Discovered some Red Bugs in my SPS tank

[jcarman81]

Today I discovered I have a Red Bug problem in my SPS tank. For the past few days the corals have been looking weak. I took a good close look today and I saw the little buggers crawling over my corals.

 

I have a few questions prior to jumping in and overreacting to the situation.

 

1. Do the Red Bugs only affect Acros? I have both Monti's and Acros in the tank.

 

2. Should I treat all coral in my tank?

 

3. I have a bottle of Revive laying around. Is this a good treatment to use, or is there something better/ more effective?

 

4. I don't have a QT tank so I will have to run treatments in my 5 gallon WC buckets. What dosing is recommended, and how long should the dip last?

 

5. How often do you rinse and repeat?

 

I appreciate any help. There is a lot of information on the internet, but it's also a bit dated (based on posting dates). I want to make sure to take care of it correctly without blowing up my system.

Thanks!

[Jaden1592]

Sorry to hear what is happening. I can only help with the revive aspect. I advise submerging entire coral in revive solution then I would dip it in clean saltwater before putting it back in the tank.

 

I would suggest treating everything and scrubbing the rock in outside tank water. I cano nly say the dosing on the bottle is way to go and add an air stone

[jedimasterben]

If you're planning on only dipping, you will not want to use anything other than 'Bayer Advanced with Germ Killer'. Revive and iodine and such will not affect red bugs. Make up a batch and under no circumstances leave a coral in for more than five minutes. Three minutes is enough. It will kill anything and everything that isn't the coral.

 

You'll need to dip everything, pretty much, but it will kill all life on your rock and stuff, so I would just do the coral and keep an eye on it.

 

Dragonface pipefish are known to eat red bugs, but if you have an infestation, they more than likely will not take care of the issue.

 

If it were me, I'd dip all the coral AND get a couple/few pipefish (depending on how large the tank is).

[gulfsurfer101]

You can use bayer total insect killer in your buckets. The recomended dosage is 5 to 10ml per gallon them heavy rinsing before adding them back into the tank. I've had luck with this one dip quick shot stuff for montipora nudi's.

http://www.coralrx.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=51

[llama roadkill]

If you're planning on only dipping, you will not want to use anything other than 'Bayer Advanced with Germ Killer'. Revive and iodine and such will not affect red bugs. Make up a batch and under no circumstances leave a coral in for more than five minutes. Three minutes is enough. It will kill anything and everything that isn't the coral.

 

You'll need to dip everything, pretty much, but it will kill all life on your rock and stuff, so I would just do the coral and keep an eye on it.

 

Dragonface pipefish are known to eat red bugs, but if you have an infestation, they more than likely will not take care of the issue.

 

If it were me, I'd dip all the coral AND get a couple/few pipefish (depending on how large the tank is).

 

If I'm right it's a standard 29 gallon...

 

Is it good to have a Dragonface Pipe in an SPS tank to prevent that, or should you just buy one if you get an infestation to help? I kind of want one in my 40B, but I'm not sure if its big enough.

[jedimasterben]

Why wouldn't it be big enough? Have you ever seen a pipefish before?

[jcarman81]

If you're planning on only dipping, you will not want to use anything other than 'Bayer Advanced with Germ Killer'. Revive and iodine and such will not affect red bugs. Make up a batch and under no circumstances leave a coral in for more than five minutes. Three minutes is enough. It will kill anything and everything that isn't the coral.

 

You'll need to dip everything, pretty much, but it will kill all life on your rock and stuff, so I would just do the coral and keep an eye on it.

 

Dragonface pipefish are known to eat red bugs, but if you have an infestation, they more than likely will not take care of the issue.

 

If it were me, I'd dip all the coral AND get a couple/few pipefish (depending on how large the tank is).

I've got a BC29, a Blue Damsel and a 6-line Wrasse. I'm not sure the tank would be compatible with the dragonface pipefish. I've also read that they are an "expert" level fish. Are they really that hard to care for?

