rollrok18 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Ok so my "new tank" that I started a few months ago is ready for coral. I wanted to do an SPS tank, and for some reason I decided to buy a "tester" acro before I bought some expensive things. Nevertheless, i picked up a frag of "northern lights" from a LFS, I did not dip the frag because the owner talks a big game and I have been going there for years and have never had a problem (lesson learned). There is nothing else in my tank and there has not been anything else in my tank since it was started. I noticed a few days ago these little red pods swimming around the acro and disregarded it, I tried to get a pic but I can't. Then I thought oh crap, there's never anything just hanging around acro that's good. And of course, it is red bugs. I pulled the frag and did a dip in pro-coral cure for about 15 min. and returned it to the tank, noticed this AM that there are still a few red bugs on the coral but not as many as there were. Question: I have set up for about $800.00 of frags coming in 9 days to put in the tank. I would hate to just kill the acro in the tank on principle, but it was 20 bucks, and just let the bugs die on their own from lack of host over the next week and not worry about them for the main lot - seems to be the obvious choice as I write this. Or should I treat every other day with the pro-coral cure until the lot of frags gets here and hope everything is dead, if not just do an interceptor run through the tank? Or any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks in advance for your advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Man, sorry to hear that you got red bugs that really stinks. That is a tough call but if it was me and I had $800 of coral coming I would probably opt for the most conservative route, treating the tank with interceptor just to make sure not one of those b*st@rds lived to munch my new corals. The only thing that stinks is if you have other crustaceans in the tank like shrimp you wil probably have to take them out of the tank. Now I have never had red bugs and have not treated for them, but again this is what I would seriously consider with that much coral on the way. Here is an article that explains the treatment http://www.reefs.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=439155#439155%29by Hope this helps and hopefully others will chime in with their experiences having treated for these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 You can also do the Bayer dip on that acro. That'll kill the little guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Bomb that tank with interceptor! I got red bugs about 1.5 years ago from a fellow reefer... back before my stringent QT procedures were adopted. Interceptor took care of it though it did kill my pod population as well but the pods came back eventually... the red bugs did not since I bombed the tank the same week that I put the infected frag in the tank. I haven't seen a red bug since and I have tons of SPS! It works great. The bayer will kill everything on the frag itself but I always worry about the bugs not on the frag at the time I remove it. If it were me, I would set up a QT tank and put all new corals in there when they arrive and treat and monitor for 3-4 weeks for signs of pest. I would remove and toss the northern lights frag and let the tank run "acro fallow" until the new corals have finished the QT process. By then I would imagine that all red bugs and larvae would be dead by then but check their cycle online to make sure. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollrok18 Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 According to Eric Borneman - who seems to be the czar on this subject because every one references him says the life cycle is 3-5 days. So since I don't have anything in the tank, I am thinking it will be safe to remove the infected coral and see if I can put off shipment for another few days to give me 14 days of acro free environment = no more bugs because of the food source. Also, I don't have interceptor I have Sentinel which is Interceptors big brother. It is a combo of Milbemycin oxime and Spinosad. I am in the Vet field and we don't really use interceptor anymore because it is an inferior product at the same price we can get a better product. The spinosad is a chemical used to kill the flea's the Milbemycin kills the heartworms. I am not sure how the spinosad will affect the aquarium? Does anyone have experience? spinosad is a drug that has been around for a long time used in agriculture and still is today to prevent many infestations of our crops. I am willing to run the interceptor treatment as well, I don't have anything in the tank accept a few clowns and a bunch of snails and hermit crabs which I can easily replace if they die, I can try and get as many as I can out into a temp. QT tank; my only issue is every time I set up a temp QT tank the ammonia levels spike like the tank is cycling, maybe I can just use a big bucket with a power head and go get 10lbs of LR from the LFS and make a temp set up that way? How about the lighting on a QT 10 gallons for SPS? how heavy of a light would I need or would a regular hood with PC's work for a few weeks without killing the acros? I would assume it would, I am not going for growth just life sustaining environment. here's a good reference http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23461 also I came across a good article on AEFW http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00338-011-0745-3 one of the only papers of its kind out there it seems...every sps keeper should read it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I wouldn't chance putting more stuff in a potentially infected tank. I would bomb the tank and wait after doing a couple water chances and not noticing anything then introduce the new acros. There are a couple members on here, JepperTy and Bio3, that have QT tanks set up and I would rather put my new corals in their systems during the QT process rather than trying to set one up on the fly. I just don't see how a bucket is going to save $900 worth of acros for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollrok18 Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 When I say bucket I meant to say cube as in a glass cube nano tank....I don't have access to interceptor, just Sentinel so it's going to contain the extra drug in it and I am not sure how that's going to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Any chemical used to kill pests might kill crustaceans from copepods and amphipods up to ornamental shrimp and crabs. Metal like copper can get in the rocks and leach out over time killing crustaceans and other desirables for a long time. I don't know if your chemical falls into that category or if you care about ornamental crustaceans or fish that need pods to survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteorflower Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I successfully treated red bugs in my tank a year or two ago with Interceptor. I was up front with my vet about what I wanted it for, and they wrote me a prescription no problem. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuyatwo Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) Problem you might find is getting interceptor .... From my understanding production of interceptor stopped or was suspended as the plant was closed for inspection for cross contamination and vets have now prescribed an alternative for heartworm Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 15, 2013 by kuyatwo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I was just over in Progresso and they sell all kinds of vet meds. I think I saw interceptor on the shelves but not 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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