycle and many times there might be RB's deep down that we miss with the 1st treatment.
 
I dosed my tank awhile back with interceptor as a I found a few red bugs on a surf-n-turf stag. I used one tab in 300g of water for 12 hours ( i.e. didn't run the skimmer or carbon for 12hrs), and repeated it one week later. I did loose a couple acro crabs and maybe a cleaner shrimp, but the pods etc eventually come back, but no signs of the RBs. Dosing your tank with interceptor is really pretty simple. From what I understand, there are quite a few hard core SPS'ers out there that dose their system once a year (or more frequently) just as a prophylactic.

Jeff
 
Mark, Mike & Jeff

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to dip he worst cases in Logols to buy some time while I...

Finish my skimmer, I'll need it.
Do more research the success of the isolation/starvation technique
Do more research the effectiveness of the dragonface pipefish
Acquire some Interceptor


Jeff

FWIW, my Surf-N-Turf appears to have way more red bugs than any other. My Lokanis and my Palleta Blue Tip are next worse.
 
My experience with dosing interceptor pretty much reflects what everyone has said so far. Shrimps and such seems stunned. First time doing it, I had no dead shrimps or crab.

Second time dosing, I lost two shrimps. I think I may have over dosed for too long.

Minh
 
brian-

what were you seeing that tipped you off to look for RBs? was your surf-n-turf etc fading or polyping out much? I noticed after I did the two treatments that I had more PE, but not much change in color as my SPS were already well colored pre-treatment.
anyway, RBs aren't really a pest to be feared compared to flatworms. while they do seem to adversely affect some corals, the treatment is pretty darn easy... the hardest part is find a vet to bribe for some interceptor :)

jeff
 
why is interceptor so hard to get ahold of? i know that it is a mecidine but isnt it the same thing as saying my dog is sick can you precribe some anti-biotics for her? seems like it would be easier to get some interceptor... hmmmm
 
Buzz,

I was told this by someone who is pretty knowledgable about dogs. Basically, interceptor is used to treat heartworms (and other worms) in dogs. Used incorrectly, it could be dangerous to dogs. Fortunately, there are other drugs that can be used to treat heartworms that are "safer" to use. I don't know if this is true or not, but that's what I have been told.

Minh

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13727820#post13727820 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by buzzbombtom
why is interceptor so hard to get ahold of? i know that it is a mecidine but isnt it the same thing as saying my dog is sick can you precribe some anti-biotics for her? seems like it would be easier to get some interceptor... hmmmm
Click to expand...
 
The reason heartworm medicine requires a prescription is because it has the potential to be dangerous for dogs as Minh said. Vets require an annual heartworm test for dogs before they administer the medication. The medicine is only dangerous for your dog if it already has heartworms. Interceptor basically causes a rapid die-off of any heartworms in a dog. If a dog is infected badly enough, the mass of dead worms can block up its heart and cause death. So the vets test your dog yearly for the worms to make sure there won't be any complications from the medicine.

I think if you go to a vet and let them know what you need the prescription for they will be more than willing to fill it. I would probably print out the "cure" thread from reefs.org and bring it with you. After all, coral and fish are animals too and it's a vet's job to cure sick animals.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13729035#post13729035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mikey Donuts
I think if you go to a vet and let them know what you need the prescription for they will be more than willing to fill it. I would probably print out the "cure" thread from reefs.org and bring it with you. After all, coral and fish are animals too and it's a vet's job to cure sick animals.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I did, and the vet had no problem giving me the interceptor once I explained it. You do have to understand that it's their necks on the line if this stuff is used incorrectly.

After using it several times, I still have not lost any of the 6 shrimp, any of the starfish, or snails that are in my system. I did, however, lose all crabs. I think that as long as you dose for 6-8 hours, then do a 25% water change and add carbon, your shrimp and such will survive.
 
Jeff

Actually, I didn't have a clue I had red bugs until Doug (DrDoug) spotted them. The polyp extension and color on the worst cases is pretty good.

The growth does seem to have slowed down. Perhaps the red bugs explain that.
 
Hey Jeremy, what's the name of that "cure" thread you're talking about? I tried to search for it on reefs.org but couldn't find it.
 
I treated with interceptor at the recommended dosage for eight hours then turned the skimmer and GAC reactor on for eight. After that I did a 33% water change. My corals look better but that always happens after a water change.

No sign of redbugs now. I watched as they died. They stopped moving then just drifted off the corals.

I lost one of my three cleaner shrimp. I lost my only acro crab.

For the next treatment I'm going to have a small isolation tank ready. If any of the remaining shrimp are stunned and land in an area I can get at them I'll put them in the isolation tank.

Not sure if I'm going to do one or two more treatments. In any case, after the last treatment I'm going to solicit pod startup materials (e.g. chaeto) from known clean tanks.
 
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