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Red bug treatment and info

B

billyr98

well i had an awesome weekend and a great meeting at my local reef club at my house yesterday but I got some bad news today..
Steve noticed red bugs on my coral in one of his pictures... any advice.. I might go get interceptor for tomorrow.. But what are the downsides.. I see them on two corals..

Red%20Bugs.jpg
 
B

BobCReef

The interceptor formula calls for the Big Dog 23mg size tablet. I have the tablets for small dogs. I think they say 2.3mg Is there a way to calculate the rate using the small dog tablet? It seems you would just multiply by 10 but i wonder if its that easy?
 
S

steve68

Cool !
i'm glad it worked out, dont forget to treat all ur SPS for bugs
before u put them in ur tank, i do a little more then i should
in a 5 gallon bucket like merv said,any time i get SPS from anyone
even if they say they dont have bugs i treat the acros cuz it gives
me peace of mind, i never want to go through that again.
 
P

pnoyreefer

steve68 said:
Cool !
i'm glad it worked out, dont forget to treat all ur SPS for bugs
before u put them in ur tank, i do a little more then i should
in a 5 gallon bucket like merv said,any time i get SPS from anyone
even if they say they dont have bugs i treat the acros cuz it gives
me peace of mind, i never want to go through that again.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with that.. Well said Steve... I have done that since I treated my tank almost a yr ago...
 
S

steve68

Billy i use a 5 gallon bucket but i use about 1 gallon
of water in it,i just take the pill cut it up & do a double
dose of interceptor (it's not much at all) in to that one gallon
with a 150 GPH powerhead for 1.5 hours.

Steve i think the hardest thing was watching 4 of my emerald crabs
go in to convulsion it was so sad i had one of those crabs for
4 years he had some nice guns.
 
J

JerseyWendy

I'm about to have a stroke. I believe I have red bugs. :mad: Here is the picture, I can't blow it up any bigger without completely distorting it.
<insert highly explicit language here>
BUGS.jpg


I already called my vet because my dogs are on Heartguard Plus instead of Interceptor. ::)

Can someone please tell me how much of 1 pill I should use? Will I be able to keep my Cleaner Shrimp and all catchable hermit alive in my salt-storage container?

I'm honestly panicking right about now.

---
Wendy
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
No need to panick. Remedy is not terrible. Catch all the inverts you can, keep them in as much water/rock as you're able and throw some flow in there. They'll be fine (we have a 30g tank you can borrow if you need).

There's a calculator somewhere that you can use to determine the dosage. If you can get your crabs & shrimp out then you can easily double/triple the dosage without any harm to the corals. Just make sure you breakdown the pill and dissolve first, then add it to the tank.

So sorry you have to go through the cleanup. :(
 
C

concept3

Guest
Here's the basic info, I just quoted myself :)

Yes, Wendy, you definitely have red bugs. The thing is, you may have had them for a long time, and just started noticing the explosion of the population. Give yourself a few days to make water and salt, get the parameters close, and just pretend you are doing a larger than normal water change... no biggie- try and get your hermits, crabs and shrimp out now before you treat the tank, as they have deliterious effects on crustaceans.

Just relax- red bugs are a normal occurence in our world- I mean, look at a few of us who survived- Me, Bluestravler (Keith), Steve..... and we're still here!

Merv Rubiano said:
Red Bug treatment and prevention, a must for SPS keepers!

One pill of Interceptor containing 23 mg of Milbemycime Oxime (not the pill itself, but the chemical content) for 51-100lb dogs will treat 380 gallons
Half a pill of interceptor will treat 190 gallons
a quarter pill will treat 95 gallons

OR if you're a chemist: use 0.025g of crushed interceptor per 10 gallons......you get the idea.



TREATING your tank:
1. Have 2-3 cups of carbon ready as well as 35-40% of your tank volume of fresh saltwater AND remove any crustaceans (shrimp/crabs/hermits etc)...you will lose them otherwise

2. Crush the interceptor (I use a spoon in a little bowl) and mix with a little tank water.

3. Turn off air input to skimmer (skimmer needs to be run so interceptor gets in there too) but leave calcium reactor and anything else that holds water "on"

4. Place interceptor in tank and do something for 6 hours (I like to make more RODI water or watch a movie)

5. Do a 30% water change and place the carbon in the tank. Turn on your skimmer

6. Repeat the water change 24 hours later. The more the better. Apparently, it is recommended that 3 treatments need to be done.



