It is not clinically indicated as a red bug treatment, and frankly there isn't significant money in selling this as a red bug treatment.
So this does not suprise me at all.
SPS pests and treatment options
- Thread starter mpoletti
- Start date
It is not clinically indicated as a red bug treatment, and frankly there isn't significant money in selling this as a red bug treatment.
So this does not suprise me at all.
Hey guys, I've been reading through this thread and the procedure on killing red bugs all day today now. I have a minor case of red bugs and I have tried taking them out and dipping them in interceptor but without a qt tank, they went back into the DT. After about 2 or 3 weeks I started to see them again the other day. I'm planning on nuking the whole tank with interceptor this weekend the day before I'm due for my weekly wc. Is there any advise that you guys have for me before I like the plunge? Removing my shrimp isn't going to be possible so I'll have to take the risk of leaving it in there along with all my hermit crabs and snails.
Also I want to cross check my dosage about with you guys. I have a 93g marineland cube with a 12g external fuge, 20g sump that holds maybe 12g of water when pumps are running and a duel brs media reactor. So I'm guessing I have about 100g of water volume at any given time. I understand that a single tablet of interceptor for large dogs can treat up to 380g of water. So I can on splitting the tablet in 1/4 and using the 1/4 tablet to treat my whole tank. Do you guys think that amount will be enough to treat my tank?
Another question is I plan on treating for more then 6 hours. I'm looking at about 10 of treatment time before I start to run carbon and skimmer. Then I'll do a 20% wc the following day. Any advise and help would be greatly appreciated. I plan to start treatment this Friday night at about midnight and turn everything back on in the morning at 10am Saturday. Oh one more thing, is it ok to leave my mp40's online during treatment or should I have them off? I didnt see any info on that.
Thanks in advance,
Hoang
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Also I want to cross check my dosage about with you guys. I have a 93g marineland cube with a 12g external fuge, 20g sump that holds maybe 12g of water when pumps are running and a duel brs media reactor. So I'm guessing I have about 100g of water volume at any given time. I understand that a single tablet of interceptor for large dogs can treat up to 380g of water. So I can on splitting the tablet in 1/4 and using the 1/4 tablet to treat my whole tank. Do you guys think that amount will be enough to treat my tank?
Another question is I plan on treating for more then 6 hours. I'm looking at about 10 of treatment time before I start to run carbon and skimmer. Then I'll do a 20% wc the following day. Any advise and help would be greatly appreciated. I plan to start treatment this Friday night at about midnight and turn everything back on in the morning at 10am Saturday. Oh one more thing, is it ok to leave my mp40's online during treatment or should I have them off? I didnt see any info on that.
Thanks in advance,
Hoang
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ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
The only thing I'd say is, expect AEFW to take over after you dose Interceptor. I wish I'd never done the latter.:deadhorse:
What do you mean by that? Do AEFW pop out of no where when you use interceptor? More details please (asking in a very nicely way)
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ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
I for some reason treated my tank with Interceptor. I then had a plague of AEFW. Reading, then AEFW threads, I was stunned at the high percentage of those battling AEFW who had just treated with Interceptor.
Obviously, the AEFW were there prior. They also were not harming anything. I was with many old-timers who never worried about redbugs. Why I decided to fix something that wasn't broken, I don't know.
I am in the extreme minority in the hobby on this, at least, in being vocal. There are a lot of folks who dont' worry about redbugs.
All I'm saying is, there is a point after which coincidence becomes correlation. Expect a high likelihood of an AEFW problem that did not before exist as a problem.
Obviously, the AEFW were there prior. They also were not harming anything. I was with many old-timers who never worried about redbugs. Why I decided to fix something that wasn't broken, I don't know.
I am in the extreme minority in the hobby on this, at least, in being vocal. There are a lot of folks who dont' worry about redbugs.
All I'm saying is, there is a point after which coincidence becomes correlation. Expect a high likelihood of an AEFW problem that did not before exist as a problem.
Thanks for the info man. I'll read up on the AEFW to see what I can dig up. In the mean time, if there's anyone out there that has treated with interceptor before, please chime In as I'd like to hear from you and your experience from it.
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IMO treating for red bugs makes the reefkeeper much more aware of parasites, and the damage they do, in the aquarium and that plays a large role in how many people notice AEFW after treating for red bugs. IME red bugs do quite a bit of damage that is only noticeable once they are gotten rid of. AEFW of course are devastating as there is no good in tank treatment and the treatments that are effective are very stressful to the corals. The key of course is to have a good dip proceedure and a QT if possible in your particular situation.
I treated according to Dorton's original directions around 2004 and have dipped without fail and haven't seen a red bug in any of my tanks since
hth, Chris
I treated according to Dorton's original directions around 2004 and have dipped without fail and haven't seen a red bug in any of my tanks since
hth, Chris
Thanks for the info Chris. I want to try and find a natural predator first before I proceed to nuking the whole tank. I talked to a friend of mines that got a frag from me last night to tell him what had happen and for him to be on the look out. He said he wasn't worried at all because he has a sand dragon pipefish in this tank that is a certified red bug eater. He told me he got a coral a couple of weeks ago and even after two dips he still had red bugs on it. He just throw it in the tank and saw that his pipefish cleaned it up after 2 days. I'm looking into it eight now and have found two webpages that has confirm that info. Now I'm on the look out for a pair of them and try that before I nuke my tank.
