Tank closed**RED BUGS**

[Reefer Rob]

Don't feel too bad Jason, Red Bugs are everywhere. Basically if you haven't treated for Red Bugs in the past you probably have them. I have no problem buying acros from you with or without Red Bugs. 12 hours of Interceptor treatment and they're toast. I've never treated my whole tank, but my wife's cousin just did it a couple of days ago, he says so far no problems. I think having a very large water change for 12 hours after the treatment is key. There's a possibility of a large die-off of unseen critters from the treatment. On the plus side you won't have anymore hitch-hiker crabs

[marie]

Originally Posted by Tom R

Hi Jason

I had Jack over the other night and he says I have Red Bugs in my tank. I can not see them but if Jack says I have them then I probably have them. Let me know what you plan to do to get rid of them. I will likely do the same.

Tom R

Tom After I read this, this morning I went and checked the frags I got from you and sure enough I saw a couple of them. I knew better but put them in the tank anyway. I guess I'm treating my tank this weekend

[Tom R]

Originally Posted by marie

Tom After I read this, this morning I went and checked the frags I got from you and sure enough I saw a couple of them.

Hi Marie

I am sorry if I brought you the red bugs.

Hope everything else is fine. The frags I got from you are doing great. The small piece with the green clover separated from the rock I glued it to. The clover pieces disappeared under the rock never to be seen again. I did enjoy our weekend of talking tanks. See you soon.

Tom R

[marie]

I have never had any luck gluing clove polyps either I usually use sewing thread to tie them to the rock luckily they do attach fast

Originally Posted by Tom R

Hi Marie

I am sorry if I brought you the red bugs

Tom R

I knew better, but I used my last interceptor on the dog instead of saving it for dipping incoming frags

[Chaloupa]

Jason...Melev (Marc) recommends doing the whole tank; I did it...it's easy, and there were no adverse affects...I'd do it again if I had to but I did learn my lesson and treat my corals in a Q tank....I do the entire 3x treatment though....not just a 12 hour because I don't want to have them again! There are several reefers here that have done an entire reef treatment....I did treat with a higher dose than recommended just because it was easy!

How to treat your entire reef with Interceptor (by Melev)


After a few months, I observed red bugs in my 280g reef and decided I needed to do something about it. I talked with a few local hobbyists and felt that I had a safe plan of action.
One (large) tablet of Interceptor should treat 400g of water. I removed all the hermit crabs and shrimp I could find in my reef, putting them in a safe tank separate from my reef. They had circulation, a heater and were topped off daily to maintain salinity while in quarantine for their safety. I had live rock in their tank as well so they had something to pick food from as well as places to hide.
I crushed up one pill until it was dust, and mixed it in a cup of tank water. I stirred it for several minutes until it was fully dissolved. I've read that you can heat up the water in a microwave to speed this process up, but found that unnecessary. I removed the venturi tubing leading to the skimmer's pumps so that no air was being injected into the body of the Euro-Reef 12-2. The medicine should travel through all the water, including in any equipment such as skimmers and calcium reactors. I also turned off the two Phosban Reactors I had running (one with PO4 remover, the other with carbon). At midnight, when all the fish were asleep I poured the medication into an area of high flow, and let it kill the red bugs over the next 12 hours.
The next day at noon, I reinstalled the tubing to the skimmer pumps to resume skimming the water. I started up the Phosban Reactor, and that included running 3 cups of fresh carbon in the second reactor. I couldn't find any red bugs in my tank after this treatment. I repeated this 7 days later, and then again 7 days after that. Three treatments over 3 weeks is considered necessary to remove any possible future generations from emerging from the reef to reinfest the corals.
After the third and final treatment was accomplished and the water was safe for the shrimp and crabs, they were added back to the tank and were fine. The refugium was also treated since it is part of the system, and odds are some pods were lost due to the medication. However, over time and with some fresh macro algae added, their population resumed and I see them running around. My Mandarin is fat and happy, as is my Six Line Wrasse.
This is not a treatment you have to fear. And the more of us that do it, the less likely we will share such pests with one another when trading frags. Always treat new coral arrivals (from hobbyists or your LFS) with an Interceptor bath for at least 6 hours to keep your reef red bug free.

[mark]

I did the whole tank treatment (x3) and is really rather simple.

The negative (from my reading) is it with kill shrimp, hermits and crabs so get them out if you can, plus does take a toll on pods though not all (observed).

[Joe Reefer]

"This is not a treatment you have to fear."

I couldn't agree more. I was really worried when I treated my whole tank for the first time.

[Chaloupa]

I too was so freaked to treat my entire tank...but after reading all the stuff I read and just taking the plunge...I felt kindof silly for all my fear...

[Joe Reefer]

lol.....I didn't take my eyes off the tank for the first couple hours.

[niloc16]

i did the whole tank with ease. i was really really nervous when i put the first dose in but its straight fwd. it was sad though cuz acro crabs are first to die, i lost 2 cleaner shrimp but my pods werent effected. i did 3 doses