Red Bugs?!?

[USCG CWO]

Someone help me out. Are these red bugs?? I just noticed them today. They are only on my Tyree Unknown, of course. It has been losing color over time and there is no PE. All of my other acros and monti's are fine.

I need a solution as the coral has encrusted somewhat the rock it was glued to so I can't take it out to dip it.

I know interceptor works but that is prescription so I will have to check on that.

Any other solutions????

http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii331/USCG-CWO/90%20Gallon%20Aquarium/RedBugs001.jpg
http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii331/USCG-CWO/90%20Gallon%20Aquarium/RedBugs006.jpg

[matty0206]

They look more like flatworms but the pics kinda blurry.

[siskiou]

It's hard to tell, but they could be! What shape are they? Rounded or flat?

[USCG CWO]

Let me see if I can get a better picture

[Michael7979]

Can you get a better picture?

Can you actully see them moving?
If so I would lean toward red bugs.

[JasonH]

Yeah, tough to tell from the pic. Should be easy to tell flat worms from red bugs. Flat worms are much larger, move slowly... and are flat. Red bugs are very small, tough to see at first, and move around quickly on the acro - think of them as tiny fleas.

[finch6013]

from the pic they look like red bugs.

[USCG CWO]

Honestly I can't tell if the are flat or round even under a magnifiying glass. I tried some more pics. How do you tell the difference between Red Bugs and flatworms?

http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii331/USCG-CWO/redbugs016.jpg
http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii331/USCG-CWO/redbugs017.jpg
http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii331/USCG-CWO/redbugs018.jpg

[siskiou]

Red bugs, imo!
And a ton of them!

Do you have any interceptor (dog heartworm med) for treatment?

[JasonH]

BTW, my advice is to treat the whole tank. If you have them on one coral, you have them on multiple corals.

[USCG CWO]

Yep I can see them moving not blazingly fast but you can tell they are moving.

[stylaster]

i have some tmpcc that i can bring down to you this weekend and we can dip the acro in it and see if they fall off, if they do then flatworms. if not i do have some interceptor you can also use
roy

[USCG CWO]

Do you have any interceptor (dog heartworm med) for treatment?

Nope.(sad) I am not sure how I am going to fix this.

[USCG CWO]

Roy you have a PM. :D

[JasonH]

Yeah, the new pic definitely looks like red bugs - and a ton. You can kind of make out the yellow body with red head - even in that terrible picture.

Treat the whole tank. There is no way you have that many on a single coral and not have some on other corals - even if they look okay now.

Shane, I have a pill you can have. I treat everything before it goes in my tank as a precaution, so I have interceptor. You can also get it from 1-800-petmeds without a prescription.

[USCG CWO]

even in that terrible picture

(clap)(clap)(laugh)(laugh) Sorry for the pics Jason I was trying to get the shot through a magnifying glass.

You have PM.

[finch6013]

how do you treat the whole tank? is there a reef safe fix?

[JasonH]

Sorry for the pics Jason

You should be. It's just pathetic. I'm embarrassed for you. really.(laugh)

PM'd ya back.

[USCG CWO]

From what I understand you use Interceptor which is prescription heartworm medication. You need to remove all crustaceans and shrimp but everthing else should be fine. 3 tabs over three weeks.

[JasonH]

Reef safe, yes. crab/shrimp safe... no. You have to dose the whole tank with interceptor, which is perfectly safe for all corals and fish, but will kill most shrimp, crabs, and most of your pod population.

[Michael7979]

Yep I can see them moving not blazingly fast but you can tell they are moving.

If you see movement with the naked eye..... their red bugs!
Treat the whole tank. Red bugs isn't that hard to treat unlike AEFW.

Talk to your vet if you have a pet and be honest with him and maybe he will give you the pills you will need to dose your tank.
Just remove all the inverts you possibly can.
Turn off skimmer.
And remove carbon.
Dose.
Add carbon and do a WC.
Wait and then repeat.

It is kinda time consuming but it is an easy thing to do.

GOOD LUCK!!

[Randy-S]

those are redbugs time to treat! Do you have access to interceptor?

[impur]

Yep redbugs. At least they are easy to beat. I would recommend removing all acros to a QT and dipping. I treated my tank 3 times and they still came back, as well as the worst case of cyano you have ever seen. Took me 8m to beat the cyano. Not to mention it killed all my snails, hermits, pods, bristle worms, feather dusters etc......

3 weekly dips in TMPCC or Revive along with about 8 weeks of keeping all SPS out of your display will do the trick. JMO

[USCG CWO]

those are redbugs time to treat! Do you have access to interceptor?

No Sir I don't, but there are some very nice people on these forums.

[Randy-S]

I had them pop up a cpuple of times in my 330 gal sps tank. I treated the entire tank with no ill effects. I would treat at night and turn off my skimmer and carbon and in the mouring just fire everything back up. No worries.
I also think most of the lfs carry interceptor for about 10 bucks per tab.

[chewie]

Where did you get the frag?

Might be a good idea to let that person know that they have redbugs as some people can't see them up close. If it was a local, shoot me a PM.

[USCG CWO]

Might be a good idea to let that person know that they have redbugs as some people can't see them up close.

As I have made several purchases I'll PM those who I have purchased coral from in the last couple months. I just hope they don't take it as me pointing fingers as that is not my intention. Just merely a heads up.

[downhill_biker]

You may have had redbugs for a long time and not noticed. Narrowing it down to a single coral that gave them to you would be hard to do.

I have had them before, and have them now. They are super easy to treat, so dont sweat it. I found a friend that was a vet and they signed the prescription that I ordered from drs foster and smith.

I treated the whole tank before and will do it again. It was easy and very effective. Many people say that you can kill them in one treatment, but I will probably do the 3 treatments to make sure. As said before, remove crustaceans, skimmer, carbon, poly filter, ect and treat with interceptor. Works great!

http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html

[USCG CWO]

Thanks for all the advise everyone. I treated the the tank last night. It took awhile for it to start working but killed all the bugs after six hours. I am running two reactors with carbon and heavy skimming. Will do a water change this afternoon. Seems the crabs I missed made it and amazingly so did my pepperment shrimp.

[finch6013]

does anyone know if interceptor works for acro eating flat worms?

[impur]

does anyone know if interceptor works for acro eating flat worms?

No it doesn't. I've been through AEFW twice, pm me if you want some suggestions.

[downhill_biker]

IMO, if you missed crabs and shrimp and they lived, chances are so did the redbugs. You may have killed most, but there are probably still some. Get the rest of the crabs and shrimp out before the next dose and up the dosage a little. The way interceptor works is killing all crustaceans, which redbugs are, will also kill many of your pods.

[Mandinga]

does interceptor affect clams?

All this talk about dead inverts...