Red Bug Treatment

G

GraviT

Premium Member
The time has come, yet again, to eradicate red bugs from my tank. Like last time, I decided to start another play-by-play documentation of the process.

At this point, the Phosban reactor is off, air supply to the skimmer has been blocked, all carbon and filter socks have been removed and I've managed to get as many crabs out of the tank as possible.

Here is a shot from 0 hours, just before adding the Interceptor.

Believe it or not, this is a 1" frag that was the source of infestation in my tank. I always hate having to do this, but it does teach me a lesson..always dip and quarantine all new corals.
 
The Cure...

I'm using about half a tablet of Interceptor, which is a bit high for my tank size, but not by much. The estimate is that 1 tablet will treat around 380 gallons, so half should cover 190. I estimate my total water volume to be around 120.

The tablet was ground into a fine powder with the back of a spoon and mixed with tank water. It does look chunky in the picture below, but this is due to the powder compacting slightly while being pulverized.
 
The Interceptor has just been added to the tank after one last try to catch my cleaner shrimp and any stray hermits. Start time - 11:55am

I will update this thread once every hour with pictures from the same coral and any observations along the way. Wish me luck. :shock:
 
One hour has passed, the cleaner shrimp is still alive and the bugs are hanging in there. Only odd observation at this point is that all of my acans extended polyps about 30 minutes ago. Maybe it was due to the beef flavor in the Interceptor :lol:
 
...wouldn't it be ironic if it turned out that the beef flavoring in Interceptor was the ideal SPS food? :wink:
 
Two hours in, still got bugs and everything seems fine. It does appear that the number of bugs on this coral is dropping, but they could just be running someplace else.
 
Kevin, One thing I noticed when we treated a year and a half ago were filaments trailing from the acros with dead red bugs attached. Are you seeing anything like this with your coral?

Good Luck !!!!!!
 
Three hours in. I notice a significant reduction in red bugs on the coral. The cleaner shrimp is running around holding a dead blue-leg hermit. Must be some type of mourning ritual. Hopefully, he's not next.
 
@Matt wrote:
LMAO. For some reason that visual is funny. Hope all goes well with the treatment. said:
It was pretty funny! I had to grab a flashlight to see just what that guy was holding! I've found several more live hermits running around and have removed them to safety with the rest of them.
Click to expand...
 
Four hours in. I can't find red bugs on any corals at this point. One of the hermits that I moved to safety passed away and my cleaner shrimp is still hanging in there. I still see lots of pods cruising around on the glass oddly enough.
 
Five hours in. Not much to report, I still don't see any red bugs (YAY!!), the cleaner shrimp is still alive, but I've lost quite a few hermits. I still see pods and my acro crab looks fine as well.

No picture this time since there were no bugs on the last one! I will, however, thank Serk for turning me on to those macro lenses. Once you figure out how to use them, they're great!

It's the final countdown, water is aerated and ready and I'm about to bust open a rather large bag of carbon. Hopefully, between the water change and the copious use of carbon, my SPS won't freak out from the increase in light!
 
Very nice documentation Kevin.

You'll be glad you treated the whole tank, even if there may be a few invert casualties. In the long run, it's worth it.

Since I treated my system, my corals have never looked better.

I only did one treatment three months ago and haven't seen one since. I don't know how thorough you want to be with the treatment , but it's recommended to perform this process 2-3 times just for good measure.

I've also read about numerous success stories with just one dose so do as you see fit.

Good luck and welcome to the RB Free club!
 
Well, the treatment is done and all seems well. My cleaner shrimp and acro crabs are a bit sluggish and I managed to save a handful of hermits. I changed about 35 gallons of water and loaded up a mesh bag with the carbon from Marc's group buy. So far, not a red bug in sight!!!

Steve, this is the 2nd time I've done a treatment. Last time I got away with 1 treatment and stayed bug free for over a year. It was the frag in the pictures that introduced them back into my tank in a big way. I plan to repeat the process in a week then decide if I really want to go through it a 3rd time. One thing is for sure though, all new acros get a bath!

Now I can watch that frag grow! It was just a poor, brown piece sitting on the bottom of an LFS tank, now it's turning yellow and blue at the tips. Wonder what it is?
 
Killing hermits is a side benefit of the treatment in my opinion :lol:

It's great your cleaner hung in there. I've had mixed results the couple times I've treated with them.
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
Killing hermits is a side benefit of the treatment in my opinion :lol: It's great your cleaner hung in there. I've had mixed results the couple times I've treated with them. said:
Hey, I like my hermits! They eat snails and excess food. Once the darned snails start breeding like they are in my tank, I don't mind that a few get taken out!

So far, so good with the shrimp. He was still alive this morning and the remaining hermits that got tossed back into the system a few hours after the water change and addition of carbon looked frozen in time. :lol: The entire tank looks great...granted, that is bound to happen as I haven't done a water change in about 3 months prior to last night..it was well overdue.
Click to expand...
 
@TCU Reefer wrote:
That's something you don't admit in the SPS forum Kevin. :D said:
What? Aww man, somebody hacked my account and posted false information! I, uh, change water every day..yeah, that's it..every day I change a little bit more!


:wink: :lol:
Click to expand...
 
IMHO as a newbie, this thread would make a great sticky for all of us who will eventually have to deal with red bugs!

Alise
 
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