Do You Have Red Acro Bugs?

[fishermann]

Thanks Matt, I too have a Mandarin and before I would do anything to Jeproardize him I would just let nature take its course with the corals until they died and the bugs were gone naturally. I am thinking of doing this in a QT type setup as I well be doing as AC says and QTing all my corals from now on. I have always QT'd all my fish since the late 70's and preach it all the time but have been into SPS for only about 2 yrs and never thought to QT them. I to don,t want to kill things off in the main tank including other things that are on the LR.

 

[mattseattle]

James - where did you get your interceptor at? how did you weigh it out to the correct weight?

John - yeah I agree with you on that. I have one acro that is still on it's frag plug so I could remove it and just dip it outside the other. I have one other acro that is firmly planted on a 15 - 20 lb piece of live rock so that would be a little harder to dip.

My green acro has lost some of it's color and polyp extension. I'm not sure though if that is because it was at the bottom of my tank and didn't get the light it needed or what. I moved it up higher in the tank 2 days ago so haven't noticed any changes in it.

I read one thread from Eric Hugo (think that is his name) where he said he did a dip of lugol's. 5 ml per liter of water. 5 - 10 minute dip and it killed the red bugs. So that could be an alternative for us that are able to dip versus entire tank treatment.

 

[Illusion]

Well There is a LFS local that is in touch with a Vet that can Supply us locals with legal prescriptions... I think you guys would be included.. Here is a Link.. Interceptor No promises that he can accomidate but if not www.hoof-and-hound.com As for weighing it I come as close as possible.. As right now I figure 380g per tab... I have about 250g or so... I used 3/4 tab (285 gals worth) but with a pill cutter... The closer you are the better chance you have for the shrimp, crabs, and pods.. I have known people to use whole tabs on 150g for 12hrs without issue only running carbon afterwards.. YMMV though.. I wouldnt try that extreme.. LOL..

To me I would treat the tank... There was a sad incident were one of our locals pulled all the corals and treated seperetly in a QT tank and lost all of them I dont think it was caused by the treatment probably just the stress and uncycled water... The pods will come back.. You can always buy pod kits as well on both ebay and another company I think they are a sponsor of your site... Ocean pods I think... Its not hard and completely harmless to most everything except pods (not all will die), Shrimp (Hit and miss), and Crabs (acro crabs are most always a goner hermits hit and miss) and thats about it..

 

[fishermann]

Matt I read the same article and others, seem the dip thing works sometime and not others. I am thinking of setting up say a 30 gal as a hosp. tank and taking everything including any rocks with infected corals and leaving in the hosp. tank for the duration of the treatment. My only concern is well that rid the main tank of them or are they like ich and some are free floating and won't be on corals when I pull them out and well they go to the other uninfected corals left in the tank. Lots of possibilities are there.

 

[mattseattle]

James - thanks for the information as well as the links. I'm still on the fence about it. I should just go ahead and treat and get it over with!

 

[Illusion]

Yeah I hear ya.. I was on the fence about treating as well Until I heard that Steve Weast treated and I was like WTF not LOL and I havent regretted it since..

James

 

[mattseattle]

good point!! I contacted Ryan Mackey (think that was what was on that post) about buying a few pills. I don't need an entire package since I only have a 60 gallon tank.

 

[Illusion]

yeah that was his post... Its our new local site that I have been working on for a while... LMK if you cant get it from him.. I am sure we can work something out after the holidays as that is when i am getting a spare box to have around for 6hr dips on new corals and such.. For 60g I would use about 1/8 of a pill.. use a pill cutter and keep chopping it in half.. I think 1/8 pill is about 50g so you should be right in there...

James

James

 

[mattseattle]

ok, great! thanks for the offer and information.

I'll keep you posted as well as the forum on my progress and treatment.

 

[fishermann]

James What effect did this have if any on the little feather dusters growing on the rock and the yellow and dark blue sponges that grow on the darker areas of the rock?

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks for putting the links up. Also, if you go to the first post on this thread, a link provided will take you to another thread that contains articles. Matt, in case you didn't know, Eric Hugo = Eric Borneman. I remember reading about the lugol's dip, as well - but it seems that dips sometimes work and sometimes don't work. Some people have found that the strength of dip required to kill some of these guys is strong enough to kill the coral, so that needs to be considered. If you plan on dipping a coral, then why not dip in the Interceptor®? Another point I want to make about Interceptor®, remember this stuff is prescription only....for a reason, and it is important when you ask a veterinarian for this stuff, you carefully explain what it is for.....offer to sign a liability release. If a dog happens along that is heartworm positive and eats some pills, then that could prove fatal.

