My day just keeps getting better...........red bugs SOB

zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
Well my return pump (mag) went out this morning and I ordered a $120 eheim pump to replace it. This afternoon I took some pictures of my Larry Jackson purple monster frag and when I zoomed in I noticed it has red bugs which means I have to get some interceptor to dose the tank. Its gonna be fun trying to explain to the vet why I need a cat/dog flea/tick pill for my reef tank. Heres some pics for those of you that don't know what they look like. They are VERY small and I probably wouldn't have seen them if I didn't have a nikon with 5mp and 8x optical zoom.
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
one with actinic only
here's the kicker, I've only got ONE acro which is supposedly the only SPS that the bugs like so I guess I got it from that one guy that I got the frag from, the only other corals I have came from BangGuy and one brain from SWF.com
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member
your the only person to blaim, if your dipping your corals before adding to your tank you wont have this problem.
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
Look like flatworms to me, the bad red flatworms too. You can use a blue velvet nudibrach to get rid of those, but I haven't had much luck with these nudis. I got one on monday and within hours it was gone and no trace where it went. Not sure what happened.
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
that really sucks...i had like 2 bugs on my tort when i got it..but i jsut squashed them lol...and i have seen any more lol....i still might treat my tank though once i get all my corals in
 
wrassie86

wrassie86

Member
Now this is a new one to me,for future refrence how do you use that pill?do you just drop it in the tank and change water in a few days or what?
Also thats a shame that great coral having the bugs.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Here is the closeup of the dreaded Acropora red bug.
Is this the critter?
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
Definately aren't flatworms, I've had clear flatworms and are 20X bigger than these fellas. Thats only about a 3" frag so those things are almost microscopic. Dipping won't help unless as said above if you use interceptor. Definately sucks but I'm glad I only have one $45 frag instead of $5k in acros.
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member

Originally posted by dburr
Dipping don't help, unless you are useing interceptor to dip with.
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I guess I have a super bottle of Kent Tech D...I've always used this to dip frags with red bugs.........never had em...........yet
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
there is an ongoing debate as to if they are really harmful. the "other" board has a few posts about em, i have found that a louygols dip works, i have a green stag that was infected, but i diopped it and i have yet to find any.
but as i stated there is no concete evedence saying these will harm or kill your acros ( at least i have yet to see any concrete evedence) as unpleasent as they may seem, alot of reefers have them.. and like you stated they do onl;y like a few sepecies opf acros. is it possible for you to get this frag out and do a lougols dip?
i will be doing a project for one of my classes and the red bugs will be my focus, if anything comes up, ill let you know
 
jauringer

jauringer

Member
zanemoseley; you should have no problem with the Vet. I just talked to mine yesterday. He was more than happy to give me script. He was actualy pretty interested.
Dipping don't help, unless you are useing interceptor to dip with.
That is incorrect. strong solutions of Lugals will kill the bugs.
there is an ongoing debate as to if they are really harmful. the "other" board has a few posts about em
I don't know how much of a debate there is. No one that I know of has ever reported a coral death directly related to these red bugs, but it is for sure that it decreases polyp ext. and bugs the crap out of the coral . (no pun intended). That can't be good for growth and color. I found this before and after picture on another board. just look at the dif in polyp extension.
 
jauringer

jauringer

Member
well, its not that easy. That will only provide a temporary solution. the entire tank is going to have to be treated. If not ,you will have a reoccurance.
Interceptor seems to be the best way to do that. I have been watching threads on it for a while now. It seems to work wonders and the only thing you will possibly loose is your pod population and a crab or two. I am going to try my first treatment this weekend.
btw: you can just follow the directions on the bottle(lugols). It will be great for new arrivals.
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
I heard that a acro can live with no light for up to a week and the life cycle of the bug without an acro host is only 4-5 days so I figure since I only have the one acro that I could remove it from the rock, lugol dip it and store it in my 10gal QT tank for about 5 days till the rest of the bugs in the tank croak then return the coral to the tank.
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
Where did you here that info? My understanding is their is not a whole lot of info on them. Gestation period is not known either. They may die but what if more eggs hatch?
 
jauringer

jauringer

Member
I agree with dburr. there complete life cycle is not known and the method you just mentioned is only assumed.
 
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