Kevin, I have bugs. I am about to upgrade my tank to a larger setup and all SPS have been moved to frag plugs. I was wondering: instead of treating the entire tank can I just dip the corals as I transfer them to their new home?
Red bug removal question
- Thread starter OCDreefer
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kevinpo
Expert
Hello,
Yes you can dip them but I have not found that to be 100% effective for red bugs. It works much better with flatworms. You may also have to leave the tank they were in without corals for a month or so to be sure there aren't any stragglers.
Regards,
Kevin
Yes you can dip them but I have not found that to be 100% effective for red bugs. It works much better with flatworms. You may also have to leave the tank they were in without corals for a month or so to be sure there aren't any stragglers.
Regards,
Kevin
sirfisher
reef tank
Kevin, Is there any way to treat them in the tank with out remove the coral out of the tank?
kevinpo
Expert
Some people have been successful using the drug Interceptor which is a dog dewormer. There is the risk of losing some types of fish and invertebrates with its use.
If you do a search on red bugs you will find the dosage and application methods.
Regards,
Kevin
alki
Well-known member
Get rid of them for sure.
I got a couple frags from someone on here and one had the bugs. I tried a couple times with melafix to kill them but they would always come back. The coral started dying fast a couple weeks ago so I decided to try one more very heavy melafix dip. I dipped like 3-4 times never reusing the mix to try and get them all. Then I moved the frag to a diff tank without any other sps. So far only one tip is still alive but I think I got all the red bugs and it might come back.
Interceptor I have not tried because you will need a prescription from a vet which I dont have and its a major pain, but from what I read def worth killing some pods to get rid of the bugs.
The wierd thing is that I have other sps in the tank, but they only seemed to be one the one frag. Mayb they just couldnt travel across the tank? I dont know maybe they will be all over the other stuff someday.
I got a couple frags from someone on here and one had the bugs. I tried a couple times with melafix to kill them but they would always come back. The coral started dying fast a couple weeks ago so I decided to try one more very heavy melafix dip. I dipped like 3-4 times never reusing the mix to try and get them all. Then I moved the frag to a diff tank without any other sps. So far only one tip is still alive but I think I got all the red bugs and it might come back.
Interceptor I have not tried because you will need a prescription from a vet which I dont have and its a major pain, but from what I read def worth killing some pods to get rid of the bugs.
The wierd thing is that I have other sps in the tank, but they only seemed to be one the one frag. Mayb they just couldnt travel across the tank? I dont know maybe they will be all over the other stuff someday.
sandswhitson
Well-known member
They will be on the other corals as well. They only affect smooth skinned Acroporas. I am getting ready to upgrade and when I do I am going to move all my SPS into a QT tank and treat for about a month with interceptor to make sure ALL red bugs are DEAD!
mike1441
Well-known member
i used his dosage and worked for me
http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html
I dosed with interceptor for 12hrs with my skimmer running with no air injection, it worked and i haven't seen them since. That was pry a year ago. The only thing that was affected was crustaceans, so if you have hermits or shrimp they will die.
alki
Well-known member
Anyone have any xtra interceptor? I tried to use a vet we had for our cat but they said no.
You should be able to ask a friend that has a large dog as its super common for dog owners. The large pills should run you $10 and thats good for 300g if i'm not mistaken. Make sure you research the dosage. Its a very easy treatment. There are no long term affects that anyone knows of yet.....after treatment its wise to do a water change of 20-25% and i'd run carbon. Many people do neither and are fine.
I treated all my corals in an interceptor bath. It did the trick, not more red bugs. Getting the interceptor was the hardest part. I'll sell you a tab for $15 or trade you for something (this is what I paid for it) or go to Bellevue Center of Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Bruce will give you a prescription only Vet that new about it being a treatment for a reef tank (and I called like ten before this one)
If you dose 1/3 of a dose at a time over 3-5 days it seems affect the shrimp alot less I used a little stronger doseage but spread out the doses and left it in the tank for 3-4 weeks or untill my next water change and then just run carbo and this seems to kill all of them along with leaving my cleaner shrimp ,harliquines and some hermits slugish but alive
FreakinReefin
Insert idiot comment
Aww...well you need a prescription on this site as well but at least it's cheaper...
http://www.1800petmeds.com/Interceptor-prod100142.html
http://www.1800petmeds.com/Interceptor-prod100142.html
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sandswhitson
Well-known member
Yeah you can get the pills for cheap. It's the vet visit to get the perscription that drives the cost up.