You can use bayer total insect killer in your buckets. The recomended dosage is 5 to 10ml per gallon them heavy rinsing before adding them back into the tank. I've had luck with this one dip quick shot stuff for montipora nudi's. http://www.coralrx.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43&Itemid=51

I will look into the Bayer dip. My only concern is that it is hazardous for humans to touch, wouldn't that pretty much melt the coral? My collection isn't that pricey, but I'm nervous about nuking it.

[llama roadkill]

Why wouldn't it be big enough? Have you ever seen a pipefish before?

 

I just know they get long, didnt know if it would have enough horizontal swim room.

[jedimasterben]

I've got a BC29, a Blue Damsel and a 6-line Wrasse. I'm not sure the tank would be compatible with the dragonface pipefish. I've also read that they are an "expert" level fish. Are they really that hard to care for?

The pipes are simple. Give them a source of food (pods, small benthic life [aka red bugs]) and they'll be fine. People make them out like they can't swim like dwarf seahorses. Most pipefish live on and among the reef crest and are excellent swimmers.

 

I will look into the Bayer dip. My only concern is that it is hazardous for humans to touch, wouldn't that pretty much melt the coral? My collection isn't that pricey, but I'm nervous about nuking it.

Nope, all corals are fine as long as you do not leave them in for more than five minutes. Concentration doesn't appear to matter all that much, it kills indiscriminately, except for higher organisms (the corals).

 

I just know they get long, didnt know if it would have enough horizontal swim room.

... dragonface pipes don't even swim.

[llama roadkill]

... dragonface pipes don't even swim.

 

I know that, but I know they need room to creep along. Sorry for the confusion.

[gulfsurfer101]

A pipe in a 40 would be nice. I once kept one in my 12g aquapod for nearly a year which I understand was it's life expantacy. Who knows how old it was when I got it as it was full grown. My rock was very established though with lots of macro and little tiny porous places he could stick his filthy little trout in and munch out on. Always active and kinda resembled a humming bird the way he'd flutter about. If your looking at dipping which I would do, if try that one shot stuff first and use the Bayer as a last alternative. That's what I used to get rid of monti eating nudi's and if you ever had them then you know they are serious business.

[Arkayology]

Sucks to hear about the red bugs. Try the Bayer dip or get some interceptor.

[jcarman81]

Sucks to hear about the red bugs. Try the Bayer dip or get some interceptor.

I stopped by the LFS to double-check everything and they told me that they use Bayer as a standard for a dip on all corals. Hearing this made me feel a lot better. I'll be dipping my corals tonight. I appreciate everyone's help!

[MikeTR]

one dip isn't enough.. you'll need to repeat it weekly for 3 weeks. In tank treatment with interceptor (now called Sentinel) is 3 treatments 1 week apart.

or maybe it's called spectrum.. ehrmm

[Arkayology]

one dip isn't enough.. you'll need to repeat it weekly for 3 weeks. In tank treatment with interceptor (now called Sentinel) is 3 treatments 1 week apart.

 

or maybe it's called spectrum.. ehrmm

It is called sentinel. There is a thread on it on RC with people using it with success http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2312681

[MikeTR]

It is called sentinel. There is a thread on it on RC with people using it with success http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2312681

Actually both are right.. however I found and just ordered the Interceptor Spectrum (which is Milbemycin/Praziquantel) online without a script. I know prazi is reef safe, i've dosed it before.

 

http://www.bestpricepets.com/categories/Dog-Supplies/Heartworm-Prevention/Interceptor-Spectrum/

[jcarman81]

Well, I'm currently in the middle of the Bayer dip. It came highly recommended from my LFS. These guys are the local SW specialists and gave me their formula. I'm hoping it works.

 

10mL/ .05 cups of water. Soak for 10 mins, rinse and return to tank. Just a few minutes left of the dip, then the rinse begins.

 

I called the local vet and they seemed dumbfounded that I would use a heartworm med for a pesticide. Of course, how many vets in central Ohio get calls about aquarium pests.

