Little red bugs

[dyereefer]

Well I hate to admit it but I do use a magnifiyng glass to observe my coral .
What I noticed today was Little red bugs running around on only a select few peices of coral. Is this stuff harmful if so Whats the cure?

[Aquattro]

It's a common theme these days with acropora. Do a search in the SPS forum on Reefcentral, you'll find about 2 days worth of reading material. In my (and many othrs) opinion, tey are harmful and will eventually suck the life out of your acros.

You can treat your tank with heartworm medication to remove them, but you'll also lose any crabs or shrimp youcan't remove.
Look on Canreef for a thread called Interceptor or something like that.

Sorry to hear of another case of these stupid bugs. I examine every frag I get now under a microscope, and treat any afflicted pieces.

[dyereefer]

Do you dip any new infected pieces ?
Do you dip with interceptor or something else?

[Aquattro]

I quarantine for 6 hours ina concentrated Interceptor solution. I use a 5g tank set up beforehand, so when I go coral shopping, I have a tank at home to treat them. Realistically, I can't think of any place I've been that doesn't have them. Retailer or hobbyist, they're everywhere.

[dyereefer]

I think I may get lucky due to the fact that most of my pieces are small enough still that I can pull them out of the tank and dip them.
How easy was it to access this medication ?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by dyereefer

I think I may get lucky due to the fact that most of my pieces are small enough still that I can pull them out of the tank and dip them.
How easy was it to access this medication ?

No, you can't dip them. You need to treat the tank three times. There are instructions on RC in the SPS forum. The medication is prescription only, so you'll need to go to a vet to get it. Tell them why, they like this kinda stuff. It's expensive also, so do it right the first time. I tried to "cheat", I didn't get away with it. Trust me, you won't get them dipping. In the future, take a magnifying glass when coral shopping, save yourself the trouble of this a second time!!

[Delphinus]

Is a magnifying glass sufficient to see them 100%? Or is it better to find a microscope. And when you're using a magnifying glass, do you take the frag out of the tank to look at it? Or just good enough to look through the glass.

[props]

still got a couple of pills if you need some
=o)

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Is a magnifying glass sufficient to see them 100%? Or is it better to find a microscope. And when you're using a magnifying glass, do you take the frag out of the tank to look at it? Or just good enough to look through the glass.

tony, you'd need to keep the frag in water. I put pieces in a tupperware container and examine them that way. A magnifying glass should be enough to detect them, but a microscope soes work better. The last pieces I bought looked clean at the store, but once home under the scope, I found the little suckers! Just be careful, and be prepared to quarantine if required.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by ProPs

still got a couple of pills if you need some
=o)

Jesse, best to hang on to those for QT dips on new frags.