Killing Acro red bugs?
 

I recently recieved some stunning corals from a fellow Canreefer (you know who you are, thanks a bunch!:biggrin:) Only problem was they were infected with the infamous red acro bugs, I did a little research reguarding killing the little buggers off without killing the coral itself, after discussing the matter with the local vet (and explaining what it was all about) and reviewing the trials using Advantage for treating dogs, we decided to give Milbemax a try (heart worm med. for kittens) the only difference we could find was that the effective ingredient (Milbemycin Oxime) was a lower dose (4mg as opposed to the 24mg in Advantage). Milbemax also contains 10mg Praziquantel (primary ingredient in PraziPro (Hikari) fish medication) which works by increasing the permeability of the membranes of the parasite which in turn allows the Milbemycin Oxime to work more effectivly (in theory). I dosed the 30 gal quarantine tank with 1/2 of one pill (pulverized and disolved into tank water)yesterday at 1:00pm, by 5:00pm last night there was no visible signs of live red bugs on any of the corals (you could clearly see hundreds of dead ones floating in the current) and today all corals are displaying good color and amazing polyp extension. I plan on a repeat treatment every five days for three treatments total to ensure complete kill off before placing into the main display, I will keep all posted as to the final results.

I am glad that this treatment worked for you. Will be waiting to hear the follow up

Just curious why you chose to not use Interceptor?

This stuff was cheaper and available without having to order. It was worth a try and appears to have worked very effectively.

good enough reasons :) Any mortalities in anything else? Pods?

There was a couple dead pods floating around the quarantine but I am unsure if they were alive before treatment or not, I don't like to put anything in the main display unless absolutely necessary. So far I am happy with the results, time will tell.

Oh, so you're only treating the new stuff? Typically I use a concentrated interceptor dip for 4 hours, then inspect with a microscope. So far that's worked well for me. Not sure you need 3 treatments in Q tank, but I guess it can't hurt. (we hope)

From what I've read, only 1 treatment or dip with interceptor is necessary since red bugs are live bearers and there is no egg stage to worry about.

When the interceptor treatment was first pioneered several years ago, very little was known about red bugs and the multiple treatments were put in place only as a way to deal with the possibility of more red bugs emerging from eggs resistant to mibemycin oxime. Since you are using a new type of medication to treat your QT tank, it probably wouldn't hurt to dose again to be sure that you wiped out all of the red bugs.

I am only doing the repeated treatments as a precaution I really do not want to have to treat the display "prevention is the best cure" I am hoping the Praziquantel makes it that much more effective. The corals look very good and I noticed there are small sand stars still alive, I can no longer see any red bugs on the corals so I will watch carefully for the next few days.

Bugggggsssssss i hate them
 

WELL I WISH MY PROBLEM WAS AS EASY AS YOURS. MY HAS INFESTED MY MAIN TANK AND ITS 300G COMBINED. AND DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO. I CALLED MANY VETS AND WONT PRESCRIBE ME THE INTERCEPTOR PILL. I AM RUNNING OUT OF TIME. I JUST LOST ABOUT $200 WORTH OF ACROS. AND ITS CLIMBING. DOES ANY ONE WANT HAVE INTERCEPTOR PILL? I AM IN NEED OF THEM. TELL ME THE PRICE AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF IT. I DONT HAVE A DOG AND NO CATS TO TAKE TO THE VET SO I AM IN A WHOLE HERE.:mad::mad::mad: help please........