SaltLife May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 Just discovered several red bugs all over my new acropora. It has been in my tank for 2 weeks now and never saw this until now. Looks great and is growing but from my little understanding these bugs are not good. I have read about an interceptor dip that should rid these bugs but have no experience with it. Does anyone have any experience with this dip? Would you recommend another? Also should I treat the whole tank now since if it is on one could be on more, or just take the few acropora frags that i have out and treat them separately from the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 I would let who ever you got the coral from know that you might have gotten the pest from them so they can check their tanks. Interceptor is hard to find now, I think they stopped making it. Many people are using the Bayer product now. Remember to always dip all new corals and QT if you can. See this thread for dipping directions. http://wamas.org/for...aquarium-pests/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 Just discovered several red bugs all over my new acropora. It has been in my tank for 2 weeks now and never saw this until now. Looks great and is growing but from my little understanding these bugs are not good. I have read about an interceptor dip that should rid these bugs but have no experience with it. Does anyone have any experience with this dip? Would you recommend another? Also should I treat the whole tank now since if it is on one could be on more, or just take the few acropora frags that i have out and treat them separately from the tank? The tank will need to be treated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 What would you treat the whole tank with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 What would you treat the whole tank with? I should have been more specific. IF the OP has Interceptor, treat tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 Use the bayer method (its a pesticide), its more efficient than interceptor (in my experience) and it only takes minutes instead of hours... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 Use the bayer method (its a pesticide), its more efficient than interceptor (in my experience) and it only takes minutes instead of hours... Bayer can not be used in-tank, should only be used as a dip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltLife May 5, 2013 Author Share May 5, 2013 Bayer can not be used in-tank, should only be used as a dip. what would you recommend to treat the tank given interceptor is so hard to find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Share May 5, 2013 what would you recommend to treat the tank given interceptor is so hard to find? Try to locate Interceptor Spectrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Before any full tank treatment, be aware of the side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltLife May 6, 2013 Author Share May 6, 2013 Any tips and advice would be very helpful. If anyone here has does there entire tank please tell me how you did it. The thread posted here on wamas tells how to do it as a dip but not the full tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltLife May 6, 2013 Author Share May 6, 2013 Before any full tank treatment, be aware of the side effects. Please explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Treatment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 I have read that Sentinal Tabs contains the main ingredient which was in Interceptor. Some people have started using it for whole tank treatments. There might be some online store that still carries Interceptor but it has not been made for about a year now so it would be old stock. These whole tank treatments will also wipe out pod populations in your tank so if you have something like mandarins which feed on pods you will need to supply them extra food. As soon as the tank is treated try to repopulate the good pods. It can kill shrimp and hermits so remove them before treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Interceptor Spectrum is available online. It contains MILBEMYCIN OXIME & PRAZIQUANTEL. As Coral Hind described above, be prepared to introduce micro fauna. Note that Spectrum has Prazi, so if you have flukes, it will treat that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Interceptor Spectrum is available online. It contains MILBEMYCIN OXIME & PRAZIQUANTEL. As Coral Hind described above, be prepared to introduce micro fauna. Note that Spectrum has Prazi, so if you have flukes, it will treat that as well. Hah. I googled it and it seems like online it's in the form of "Tasty Chews" for dogs. Wonder if it's hard to get the active ingredient dissolved into some tank water and out of the "tasty chew" and if any of the fish would like the fake meat flavor that's in those chews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 I think it has been explained above - red bugs are related to other animals that are in the reef environment that we want to have so your balance will be thrown off by an Interceptor treatment. There are some that simply let them stay and add animals that will eat them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Interesting that none of the links show Dustin Dorton's (of ORA) original method. Nor do they mention the fact that in most cases you need more than a single treatment to get all the red bugs. http://www.reefs.org/forums/topic45859.html?sid=3e3dcbf4ec060a7712348a756803dea3 (2004) Some things to remember. 1. The ENTIRE system has to be treated. There could be bugs or bug larvae anywhere in your system. Do not take your refugium offline. Do not turn any part of your filtration off that will trap water. For example, if your skimmer is shut off, but has 1/2 gallon of water in it, that water needs to be treated! 