Red Bugs .. Need some advice ASAP

btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
So today I found red bugs on my SPS

Regardless of dipping corals ahead of time, I still got them.

Anyways, now they're in my system. I'm really hesitant about using interceptor in my whole system. What do you guys recommend?
I'm reading some people leave them, some people dip corals and put them back in the tank (this can't work, can it? The bugs are in the tank), some people buy a sixline wrasse (I hate these guys, but will it work?) Please steer me in the right direction, especially if you've personally had this problem. I've already read the Melev's article on them.
155G DT with 40G sump
170+ lbs of LR
120lbs LS
Stock list:
3 MaldivesLyretail Anthias
3 PJ Cardinals
2 Mandarins
Sailfin Tang
Naso Tang
Black Combtooth Blenny
2 Ocellaris Clowns
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Flame Angelfish
2 Yellow Watchmen Gobies
1 Dragon Goby (Sleeper Banded Bullet)
2 Cleaner Shrimp
2 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Sand Sifting Starfish
Tons of hermits
Tons of snails
Pincushion Urchin
Tons of LPS (definitely dominates the tank) and SPS ... few softies and a Sun Coral
This sucks. QT everything and dip and still get bugs
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
I'm sorry, are you talking about bugs(like coral eating amphipods/spiders) or red flatworms? Probably won't have too much advice either way, but maybe it will provide more info for someone who can!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains
http:///forum/post/3228923
I'm sorry, are you talking about bugs(like coral eating amphipods/spiders) or red flatworms? Probably won't have too much advice either way, but maybe it will provide more info for someone who can!

bugs, not flatworms. They're commonly referred to as "Red Bugs" for SPS owners. They eat acropora. They're scientific name is Tegastes acroporanus.
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Sorry, wish I could help. I would try to pm spanko and Bang guy. According to the list, they are both online now.
Maybe they can give you a good answer. Sorry for your troubles.
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Well, I also searched and found only the answers you described above. I like you don't care for any of them.
I'm wondering if SPS is the only thing these "red bugs" eat. If that were the case, and assuming you have more than one tank, you could pull all your SPS.
Dip them and put them in another tank. Hopefully, after a time the "red bugs" would starve and die.
Just a theory and prob. wouldn't work. Wish someone else would help out here. Especially, since you seem to always be there to help others. Good luck! I'll be tagging along to see what happens!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains
http:///forum/post/3229051
Well, I also searched and found only the answers you described above. I like you don't care for any of them.
I'm wondering if SPS is the only thing these "red bugs" eat. If that were the case, and assuming you have more than one tank, you could pull all your SPS.
Dip them and put them in another tank. Hopefully, after a time the "red bugs" would starve and die.
Just a theory and prob. wouldn't work. Wish someone else would help out here. Especially, since you seem to always be there to help others. Good luck! I'll be tagging along to see what happens!
Yeah, but they need MH's and there's just not an option for the QT I have. If I did them, it won't really do much good, the bugs are IN the tank already and I have 170+lbs of LR. I think I'm going to end up having to use Interceptor in the main tank. UGH, so don't want to put chemicals in my tank!
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Don't blame you there! Do you know how much to use?? Won't it kill all your pods. You may have to restock for your Mandarins!!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains
http:///forum/post/3229084
Don't blame you there! Do you know how much to use?? Won't it kill all your pods. You may have to restock for your Mandarins!!

Yeah, it looks like it'll kill them all and right now I have two baby mandarins, one eats frozen, so not too worried, but the other was almost at the point of starvation when I got him, so I can't risk loosing all my pods and trying to restock at the same time as trying to get his nutrition up.
We're searching the local forums for a cheap used MH for the QT so we can get them out of there. The red bugs will slowly starve to death if there's no acros for them to eat. Just can't find a definitive answer on how long it takes for them to die off.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Here is some information from our friend Eric Borneman. Me thinks you will not have an easy time of getting rid of these pests.
"Suggested Treatment Protocol
Based on my observations and work described here, I suggest the following as a treatment protocol for Acropora colonies that have been colonized by the parasitic copepod, Tegastes acroporanus ("red bugs") as a modification of the novel protocol developed by Dorton. The process is more labor intensive, but should be more effective in preventing any future need to treat Tegastes-parasitized Acropora in the display tank (provided quarantine is utilized for any new coral acquisitions). It should also help to reduce the current epizootic within reef aquaria by limiting the potential for spread between tanks by trading or purchase of Tegastes-colonized fragments or colonies.
1. Assume that every Acropora in the tank is colonized, even if there are not visible copepods on the colony.
rationale: copepods are cryptic on normally colored colonies, can be cryptic on pale colonies, and are small enough to be easily missed by examination through tank glass or even by direct observation with the