*if anything goes wrong during the process, make the water change and dump the carbon in!*






TREAT your new ARRIVALS!
I use: A 5 gallon bucket or less, an airline tubing and a "pinch" of interceptor mixed in the original transport water (or 200X normal dosage)... I have never seen any ill effects to any SPS as long as it's for a short time.

I drip acclimate the SPS between 20-30 minutes (or until water volume has tripled)and have a powerhead in the bucket to provide water circulation (cheap little eheim 40 gph pump).

Take out SPS and place in tank!!!



REMEMBER PREVENTION IS EASIER THAN CURE!!!
Click to expand...
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I would also wait longer on the water change. Changing it fast isn't necessary. This isn't like flatworms where they dispell mass amounts of toxins into the water. The longer the contact time, the more likely you've gotten them all.

LOL, Merv. I just went to post the quote from your first post on the dosage. So you got me too!
 
J

JerseyWendy

Thank you both for getting back to me so fast. I've called my vet and will be out the door shortly to pick up the Interceptor.

What "carbon" do you guys recommend? Anything in particular?

I'm afraid I won't be able to catch my coral banded shrimp, my 2 peppermint shrimp, and my Sally Lightfoot as they are lightning fast. :'( I am hopeful about the Cleaner though and some hermits.

Thanks again. You guys are the best. Phyl, I have a 5.5 gallon somewhere, will that do for whatever I can rescue?

---
Wendy
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If you can rescue more than you think will be comfortable in there then just holler.

Do NOT RUSH. Only bad things happen fast in this hobby. Plan. Plan. Plan. Take your time. Make your water. Treatment is necessary more to prevent spreading than to save your tank from imminent disaster (which is only certain if you rush).

Take the top off a coke bottle, turn it into the bottom, zip tie it in place and then put a huge hunk of food at the bottom of the bottle. Remove anyone that wanders in. Repeat as necessary. That will get the bulk of your "too fast for their own good" critters. At night with the lights off is the best time to catch the Peps. Hermits will run for the food.

Take your time. Don't rush.
 
J

JerseyWendy

Merv, I think I'm going to dose with just a little over 1/4 pill. I have a 75 gallon display and a 30 gallon sump. Of course the sump isn't filled, and of course I have to deduct rocks, too, but I figure I "should" be ok if I do a little more than 1/4 pill.

And how do I shut the air supply off the skimmer? ???

---
Wendy

PS. Currently I'm using Chemi pure, which I'll be removing, of course. It's only 4 weeks old, so could I reuse it after treating?

Sorry if I seem a bit edgy.
 
J

JerseyWendy

Phyl said:
If you can rescue more than you think will be comfortable in there then just holler.

Do NOT RUSH. Only bad things happen fast in this hobby. Plan. Plan. Plan. Take your time. Make your water. Treatment is necessary more to prevent spreading than to save your tank from imminent disaster (which is only certain if you rush).

Take the top off a coke bottle, turn it into the bottom, zip tie it in place and then put a huge hunk of food at the bottom of the bottle. Remove anyone that wanders in. Repeat as necessary. That will get the bulk of your "too fast for their own good" critters. At night with the lights off is the best time to catch the Peps. Hermits will run for the food.

Take your time. Don't rush.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, Phyl.
I am not planning on starting treatment today. Perhaps even not until Saturday, in hopes of rescuing more critters. The salt water is already made since I do my regular water changes on Friday. Strangely enough I made a huge batch (about 25 gallons).

I may take you up on that offer and borrow that tank if that's ok.

Thanks again.

---
Wendy
 
C

concept3

Guest
JerseyWendy said:
And how do I shut the air supply off the skimmer? ???

PS. Currently I'm using Chemi pure, which I'll be removing, of course. It's only 4 weeks old, so could I reuse it after treating?
Click to expand...

What kind of skimmer? Most skimmers have a tube that lets air in. you can just plug that up or turn the valve if you have one.

Chemipure can be recharged in a hypo or hypersaline solution (I forget)- Just "recharge" the media, that'll kill any parasites too anyways
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
What kind of skimmer are you using? Venturi? Turn that tube off. Beckett? Turn those off. Other? What feeds air to make the bubbles? Cut off whatever the air supply is.

Not a problem on borrowing a tank.

Make another 25g when you get a chance for a second water change.

I'd use 1/3 of a pill for the "75g" (personally I'd probably use half. But that's just me).
 
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