Red Bugs already -- only 1 month in! Couple questions.

S

Spar

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I have done a mega-reading-search on the forum for Red Bugs and sorry to see so many posts... can't believe this is such a problem in the hobby.

Anyway, hopefully fortunate for my tank, I only have about 8 tiny SPS frags in my tank, if you don't count the gigantic GSP I have (it is SPS, right?).

Having a 180g tank, treating for red bugs is going to get expensive quick. If I just pull out all my SPS for a few days and treat them in a small 10g tank, will this rid them in my tank? Or will the red bugs still be there?

Good news is that I do not have any crustaceans yet...

Any helpful advice or anyone that has leftover Interceptor from their last red bug "visit"?

edit>> also, in the entire Reefs.org threads, no one mentioned if all their Hermits died. I imagine they did. Won't this add a lot of ammonia into the water shortly after? Even if you pull them out first, couldn't the red bugs be on them and you would re-introduce them later?
 
good news then as long as the red bugs aren't hanging in there anywhere.

I will just Intercept my few SPS pieces aside in a small tank.

If I keep all SPS out for a period of time, will the red bugs die off? What would this period of time be?

I am really just trying to avoid treating an entire 180g system that only has 3 pieces of affected frags...
 
Spar,
You need to treat the whole tank. It's a very easy and inexpensive treatment compared to trying to treat it later down the road when you get infected again.

Chris
 
probably right. it is either that or I will just go a non-SPS tank route. if the chances are actually that high to get red bugs I don't understand how not everyone has them all the time. pretty frustrating to have this happen so early on.

so, should I get all my Hermits out first? hate to kill 50 of those guys. how would I treat them before putting them back in?
 
I avoid getting them by inspecting and treating every new coral I get in. It takes more time doing it that way, but it is much better than trying to treat the whole tank once its established
 
Also, any new frags (sps) that I buy, I give them a 6 hr. interceptor bath, followed by 30 min flatworm exit and 10 min iodine bath.

Of course, examing them with a mag glass is beneficial as well.

Chris
 
Thanks all! Lesson learned, and probably at the right time... almost put in an order for $$$ of Crustaceans today :oops: Probably not the right timing.

Can someone answer the question of my Hermit crabs fate here? I am assuming they will all die? Can I pick them out the best I can first and then add them back later without risk of returning Red Bugs?
 
I don't have any hermits, so I can't help you there. I did remove my acro crab from one of my frags and I put him/her in a small tuberware jar for the treatment.

All 3 of my pep shrimps died, but all of my snails were alright.

Chris
 
How many hours after are they ok to put back in?

Also, I have been reading old posts that the 25% water change is not necessary after each treatment. If I can do away with this part, would be a tremendous booster for me to begin the treatments ASAP. Will be quite a hassle to do a 50 gallon water change!

Lastly (hopefully), I saw in a post by Rick that he decided to up his medication by 50% to ensure they all die. Is this recommended? Or should I stick with the 25mg per 10g's method?
 
Sounds great.

I have 3 Phosban reactors. So I will hook 2 of them up to run carbon. At 100gph in the Phosbans, this will give me 200gph (in my ~200g tank) of carbon flow.

Think I need more? Throw a couple bags of carbon into my sump and baffles? I could even make a carbon tray to have my overflow filter through...

Not real sure what the extent of carbon should be. Or how long I should run the carbon before being sure the medication is all gone?
 
I had abouit half mine die when I did it. Siome have had all and others have had none.

If you are sure you can get every little last twig or Acropora out of your tank then treating seperately would be the best route.

They can't live long witout a host (I think in the 1-2 day range - Eric Bourneman has a good thread on RC about this)

The problem is if they are encrusted on rocks at all it will be impossible to get all the acro out. Some will stay with the rock. If that's the case just treat the whole tank. It's not that difficult and is pretty cheap actually (1 bucket of salt, some interceptor and some carbon - under $50).

If a 50G water change is really that much of a hassle you really do need to think of how to make it easier. You should be doing them at least monthly anyway!

If it's possible to remove every last bit I would leave them out for at least a week to be on the safe side. If you treat seperately I would at least double the dose and maybe 4x since there is nothing to harm. If you do it in tank a 50% increase is recommended but you will lose your inverts and pods. The recommended dosage is a good balance that seems to kill the bugs while preserving pod and invert life. On the other hand some like Rick have had them come back with that dosage!
 
I know I would be 100% sure that all my acro came out because I just added it to my tank about 2 weeks ago. This tank was started a month ago, so haven't even seen any growth yet.

I will go get a 5g tank today to do this with. Just use water from my tank? Will I need light over them?
 
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