John - to the best of my knowledge, the only losses will be of the crab and shrimp variety. I am not sure about featherdusters, and pretty confident it won't bother sponges (the mode of action wouldn't effect sponges), but not sure about some different types of microscopic fauna. I would think that any detrimental effects would have been noted by now. Pods for sure can be replenished - as mentioned, a sponsor on the board "Ocean Pods" sells them. Personally, I would order some to replenish to be on the safe side with a mandarin.

 

[Illusion]

No effect what so ever... The did not multiply any more or die off at all... Everything really seems Unaffected... My first of the second set of treatments is over and Everything made it including my 5 Cleaner shrimp... Gotta love it... I checked over all my acros that had bugs prior with my 100x Scope and could not see any more bugs... God I wish my cam could get that close.. LOL... I even noticed a few pods Running around... I have chosen not to do my water change tonight as its late but rather Just run carbon in my Phosban reactor and Call it good... Since I believe RHF said carbon will fully remove it... I know people who have done the same without issue... I wouldnt suggest it but...... If anyone would like photos of the same corals tomorrow feel free to ask... Its not a problem to me... But I will say they will all look the same if not better...

James

 

[mattseattle]

If the shrimp and pods made it through then it sounds pretty harmless.

So the 1st time around what % of water did you change?

 

[Illusion]

I think the first time (3 treatments) I did about 20% water change... Always did atleast a 10% if not 20%... I just took a bunch of corals from a close friend a couple months back knowing that he treated and didnt QT or anything and noticed the bugs on a few corals... I have decided to Dip Everything for 6hrs and inspect very very carefully afterwards from now on... And only pick up corals in "Bulk" to make Treating them easier on me and save on the Interceptor... Most of our group and LFS down here have already treated as well and are Doing the 6hr dips as well... Kinda lucky that way as well... I personally think that once everyone down here saw/heard that Weast treated his tank without any issues that everyone followed in his footsteps... It is really harmless for the most part... I have anemones, Sps, softies, Lps, clams (all species except hippo) and everything acts like nothing has even entered the water column during the entire treatment... The shrimps and hermits act stoned but a while after the carbon starts going they seem to return back to normal... ORA, Etropicals, Reefarmers,TCN and Several other HUGE companies have treated their tanks as well... That should also Reassure you that its relatively safe for the system as far as we can tell so far... My acros look better right after and continue to look better week by week after the treatment thats all I can say..

James

 

[mattseattle]

thanks for all the help. I'm going to call Ryan later and get the dose for my tank. I plan to do it next week to get rid of these things. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[Witfull]

never had em,,,,no twigs in my tank,,,

 

[Illusion]

WEll I figured now would be a better time than anything for me to share... A LFS down here has hooked up with a Vet to get use the Meds at a really really cheap price and LEGALLY!!!... Here is a link to what he posted over on our new site..

http://pnwmas.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=98&sid=addd22ae21b5b705dcfa484eecd50bdf


James

 

[reedman]

I wonder how many people who voted "Never had Red Acro Bugs" have them and don't realize it. I have seen several tanks where people thought they didn't have them, but the actually do.

 

[mattseattle]

ok, I just started the Interceptor treatment on my tank. It's been in for about 45 minutes now. Ugh! what a stressful thing. So far no negatives results. All my fish and shrimp seem like nothing is happening. All my SPS have their polyps still extended. I'll post results later on today after my the treatment is done. Wish me luck!

 

[fishermann]

Matt don't worry about it, if you dosed right you won't even notice any change other then in the corals well perk up in the next couple weeks. Its been 2wks on mine now and everything is fine and the acros, even ones that I couldn't see bugs on are looking much better and I can't believe the difference in the ones that I could see bugs on. I only basically treated once and am going to let it ride and see if I get any back. It has been 2 wks and you would think if their was a life cycle to these things they would have showed up by now, so am keeping my fingers crossed. I did not do a water change for one week after though, but did add carbon and polypads and turned the skimmer on. I did a 10% water change one wk later and then went to my weekly 5gal. change. If u dosed rite u have nothing to worry about. Go get'em.