Finally Found the RedBugs

[Brian Ward]

OK, so I finally found a coral that I can see redbugs on :( I'm sure this is the cause of my complete lack of polyp extension and probably the death of many of my SPS. I'm trying to figure out how to treat at this point. I spoke with my vet the last time I was there and she said she would have no problem selling me some interceptor - so I can get that. The procedure is what I'm trying to work out.

 

I know the interceptor will kill my crabs and snails - I'm assuming it will also kill all my pods as well? So I should disconnect my fuge prior to treating the tank? Or will that give the redbugs a place to live and reintroduce them when I reconnect it? Will it kill any of the beneficial bacteria in the tank? Will it harm any of the fish?

 

I think I'm going to remove as many of my inverts as I can and treat the whole tank. It's been a while since I bought any snails, crabs, etc. and the populations have definitely dwindled, so I think I can get most of them out. I have a couple of extra tanks, so I can set one up as a holding tank for my inverts: is this the best way to go about it? It seems that this would be easier than trying to pull all my corals and QT and treat those - and I'd be afraid that some of the redbugs would survive in the display if I just QT and treat the corals.

 

How do I treat the tank? What is the dosing - it's a 120 gal display with about 15 - 20 gal in the sump? How many cycles of treatment? How long do I need to wait before reintroducing the inverts? Water changes? Skimmer on or off (I think I read on, but no air)? Carbon?

 

Whatever help you can provide will be of great help. I'm hoping to get comments and suggestions from people that have actually done this as opposed to people that have read about doing it.

[rocko918]

It will kill your pods. Fish will be fine. Turn off your recirc on your skimmer but not the feed pump if you can. I left my fuge connected. I did 2 full pills on a 300 gallon system twice. once a week. I removed the cleaner shrimp and what ever crabs i could

 

this is the best link to treatment.

http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html

Edited September 16, 2009 by rocko918

[steveoutlaw]

Why not try a dragonface pipefish?

[Brian Ward]

Why not try a dragonface pipefish?

 

It will likely starve to death once the redbugs are gone.

[Brian Ward]

It will kill your pods. Fish will be fine. Turn off your recirc on your skimmer but not the feed pump if you can. I left my fuge connected. I did 2 full pills on a 300 gallon system twice. once a week. I removed the cleaner shrimp and what ever crabs i could

 

this is the best link to treatment.

http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html

 

Melev's article sounds like exactly what I was planning. Thanks for the link. I guess I need to sacrifice the pods and repopulate with fresh chaeto once I'm done with the treatment.

 

What about putting the live rock in with the inverts? Could there be redbugs on/in the liverock that will be reintroduced when I add it back to the tank?

[Coral Hind]

I used 1/2 a pill for my 120g. I removed all the hermits, shrimp and snails. I left one skunk cleaner in as I couldn't catch it. At 6am on a Saturday I turned off the skimmer and poured a cup with the dissolved 1/2 pill into the tank. After six hours I did a 40g water change, turned on the skimmer, placed a gallon of fresh carbon into the sump and added a poly-filter pad. All fish and corals were fine. The one shrimp after the six hour treatment was hanging from his over hang by only one leg. It took about two days for it to recover. Treatment was done last December and only done once with no need for any repeats.

Edited September 16, 2009 by Coral Hind

[rocko918]

What about putting the live rock in with the inverts? Could there be redbugs on/in the liverock that will be reintroduced when I add it back to the tank?

 

 

if you going to do that i would just dry out the rock and kill everything off after you put the shrimp and crabs back into the tank. I have no idea if redbugs are on rock, they have to get from 1 coral to another some way. so there might be some.

[Sikryd]

I used 1/2 a pill for my 120g. I removed all the hermits, shrimp and snails. I left one skunk cleaner in as I couldn't catch it. At 6am on a Saturday I turned off the skimmer and poured a cup with the dissolved 1/2 pill into the tank. After six hours I did a 40g water change, turned on the skimmer, placed a gallon of fresh carbon into the sump and added a poly-filter pad. All fish and corals were fine. The one shrimp after the six hour treatment was hanging from his over hang by only one leg. It took about two days for it to recover. Treatment was done last December and only done once with no need for any repeats.

 

+1 I couldn't catch a shrimp or two and they made it. Same with the snails I missed. The hermits I didn't catch didn't fare so well.

