SPS pets that tolerates FW/revive on Milli help

[Jfannin]

Ok so I'm almost positive I've found a bug/pest of some sort on a Blue Millipore. I did find some kind of very small bugs of some sort eatting away at the blue Milli that I picked up. They are very small and hard to ID even under a magnify-glass. I managed to collect a few of them and I'm going to try to find a micro scope locally to get a better look at it so I can ID them. All the other corals appear to be fine including other Milli's and no effected for the time being.

I did dip the frag in revive for 5 min when I got home from the swap . But it didn't kill them. So I took and dipped the Blue Milli again after noticing the effected areas on it for 15min and that's when I saw several of the bugs come off the coral. What sucks is the revive did not kill the bugs so I dipped the frag longer and after a 20 min dip the bugs where still alive. So I then dipped the frag in a fresh water dip for about 20 SEC and the little ****s still didn't die. So I just fragged the upper most non effected part of the frag hopping to rid the bugs and save the frag.

I then took and placed the frag back in the same place in the tank just incase some pest / bugs came off as I was remove the frag from the tank.

If anyone knows of any bug that seams to like Milli's please let me know. The bug looks like a very small flee that is black or very dark brown With a posable white or light area on its back. They are way to small for a photo. So any help with a possible ID would be great Thx

 

[James404]

Sounds like red bugs, the correct treatment would be to dose interceptor if thats what they turn out to be. If you search around there is plenty of info on this treatment. BTW its never a good idea to FW dip SPS.

 

[Jfannin]

Yah I know FW is not safe for sps. It was just done as a last resort.

The thing is they don't look like red bugs. They remind me of a supper small potato bug. They are a black or dark brown color. Not red at all. They also move pretty freaking fast and when dipped they roll up into a ball.

I have also started to notice the same eat up look on my ORA Red planet frag that I came from the same place as the Blue Milli.

 

[Reefnub]

Sounds like a reefers worst nightmares, AEFW.

 

[Arkayology]

Never FWD SPS

 

[Jfannin]

AEFW move really fast?

Already commented on the FW dip. It was a last resort to save the coral. Over night the coral 1/2 eaten leaving just a stub. That's the part I refragged and FW dipped. That part actully looked healthy right after and still 2 days later still looks good. The FW dip was only for about 10-15 seconds mixed with Revive.

I don't advise FW dips but I was loosing the coral so fast I thought it was a good time to experiment. Oddly enough it seams to have worked out well

 

[Reefnub]

Does it look like this? Use Bayer to dip and kill AEFW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y8geVkVs3I

 

[karsseboom]

Aefw absolutely love milli. I would bet thats what you have.

 

[Jfannin]

Doesn't look anything like that vid. It looks like a very little black flee

I actully still have one that I manage to contain in a small plastics container.
Any one live close to Southern Ohio?

It is actully about the size of the period (.) under the magnify glass and moves really fast. I did have a few of them cought but spilled the container and lost most all of them. So I only have one know.

 

[Jfannin]

ok i was able to get a photo of the one i managed to capture.
told you it was small

 

[Jfannin]

This is the Blue Milli frag when i first noticed something going on. you can see around the base the effected area. i keep and eye on it the rest of the day and then went to sleep. the next morning all that was left was a very small peace about the size a pencil eraser. thats the part i refragged.

 

[Jfannin]

Well after the extreme dips in atemp to save the two effected frags they belive it or not they have servived and appear to be pest free since my last post. WOOT WOOT know I have to get them both looking healthy again. I have to say that the ORA Red Milli took the dips the hardest. I'll try to post photos soon.

 

[john rochon]

maybe your just loosing the coral to RTN and what your seeing is small
pods eating the dead flesh.

 

[Jfannin]

Yah not pods for sure. It's kninda hard to explane them. I still have one captured I belive. couldn't see it being alive after this long. I forgot to buy a microscope do to LIFE but I might still do that just for ID sake. But yah almost 100% not pods.

 

[Jfannin]

Plus one thing I did that I fill helped eradicate the pest was dip them at night. I noticed that the frags was always worse looking after a night had pasted. so I started pulling the frags for a dip/turkey blast at night and always noticed the black bugs crawling around in the container afterwords. When I would dip during the day pretty much nothing. I also noticed that with each dip/blast their was less and less bugs but also the frag was being eaten slower and slower. I guess do to less bugs/pest.

 

[hollback]

maybe your just loosing the coral to RTN and what your seeing is small pods eating the dead flesh.

I agree. I believe you are seeing small ispopods, which are fast moving. Especially since you said they are shaped like a potato bug. They are just eating dead flesh. You are only stressing your coral more by dipping it to remove something that is just cleaning off dead tissue.

 

[Jfannin]

IDK maybe I guess. Hard to rule STN i guess. I'm going to have to get a micro scope. I might be able to have one of the girls in the lab at work break out a microscope for me.

 

[hollback]

It looks more like STN to me. They way the tissue is remaining in the coralites seems more like STN from water chemistry than parasites.