digitydash
Active Member
Anyone have any idea what the orange looking things are on my acro?
Please ID Acro Pest
- Thread starter digitydash
- Start date
digitydash
Active Member
It looks like eggs or flat worms.
yosemite sam
Active Member
The dreaded acro 'red bugs'. That's a pretty bad infestation. If left untreated, they can kill all of your acros. They can be a real pain in the butt to treat, but the most effective way involves using a product called interceptor, which is an anti flea medication. It is, however, a prescription medicine, so it can be difficult to get. If you do some searching on this board and on the web, you'll find some info about the treatment. I'm not sure if any other successful treatment methods have been found.
spanko
Active Member
Acropora red bugs
Identification: Acropora Red BugOne of the most recent "pests" who have now become prevalent is a very small crustacean that looks like a mite and appears to prefer most species of Acropora corals. This crustacean is yellow in color with a red dot, approximately 1/2 mm in length, and is very difficult to see without a magnifying glass. It has been theorized that red bugs are either a parasitic form of copepod or micro-amphipod, though very little research has been done and their true identification is not complete at this time.
Symptoms and signs: Red Bugs on Acropora CoralIt has been speculated that the crustacean feeds off of the slime and waste products produced by the Acroporas. If you have an established colony of Acropora sp. that begins losing coloration and stops showing normal polyp extension, take a closer look at the tissue of the coral for any small yellowish/red specks. It is oftentimes easiest to distinguish these pests on the shadowed underside of a branch. An infected colony of Acropora will typically show poor or no polyp extension, and will slowly lose coloration over time. As a result of this infestation, it has been found that the growth rate of the colony is seriously affected, and may even result in death to the coral itself.
It is not clear why these bugs prefer certain species of Acropora over others, nor is it clear why they are not found on other SPS corals such as Montipora, Pocillopora, or Seriatopora.
Treatment: Several methods of treatment - from introducing natural predators to medications - have been tested with various levels of success.
*
Dragonface PipefishIntroduce Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus) to the quarantine or display aquarium. Once the fish are settled in and adjusted to the aquarium conditions, the small pipefish will anchor themselves on the branches of Acropora and begin to feed on tiny crustaceans as well as red bugs.
*
Reef DipDip the Acropora into a concentrated iodine and aquarium water mixture for approximately 15 minutes using a clean plastic container. Lugol's solution is the preferred iodine base for this procedure, along with other commercially available coral dips, such as Reef Dip by Seachem.
*
Interceptor, a prescription drug, is available through our PharmacyThe last method, developed by Dustin Dorton at ORA, involves treating the aquarium or quarantine aquarium with Milbemycin oxime. This chemical is the active ingredient in Interceptor, a heartworm preventive and de-worming medication for dogs only available by prescription from a veterinarian. This medication has been found to directly attack crustaceans, and is the most invasive and risky treatment mentioned thus far because it does not discriminate between pests and other inhabitants like shrimp, amphipods, copepods, and crabs. Since this treatment may cause all crustaceans in your system to perish, it is important to either remove and treat the infected colonies in a separate aquarium, or to remove the crustaceans that you wish to save to a different holding aquarium. Exact guidelines for the dosages and treatment regime are still in the testing phase, yielding positive results, but the long-term ramifications of this new treatment are still not known.
Identification: Acropora Red BugOne of the most recent "pests" who have now become prevalent is a very small crustacean that looks like a mite and appears to prefer most species of Acropora corals. This crustacean is yellow in color with a red dot, approximately 1/2 mm in length, and is very difficult to see without a magnifying glass. It has been theorized that red bugs are either a parasitic form of copepod or micro-amphipod, though very little research has been done and their true identification is not complete at this time.
Symptoms and signs: Red Bugs on Acropora CoralIt has been speculated that the crustacean feeds off of the slime and waste products produced by the Acroporas. If you have an established colony of Acropora sp. that begins losing coloration and stops showing normal polyp extension, take a closer look at the tissue of the coral for any small yellowish/red specks. It is oftentimes easiest to distinguish these pests on the shadowed underside of a branch. An infected colony of Acropora will typically show poor or no polyp extension, and will slowly lose coloration over time. As a result of this infestation, it has been found that the growth rate of the colony is seriously affected, and may even result in death to the coral itself.