2. You will probably kill off a lot of your pods, shrimps and crabs. 3. This medication has not been tested for very long. The bugs might come back. Like anything you put in your tank it could be toxic a year down the road. 4. The pills are for Large dogs, 50-100lbs. The dose is 25mg/10gal/6hrs. 5. If the treatment is not successful and you still have bugs visible after the 1st treatment, make a slight adjustment to your dose and start over again. This was only necessary in 1 out of 7 systems tested. It was a very old, large and intricate system. 6. I am sure, someone, somewhere will overdose or do something wrong. I am sure that someone will blame a tank crash 6 months down the road on this medication. Remember, no one but yourself is responsible for that!!!!! Quarantine I have not been able to come up with an effective, quick kill dipping strength. Even at 100x strength, the bugs lasted over 30 minutes. The best way to keep them from getting back in your tank is to treat the coral for the full 6 hours, an increased dose seems to be safe for corals. You are only going to be treating your new coral once. If the bug lays its eggs on the corals (no one knows) they could hatch off a week later in your aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 If dosed properly only one treatment is all that is needed. Because they are live bearers there are no eggs to wait out and then kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 I think it has been explained above - red bugs are related to other animals that are in the reef environment that we want to have so your balance will be thrown off by an Interceptor treatment. There are some that simply let them stay and add animals that will eat them up. I suppose it depends how bad the infestation gets. When corals begin to fade and tissue necrosis begins, I would implement a plan of attack. Interesting that none of the links show Dustin Dorton's (of ORA) original method. Nor do they mention the fact that in most cases you need more than a single treatment to get all the red bugs. http://www.reefs.org...2348a756803dea3 (2004) [/background][/size][/font][/color] I had red bugs 8-10 years ago and I used two doses of Interceptor (not spectrum). The first dose worked but I did a second dose for good measure. All pods and most hermit crabs died. My Mandarin fish hated me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 If dosed properly only one treatment is all that is needed. Because they are live bearers there are no eggs to wait out and then kill. You are making the assumption that all of them die in that first treatment. By common medical and veterinary practice, you would never leave an infection treatment after a single dose. If you miss even 1% (that could be hundreds) - you will only delay the next infestation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 If you treat the tank with the proper amount and leave it in for the proper amount of time there can be no survivors, it's simple logic. I have done it to my tanks and nuke friend's tanks over the years and never needed more than one dose. No need to add additional chemicals to your tank if they are not need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wade May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 If you treat the tank with the proper amount and leave it in for the proper amount of time there can be no survivors, it's simple logic. I have done it to my tanks and nuke friend's tanks over the years and never needed more than one dose. No need to add additional chemicals to your tank if they are not need. Sorry, as a toxicologist, I wholeheartedly disagree with you. There is no such thing as "kill them all" guaranteed. Resistance, differential susceptibility differential exposure (some have their heads buried in tissue) and other issues can and will cause you to never reach 100%. It is very likely that a full dose will knock them down enough to limit their expansion (or make predation effective) or possibly even get them all over time, but highly unlikely in the case of a treating a whole tank. Regardless, the appropriate thing to do (ref: Invertebrate Medicine, ed. Greg Lewbart V2) is to treat more than once. It is a hassle. However, it is the most appropriate approach for many reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 I agree, one dose can work. But two is worth it for piece of mind. I did two because unplanned on selling frags and wanted to be sure they were gone. Depending on fish or something natural to eat them I have never seen done though. Heard of pipefish eating them but seeing someone use one to keep red bugs under control I have never seen, nor do I think would work. When I did a interceptor whole tank treatment my pods came back in full force. The treatment killed a lot of them. Within a couple weeks or so the pod population in my sump was crazy. I didn't need to repopulate anything Again this is a great reminder for newer acropora keepers to understand what pests there are and how to treat them. The amount of tanks I have seen that have red bugs is more than I would like for sure... So if you haven't, go check your corals and research the topic. Collecting acropora without knowledge of pests doesn't work out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 6, 2013 Share May 6, 2013 Doesn't Sanjay Joshi leave redbugs in his tank on purpose to show that they aren't a big deal? What does he have that eats them or keeps them from taking over all his SPS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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