Red bugs

[Ruth]

I can't remember where I read it but I think it was on reef.org where lugols just was not effective at killing red bugs. I could be mistaken but it seems to me that the only effective way of getting rid of them is interceptor. Here is a link to the treatment.
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45859

[BMW Rider]

So has anyone in Calgary found a vet they could convince to write the prescription. Also where do you get the prescription filled. I assume the average drugstore won't be the right choice

I will try the Lugol's first, but if that fails I will see about getting the interceptor. Fortunatly I don't need to worry about my main tank, just a frag in QT.

[Ruth]

You actually get it right from the Vet's office - at least up here. I went in and explained what I wanted it for and talked to them a bit about my tanks and they were more than happy to order it for me. I could have gotten 10 boxes is I wanted but only ordered 2. If you have trouble let me know and I will get you one up here or send you a couple of the pills from my stash.
It might not hurt to print out the write up from reef.org if you are going in so they can see your not fluffing them.

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by Ruth

You actually get it right from the Vet's office - at least up here. I went in and explained what I wanted it for and talked to them a bit about my tanks and they were more than happy to order it for me. I could have gotten 10 boxes is I wanted but only ordered 2. If you have trouble let me know and I will get you one up here or send you a couple of the pills from my stash.
It might not hurt to print out the write up from reef.org if you are going in so they can see your not fluffing them.

I've been printing out a ton of info, including the one from Reef.org. I will check with a couple of vets and see if I can convince them to give me the drug.

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

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.

The 7 frags I got from you in July never had a problem and seem to be surviving in my system. This red bug thing must be a fairly recent development.

[BMW Rider]

I got the Interceptor yesterday and treated my qt tank. One hour after the treatment, the bugs appeared to be dead or dying. Many were still attached to the coral but there was no sign of movement other than due to water flow. By this morning there were no longer any bugs attached to the coral, or anywhere to be seen for that matter. I did a 50% waterchange and placed the carbon and filter sponge back in. The coral looks fine as do the little feather dusters and a single aptaisa that is on the frag base (I'll deal with it later, or leave it for my peppermint shrimp to dine on). I am going to keep the frag in QT a few more days to ascertain that there is no return of the bugs.

The tablet that I got was the 2.3mg dose size for dogs 2-10 lbs. Following the reccomendation of Eric Borneman that was posted on Reef Frontiers, I dosed 1/4 of the tablet. This is much higher than the original dossage that was reccomended by Dustin Dorton on reefs.org in the original trials for this treatment. His information was based on treating the main display tank and the doses were conservative to prevent unknown and unwanted effects upon other organisms. Bornemans research showed that the drug was safe at much higher dossages and durations, at least for the corals. Therefore since I was treating this acro specific pest in my 2.5 gallon QT tank, I was able to dose at 4-5 times the dose suggested by Dorton. Borneman found that the treatment at this dose was safe for the coral even after 24 hours. I left the treatment for 18 hours and there appear to be no ill effects on the coral. In fact, the coral appears to be healthier now with the bugs gone. Dorton also reccommended three treatments since the lifecycle of the bugs was unclear at that time. Borneman discovered that the bugs bear their offspring in broods, thus there was no need to retreat since the offspring are killed with the parent. With the higher doe, there was a much higher degree of certainty that there would not be any survivors left after the initial treatment. This was another reason Dorton reccommended multiple treatments at the lower dossage.

This was an easy (once I managed to get the drug) and inexpensive treatment. Thanks to those who dissuaded me from using the Lugol's dip method. I still have 3/4 of the tablet that I got to use later, though I'm not sure on the shelf life of the drug now that the tablet is out of its blister pack. It might be wise to treat all future new acros as a "just in case" measure before introducing them to the display tank. At the very least a careful inspection and qt is in order now that this problem is in our midst.

Deb, if you are able to remove all of your acros to a hospital tank for a week to treat them, I'd highly reccomend it. Bornemans research has shown that in the absence of an Acro host, the bugs will die off in 3-5 days. Thus by treating your acros in a seperate tank for a week, you eliminate them from the coral, and the main tank. He suggests that if your corals are encrusting your live rock, to move those rocks with the coral, or break up the rock to remove the encrusting coral. Once you are rid of the bugs, you can put the corals back in the tank.

Perhaps for easier future refernce, could we create a sticky post on this issue? I'm sure it will come up again.

[kari]

Ed,

How did other stuff like shrimp and crabs handle it? Some have people noted that their shrimp made it thru the treatment.

[Chin_Lee]

Originally Posted by kari

Ed,

How did other stuff like shrimp and crabs handle it? Some have people noted that their shrimp made it thru the treatment.

Kari
after removing all but one of the shirmps, the one shrimp made it through one treatment, then died on the second.

Crabs - acro crabs were all dead after first treatment, other ornamental crabs carcasses were seen several days after the second treatment.

If you want to keep them and if you can remove them, its highly recommended.

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by kari

Ed,

How did other stuff like shrimp and crabs handle it? Some have people noted that their shrimp made it thru the treatment.

I had the coral in a QT tank with just one other new frag. No other critters to wory about losing. There were no acro crabs in them, and had there been, I would have rescued them before treating as they would have certainly perished.

[kari]

Thanks for the notes guys. Wonder if EmilyB noticed me stealing the thread

What a toss up. Save the acros and wipe out the shrimps/crabs/misc 10million benificial little guys or let it ride and replace the acros. Again I'm starting to lean toward acro replacement. Maybe simple joe QT tank for acro is the answer.