 

I was surprised it wasn't that big of a deal. Definitely run it through all your reactors, sump, fuge, skimmer, ect. I turned on my skimmer and reactors @ 6 hours and let it go through them for 3 hours, then rinsed and refilled them and did a water change.

 

I doubt you lost any SPS due to them, but color is night and day.

 

I think a lot more people have them than realize it. I would have never known unless someone pointed them out to me, since my color was awesome. Polyp extension wasn't as good, but I never knew the difference. Growth wasn't all that either. Unless I knew what to look for, or someone pointed it out, I wouldn't have known.

 

After that is when I switched to full QT, and things can still get through.

[Nate]

I am currently on my second week of treating all my sps with interceptor. It will not kill snails so you can leave them in there. The pods should be ok too. I have noticed a decline in the pod population but I still have quite a bit crawling around. I am following Melev's directions and everything seems to be going smoothly.

[Jon Lazar]

What about putting the live rock in with the inverts? Could there be redbugs on/in the liverock that will be reintroduced when I add it back to the tank?

 

 

Leave the LR in the DT when you do the treatment. RB live on the corals, but there may be RB that just happen to be on the rock.

 

Good luck!

 

Jon

[Brian Ward]

Leave the LR in the DT when you do the treatment. RB live on the corals, but there may be RB that just happen to be on the rock.

 

Good luck!

 

Jon

 

OK, that's what I thought. Melev talked about pulling some rock to put in with the inverts, but I'll just do some PVC so the shrimp can hide.

[Coral Hind]

I am currently on my second week of treating all my sps with interceptor. It will not kill snails so you can leave them in there. The pods should be ok too. I have noticed a decline in the pod population but I still have quite a bit crawling around. I am following Melev's directions and everything seems to be going smoothly.

 

Did you find red bugs after the first treatment? How much did you dose? Since they are live bearers one good dose is all that should be needed.

[DDiver]

imo if u nuked the whole tank and u still have pods, it is very likely some redbugs survived...and if u had pods survive that means u didn't use enough interceptor...

[Brian Ward]

imo if u nuked the whole tank and u still have pods, it is very likely some redbugs survived...and if u had pods survive that means u didn't use enough interceptor...

 

That's my logic as well. The red bugs and pods are similar size as compared to a shrimp. I can see a shrimp making it, but I would definitely want to see that I killed all the pods in order to feel comfortable that I got all the red bugs.

[Nate]

I received one tablet of the 23mg Milbemycin Oxime (51-100 lb dogs or 12.1-25 lb cats) which according to Melev, should be good for 400 gallons. The system I am treating is 120 total gallons. So I crushed the pill and split it into thirds. Started my first following Melev's dirrections, 6 hours of treatment, then a 30 gallon water change followed by carbon.

 

Did you find red bugs after the first treatment? How much did you dose? Since they are live bearers one good dose is all that should be needed.

 

After a week of treatment, I did a thorough investigation of the corals that had the worst outbreaks and saw not one red bug. But I am playing it safe and going the full 3 weeks.

 

 

imo if u nuked the whole tank and u still have pods, it is very likely some redbugs survived...and if u had pods survive that means u didn't use enough interceptor...

 

I don't know what to say. I followed Melev's directions very closely and used more than was needed. Each does has about 133 gallons worth of interceptor. Still have some pods but no sign of red bugs. I will be doing my 3rd treatment on saturday.

[Coral Hind]

Nate, Thanks for sharing your experience. It sounds like the red bugs are more sensitive to the medication then the good pods. Dosage amounts might be able to be reduced some.

[ctenophore]

I have found that a one pill per 300 gal dose has been enough to kill all redbugs but not all pods. My cleaner shrimp survived, but none of my emerald crabs and about half of my hermits, mostly the larger ones. I just use one dose.

[Brian Ward]

Next question ....

 

I can't find interceptor (milbemycin) in regular pill form - only in flavor tabs. Has anyone used these? Or does someone know of a pharmacy that stocks the non-flavor tabs? Will the flavor do anything bad to the water?

[Coral Hind]

I used the flavor tabs with no issues.

[Fazio92]

Can anyone recommend a Vet that I could get interceptor from for my redbug infestation? The SPS are stressing and i need to take care of this quick. Thanks