 

If this doesn't work I'll press harder for the Sentinel. We have a pair of dogs, so it wouldn't be out of the question for me to ask anyway.

 

Fingers crossed...

[jcarman81]

Tonight I completed the dip and I've got so say I'm pretty impressed with the results.

Items Needed:
- Bayer Complete Insect Killer (found in any local hardware store)
- 5 gallons of salt water
- 3 5 gallon buckets
- frag rack

The Process:
1. Grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and clearly marked it as my pesticide bucket. Any container will do, but I would recommend it to only be use for dips in the future.

2. I measured out 30 cups of freshly mixed salt water. You can use tank water, but I had the mixed water on hand. The reason for 30 was to make sure my coral frags would be completely covered by water when I lowered them into the bucket. All of my corals were placed on a frag rack for ease of use.

3. The mix ratio is 10mL of Bayer Complete Insect Killer to .5 cups of water. I had a turkey injector that had 1fl.oz increments. It happened to work out that approximately 2fl.oz of Bayer is the exact measurement for 30 cups of SW. I extracted the Bayer Complete Insect Killer from the bottle and sprayed it into my water. I put on rubber gloves and mixed everything by hand.

4. Once I had the mixture ready I removed all of my frags from the tank and placed them on my frag rack. After everything was loaded up, I set my timer for 10 minutes. I then placed the frag rack w/ frags into the solution.

5. While waiting for the dip to do it's work, I grabbed two other 5 gallon buckets and split my remaining SW mix between the two. After the timer went off I removed the coral frags and placed them into one of the clean water buckets.

6. I removed each frag from the frag rack and shook it in the clean water to remove and residual pesticide and any hitchhikers that were left clinging to my corals. Once I was done rinsing, I placed the freshly cleaned frag into my second clean water bucket. I did this as a redundancy to make sure I was able to clean any residuals from the frags.

7. After about 5 - 10 minutes in the final rinse bucket, I removed the corals and placed them back into my tank.

Observations:
When I removed the corals, I fully expected everything to look like a mess. I was pleasantly surprised that after thoroughly rinsing the corals and placing them back into my tank, they showed little sign of stress. A few of them started to extent their polyps immediately. A couple of the corals that had lost their coloring seemed to have some color returning.

After careful inspection I did see Red Bugs on some of my corals. Luckily, none of them were moving. I will continue to observe the corals for the next few days and I may do a second round of dip this weekend.

[llama roadkill]

Actually both are right.. however I found and just ordered the Interceptor Spectrum (which is Milbemycin/Praziquantel) online without a script. I know prazi is reef safe, i've dosed it before.

 

http://www.bestpricepets.com/categories/Dog-Supplies/Heartworm-Prevention/Interceptor-Spectrum/'>http://www.bestpricepets.com/categories/Dog-Supplies/Heartworm-Prevention/Interceptor-Spectrum/

 

PraziPro as in Coral Safe and Invert Safe?

[jedimasterben]

Somewhat.

[Subsea]

What kills the red bugs in the substrate? Are we talking about planaria, flat worms?

Patrick

[Chadf]

What kills the red bugs in the substrate? Are we talking about planaria, flat worms?

Patrick

 

tegastes acroporanus

[Chris!]

I see you have already done the Bayer dip, but as a FWIW for everyone considering it.... Don't sweat it so much, I have dipped $100+ acro frags, deepwaters, and even a few wild pieces and have lost 0 pieces due to anything dip related. I switched from Revive after losing several pieces in a dip session and getting tired of the constant color loss after dips! Bayer FTW!

[MikeTR]

Revive didn't work for me... at double dose and using a baster it did get the frag clean but caused color loss and they're still back after multiple dips.

wish we knew if these little bastages were egg layers or not.

[Subsea]

Even if they are not egg layers, some will survive a dip. Also, what about the population in the rest of the tank? What stops these parasitic copepods from reinfesting the dipped rock?

Patrick