[hr]
eye. Furthermore, the copepods are motile, and swim between colonies. Therefore, any colonies removed for treatment may leave unnoticed indivuiduals on other colonies or allow for copepods that abandon hosts being removed for treatment to locate uncolonized Acropora.
2. All Acropora colonies should be removed from the tank and placed into a container for examination. This can be perfored one colony at a time. A magnifying glass, magnifying lamp, dissecting scope or some other method should be used to slowly and carefully examine each colony from every possible angle. The corals will tolerate extended handling periods out of water to facilitate examination. The copepods will be covered with a smooth and somewhat shny carapace and with coral mucus and a thin film of water. Without examination from multiple light incidence angles, it is possible that individuals will go undetected. If a colony is too large or too densely branched to allow for a complete examination, consider it to be colonized. Any colonies that are determing to be free of copepods can be placed into a quarantine tank without treatment, but I would suggest reexamination prior to reintroduction to the main display tank.
rationale: Examination by the

[hr]
eye is insuficient to detect all copepods.
3. All Acropora colonies found to have copepods present should be treated in a treatment tank or container where dose levels and colonies can be carefully monitored. The treatment tank can be large or small, and can be used to treat many colonies at once or one at a time. The water should be circulating strongly across colonies to not only for drug exposure but to help dislodge dead copepods. Following treatment, each colony should be re-examined in water under magnification to ensure 100% kill rates. Copepods still attached to the coral can be probed with a needle, pin, pipette or syringe and removed from the colony. If copepods are found to still exhibit any motion, retreatment should occur immediately.
rationale: treatment in the tank should be avoided for several reasons: a) it will be impossible to assess whether or not a 100% kill rate has been achieved; b) in tank treatment will result in mass loss of other suscpetible species including amphipods, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, polychaetes, nematodes, copepods, and possibly other invertebrates which have not been tested for toxicity to the drug ; and c) repeated treatments can result in resistance making future treatments more difficult.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
4. Treatment dosage appears to flexible, if not variable. Given the apparent low toxicity to corals even at elevated dosages, I would suggest a dose level equal or higher (up to 10x) than suggested by Dorton. Dorton suggestes three separate treatments of six hours. Upon examination of treated colonies, six hours appears to be insufficient for a 100% kill rate, while 12 hours seems to be more effective. In the one test where coral mortality was observed, the treatment time was only six hours, and in all other tests, no ill effects to the coral were seen with extended treatment times. It appears that time, and not dosage level, is the critical variable towards providing 100% kill rates for the copepods. Regardless of the dose or treatment duration, all colonies should be carefully examined before they are removed from treatment. For colonies being treated that are too large or densely branched to allow for examination, the treatment should be continued for 24 hours with careful monitoring to ensure that the colonies are enduring the treatment well and that the water does not become fouled from excessive mucus production, other fauna killed during treatment, or other stressors. If these conditions occur, treatment tank water should be dumped into buckets, sterilized by the addition of bleach to the water, and disposed down a sanitary sewage line. The treatment tank should then be refilled with tank water and new drug added to the water.
5. All treated corals and completely free of Tegastes acroporanus, as well as those examined and found to be uncolonized (#2 above), should be placed into a quarantine tank filled with tank water filtered through a coffee filter or other filtration apparatus. The quarantine tank should have filtration, water flow and light sufficient to keep treated colonies alive for five days.
6. No Acropora should remain in or be placed back into the main display tank for five days. This is the longest period of time it has taken for any Tegastes acroporanus to survive without a host from observations to date. This assumes that there are no other surrogate hosts for this species, and that the observations of death from 3-5 days without a host are realistic of what would occur in a display tank.
rationale: It is possible, even likely, that during the removal of colonized Acropora, some copepods swim off the colony into the tank. They will seek out other hosts. It is also possible that some are in the tank at any moment seeking new hosts, even without the process of colony removal. As far as can be ascertained, they are direct developers and thus do not have a free-swimming larval stage and they do not lay eggs on the host or substrates that can later hatch. However, they can live without a host for several days. Ensuring that any copepods left in the tank after removal of hosts die requires, at my best estimate, 3-5 days. I suggest five days to be conserative.
7. After five days, colonies in quarantine should be re-examined under magnification and if found to be free of copepods, can be returned to the display tank. If copepods are found on any colonies, repeat steps 3-7."
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Thanks so much for the info Spanko.
I know I'm going to have an uphill battle ahead of me with these guys. We might just remove all the SPS and keep them in a new tank, treat that tank and let the red bugs starve in this tank. Leave this one w/o SPS and have one tank devoted to SPS. This way we can treat that tank and not worry about the main display. Just one more reason why I hate SPS
 
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shrimpy brains

Guest
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3231343
Well, to explain it simply:

It's a nightmare
That sucks! Been thinking of diving into the sps world. Think I'll hold off for a bit, as I have enough issues with critters right now and this thread has me skeered!!

Hope things get better for you quickly!!
 
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