It is not clear why these bugs prefer certain species of Acropora over others, nor is it clear why they are not found on other SPS corals such as Montipora, Pocillopora, or Seriatopora.
Treatment: Several methods of treatment - from introducing natural predators to medications - have been tested with various levels of success.
*
Dragonface PipefishIntroduce Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus) to the quarantine or display aquarium. Once the fish are settled in and adjusted to the aquarium conditions, the small pipefish will anchor themselves on the branches of Acropora and begin to feed on tiny crustaceans as well as red bugs.
*
Reef DipDip the Acropora into a concentrated iodine and aquarium water mixture for approximately 15 minutes using a clean plastic container. Lugol's solution is the preferred iodine base for this procedure, along with other commercially available coral dips, such as Reef Dip by Seachem.
*
Interceptor, a prescription drug, is available through our PharmacyThe last method, developed by Dustin Dorton at ORA, involves treating the aquarium or quarantine aquarium with Milbemycin oxime. This chemical is the active ingredient in Interceptor, a heartworm preventive and de-worming medication for dogs only available by prescription from a veterinarian. This medication has been found to directly attack crustaceans, and is the most invasive and risky treatment mentioned thus far because it does not discriminate between pests and other inhabitants like shrimp, amphipods, copepods, and crabs. Since this treatment may cause all crustaceans in your system to perish, it is important to either remove and treat the infected colonies in a separate aquarium, or to remove the crustaceans that you wish to save to a different holding aquarium. Exact guidelines for the dosages and treatment regime are still in the testing phase, yielding positive results, but the long-term ramifications of this new treatment are still not known.
digitydash
Active Member
Good info spanko look like will be going to find a iodine dip tommorow morning then and see what happens.I guess I will start busting my acro's off the rocks and start diping.Will a high salinitydip or a RO dip work with these or is this the only way to kill them?I put a sixline in my tank about a week ago cause I thought I seen some but I guess he can't keep up but he is alot fater then when I got him and I haven't been feeding my tank.
peckhead
Active Member
spanko, that info seems to be old...
lugols will not get rid of red bugs. Interceptor is the only way KNOWN to get rid of red bugs totally. There is alot of info on this on another reef forum. just use google interceptor and red bugs. a six line wouldnt eat them either.
I have heard that interceptor is easy to get now from the vet now and most of them know the deal.
lugols will not get rid of red bugs. Interceptor is the only way KNOWN to get rid of red bugs totally. There is alot of info on this on another reef forum. just use google interceptor and red bugs. a six line wouldnt eat them either.
I have heard that interceptor is easy to get now from the vet now and most of them know the deal.
digitydash
Active Member
Well my vet wouldn't give it to me
I think I am going to switch vet since he can't help me out I will take my money else where next time.
jmick
Active Member
I've had redbugs and treated for them with Interceptor on two different occasions. It's very easy to treat once you get the Interceptor and very effective. The only downside is that you DO have to treat the display and sump or fuge and this treatment did kill all my hermits, shrimp and most of my pods.
Those are without a doubt redbugs.
Those are without a doubt redbugs.
digitydash
Active Member
Well I ordered it from petsmeds online.They emailed me and sayed it was shiped out
.I only have 5 turbo snails and a emerald crab.I probly will never find him though so he will probly be a casulty.He was geting to big anyway.I never have any hermits in my tank.I had one messing with my zoo's then they all came out after that.
C
capschamp
Guest
are inverts that cant handle the interceptor treatment able to be reintroduced after treatment?
digitydash
Active Member
Well my vet denied it
What is the difference between the stuff at petsmart and the interceptor?
digitydash
Active Member
I found some will be fedex to me monday
tangwhispr
Member
There is lots of talk that red bugs don't really hurt anything...def check the other forums for more info.
digitydash
Active Member
Well the one in the pic don't have good polyp extention.I have another one that is a lighter color then it was befor.Also it has not been moved in 5 months so that has nothing to do with coloration problems.
