Red Bugs!!??

[RobTop]

I have kept up with most everything sps except red bugs. I haven't had them so why bother. Well I gave a friend a frag today and sure enogh it has bugs. So I am freaking out. Google "red bug acro" and the 1st hit is a thread from 2000, talks about how powerful this is and all shrimp carbs and pods will be wiped out looked like the 1st thread ever, doom and gloom for all bugs. Then I read a few more current threads and that no longer seems to be the case. I'll get some intercepter asap, but my real question is this. After finding out the frag had red bugs I checked about a dozen others that where in close proxemity to that frag, then a few of my favorite colonies. I didn't find one single bug. I know it is not possible that the frag I gave away was the only one with bugs, but the issue seems pretty mild. Is there anything else to tame this issue, since it seems pretty mild?

[jdieck]

Everything you wanted to know about red bugs but were afraid to ask :D
http://www.ericborneman.com/Tegastes-content/Research.html

[RobTop]

This seems like more recent info than the 2000 stuff.
Any guesses as to why it seems so isolated? Also if these bugs were on my last acro addition it would have been over a month ago. I would have guessed these guys to have spread more by now. Glad they haven't

[coralite]

Hey Rob, You should treat your sps tank like all of your acros have Tegastes infections. The copepods seem to prefer acros w/ smooth surfaces, as in a lot of smooth tissue between the polyps whereas they seem to dislike rough textured corals with closely spaced coralites like millipora and green slimer. When first introduced into the aquarium, the tegastes population can hover around a really low density for a long time which makes them really hard to find. If you are looking for 1-2 copepods on a colony of 1000 polyps it will take you a while. Additionally, the pods seem to prefer the underside/shaded parts of acro branches and they seem to occur in high densities at the base of corals. The effect of red bugs is most pronounced on smaller coral colonies and frags. It apears that larger colonies can survive and grow with an infection but the smaller corasl tend to suffer and perish when they are heavily infected. An aminoacid supplement almost always makes acros more resilient to the effects of a tegastes infection. Good luck with the interceptor treatment.

Its a good thing montis dont get red bugs.:rollface:

[RobTop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9785408#post9785408 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralite
Its a good thing montis dont get red bugs.:rollface:

For sure, since I have one of yours.
I assumed you were traveling, :) diving :D or dead :eek: since you haven't returned my e-mails. You gotta let me know when you want this guy.