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Good luck, I haven't personally heard of that working for anyone but hope it helps you out
Chris
I can only hope and pray. Last night I took all my acros out and dipped them using 1/4 tablet of the interceptor and now I think I just killed all my acros. I only dipped for about 20 mins and it killed everything. But then again I also used coral rx at the same time as well. So now I really have no acros left for the red bugs to eat except for one other colony. So I'll use that colony as a test. If the red bugs do some back to that colony and I put a dragonface pipefish in there and if I don't see anymore red bugs on that colony then I'll know it did it's job. It will be interesting to see. I'll post on here as well if I'm able to find the pipefish locally. I can't justify paying $60 for shipping for a $20 fish.
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Well that sucks. Dipping with interceptor shouldn't have harmed your acros in any way except that you dipped an extremely high dose (5x's dortons dose or a few little shavings is all that's needed for 2 or 3 gallons in a 5 gal bucket). Sounds like you used around 30 plus x's the dosage assuming you dipped in 5 gallons). Don't know about coral RX but you can dip with interceptor for hours (I have dipped for 24 hours with no ill effects) but most other dips(TMPCC for example) don't need to be done for more than 10 to 15 minutes max or they will harm the coral. The most likley culprit is temp and acclimation. If the corals weren't acclimated to the water used in the bucket (easiest way is just using tank water) and then again on placing back in the tank it can shock them. Or they could have been not healthy in the first place and changes of temp etc...will be even mor harmful then. At any rate I would leave the tank without Acros for at least 6 weeks now and then follow a strict dipping regimine that takes care of red bugs AND AEFW (including removing the bases).
hth, Chris
hth, Chris
Sad to say I didn't use 5g of water when dipping with interceptor. I used only about HALF a gallon of tank water and dipped for 20min or so. That was the biggest mistake I've made in this hobby thus far. I'll avoid acro's for the time being until I see no trace of red bugs in the system. Trying to get a group order going on with some friends to order those pipefish online right now. I'll see how that goes as well.
Keep in mind the pipefish you are referring to are not suitable for every tank, and there is no guarantee they will eat the red bugs.
I am not discouraging the purchase, but simply saying the purchase is not suitable for everyone.
Needless to say, had the interceptor treatment been done correctly, I am confident you would have had a more positive result.
Yea it sucks that I messed up with the dip but it wasn't the first time I've done it. Although the first time I used a lot more water then I did the second time. First treatment didn't work because they came back. So only thing I can think of is treating the whole tank. I'll try the pipefish for now and see how it turns out. If I don't notice any red bugs in a month then I guess I'm good? I already ordered two of the pipefish from an online vendor today. It should be here Saturday morning. I guess I'll know if they eat red bugs or not soon enough. From what I read, once they are used to their new home, they will start to seek out food and if I see them picking at an acro then it's safe to say I still have red bugs and that the pipefish is eating it. Lol
I'll post results here as time goes by. If it works then I'd like to be able to share this with everyone else.
Thanks for all the help guys
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I'll post results here as time goes by. If it works then I'd like to be able to share this with everyone else.
Thanks for all the help guys
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The thing about your plan is you won't know if all the red bugs are gone by just not seeing them. The two ways to get rid of the bugs is to treat the whole tank at least twice, preferably 3 times or to take all acros out and leave them out for at least 6 weeks. My suggestion is to go ahead and keep all acros out of that tank for 6 weeks (since you only have 1 left) since you might just have AEFWs if you have been adding corals without dipping. Leaving all Acros out for 6 weeks will also ensure you don't have any AEFWs in the tank. Not worth it to start over IMO if you aren't going to start over the right way
The thing about your plan is you won't know if all the red bugs are gone by just not seeing them. The two ways to get rid of the bugs is to treat the whole tank at least twice, preferably 3 times or to take all acros out and leave them out for at least 6 weeks. My suggestion is to go ahead and keep all acros out of that tank for 6 weeks (since you only have 1 left) since you might just have AEFWs if you have been adding corals without dipping. Leaving all Acros out for 6 weeks will also ensure you don't have any AEFWs in the tank. Not worth it to start over IMO if you aren't going to start over the right way
Since I only have one acro left (I have no where else to put it) it will be easier for me to monitor it correct? Way I was thinking is that I leave it near the side of the tank to make it easier for me to check. I've had good success seeing them with my naked eyes so far. If I'm understanding this right. Acros won't have good polop extension if there's red bugs or AEFW on them right? So I can keep an eye on them to see if the polops extend or not and how the color is doing and all that. If after say 6 weeks I don't see anything on that one coral and it seems to be doing fine. Is it safe to say that I'm bug free?
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I would suggest you do as you say, and leave it in the tank.
However, I would also suggest, you pull the coral out of the tank periodically and use a magnifying glass with good lighting to inspect the coral.
If you take your time inspecting the coral under a magnifying glass, you can typically see them even with a small population.
Thats a great idea Dave. I'll go out to an office depot this weekend to pick up one of those magnifying glass with the lights on it and check on the acro's from time to time. I can always use to to examine new coral's to put into my system as well.
