Red bugs

EmilyB · #1 01-16-2006, 05:50 AM

Someone got a frag from me at the meeting and I guess it has red bugs. I've never had any coral problems so I wouldn't know, nor can I see any.

Those who bought my frags, sorry, I didn't know, you should find out how to deal with the bugs if you need to, and I won't sell any more frags.

saltynuts · #2 01-16-2006, 02:18 PM

got to hate them little buggers. interceptor is the onlyway i know how to get ride of them.and even then you might have to do it once or twice.
i had to pull all my sps out and put them in a hospital tank so i could treat them.you will have to talk to a vet, or if you know someone with a big dog.
you might beable to get your vet to get ti for you.

danny zubot · #3 01-16-2006, 05:24 PM

What was the frag Deb? I got the pink rim cap and the other pink glossy one. (I can't remember what you called it)

EmilyB · #4 01-16-2006, 06:24 PM

It was the purple acro, but they all came from the same tank Danny.

I'm not going to treat my tank as they are causing me no problems at this point. The frags should be dipped I guess.

BMW Rider · #5 01-16-2006, 07:53 PM

I did a bunch of reading on this topic, and it appears that the bugs are dependant on acros for survival. They apparently die within a week or less when they don't have an acro to live on. Thus, you can pull your acros out and treat them in a seperate tank from your system, then leave them there for at least a week ensuring any left in the main tank will die off.

Treatment is either the Interceptor dosing or using a Lugol's solution dip. Both are apparently effective treatments and are not known to be detrimental to the coral. If you do the Interceptor treatment, there is varying accounts of mortality to other crustation populations in the tank. Some report high mortality of all, while other report little or none. The Lugol's dip method was shown to be a bit harder on the coral if it was all ready weakened by the infestation, but not so much so for a healthy coral. Of course you would have to keep them in a seperate tank until you were certain none remained in the main tank to reinfest as dipping does not treat the whole tank.

Of course the standard disclaimers were always presented with this information. There has not been a significant amount of research on these bugs to make a full determination of their lifecycle and habitat requirements for survival. Likewise, the treatments are not fully researched to account for all variables.

I'm afraid I did not keep track of all the posts I found on the topic, but the best ones were on Reef Central and Reef Frontiers as I recall. One of the best and most credible was by Eric Borenman on Reef Central. If you research those sites you will find a ton of reading.

Samw · #6 01-16-2006, 08:06 PM

I saw red bugs for the first time in the past couple of months. It was on a frag that I bought this year. They did seem to be eating the tissue as I saw tissue missing from a few parts of the Acro and it was getting worse day by day. I just used a turkey baster and blasted them off the Acro over a period of a few days. I haven't seen any red bugs since then. I assume that after they got blasted, they got eaten (as they tried to find their way back to the Acro) or they just couldn't find their way back.

I didn't have many to begin with so it was easy to get rid of my red bug problem. The Acro frag has recovered and the tissue that was gone has regrown.

StirCrazy · #7 01-16-2006, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMW Rider

or using a Lugol's solution dip. .

this one doesn't work, when I got red bug frags I did a dip of 5x the recomended concentration for 20 min and I repeted it two more times.. I still got red bugs.

Steve

BMW Rider · #8 01-16-2006, 09:15 PM

Here is the information on the Lugol's dip written by Eric Borneman on RC in this thread.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=726005

b) Lugol’s solution: We used two high dose Lugol’s dips as a method of dipping to kill copepods. Within about 30 seconds, most copepods had bailed off the corals, and fallen to the bottom of the treatment vessel, rapidly dying and turning black. Several corals maintained attached to the coral but were dead. The dose level was 5m/L and up to ten minutes was tolerated by even highly colonized corals, although the effect on the coral was seriously stressful, resulting in partial bleaching, abnormally increased mucus production, and in a few cases, death. The majority of corals survived and recovered within a week and without any copepods present. The duration of treatment varied from 3-10 minutes, and examination under a dissecting scope was done every minute to assess the status of the parasites. At 10ml/L, copepods died generally within 30 seconds, with some lasting up to 2 minutes. The effects on the corals were more pronounced and resulted in significant mortality, especially at durations from 2-5 minutes. This may be a good “dip” method for minimally colonized corals that can tolerate the high dosage of Lugol’s solution.

AndyL · #9 01-17-2006, 12:01 AM

Deb... I think I speak for most of us when I say:

KEEP ON FRAGGIN! I still want your frags!

Andy

BMW Rider · #10 01-17-2006, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyL

Deb... I think I speak for most of us when I say:

KEEP ON FRAGGIN! I still want your frags!

Andy

Absolutely, this is not an insurmnountable issue. The frags and or corals can be treated to rid them of the bugs. As long as everyone is up front about it, no one should get burnt. Its also a good lesson to all of us on the importance of QT.