red bug treatment, starting tomorrow

[nikesb]

im gonna start treatment tomorrow and have a large pill.

my total volume is roughly 50-60 gallons

would it be ok to split up 1 large pill three times or is that too much over dose. its about 2.6x the dose

[Enzel]

I would just use 1/4 of a pill for your total water. I used 3/4 on 150g and everything turned out great

[SPSEMPIRE]

Yep, I used a whole pill on my 200g system and worked great. One dose and they never came back but I don't think that is normal. Most people plan on two doses.

I've treated for just about every pest and this one is the easiest to treat for. For some reason, I didn't loose any hermits or snails either.

[nikesb]

ok ill probably just use 1/4th the pill. i may have a gram scale laying around. im thinking of doing 8 hour treatments, or is it better for 12 hr

[preef]

1/4 pill is plenty. Mine were dead in about an hour in my 72. I did 12 hours but I think 8 would be fine.

[Brian Chong]

I'm starting my treatment tonight with similar volume tank. I'm planning to use 1/4. Hopefully my cleaner shrimp makes it.

[James404]

I did 1/2 a pill for my 75 and left it in about 12 hrs. A few corals started STN and I am having a dino outbreak :(

[Brian Chong]

I did 1/2 a pill for my 75 and left it in about 12 hrs. A few corals started STN and I am having a dino outbreak :(
Sorry to hear that. Did you do a water change and add carbon after 12 hours? I heard some people leave it with no problems. Maybe the dose was too large.

[James404]

Yep did a 15% change and added new ROX carbon, I heard others use this dose with no problems. It probably was too much or too long. Of course its my favorite corals that are dying including an icefire echinata and $500 efflo, oh well at least I dont have RB any more lol

[Brian Chong]

"I heard some people leave it with no problems" ~I meant the interceptor. i rarely use carbon for my tank but i bought 2 chemi-pure, poly-filter, new salt water on hand for a 20% water change and set the alarm for 10 hours. Hopefully everything will be ok. This is my first time so i'm very nervous.

[nikesb]

i'm very nervous as well. i will be doing 8 hours and start at 12 noon tomorrow

[smtank]

You will be happy with the results. Much better PE, coloration and growth. Even corals that you thought did not have RB show a significant improvement after treatment. As you know your crabs, shrimp may not survive and pods seem to take a hit, but over all it is an easy effective treatment that I wish I had done when I first noticed RB.

[byrdman81]

I have a 40breeder with around 50 gal with the sump, I broke mine down and probably got a little less than 1/4. I dosed for 24 hours no problem. After 24 hours done W/C and added some carbon. No red bugs anymore.

[SPSEMPIRE]

Yep did a 15% change and added new ROX carbon, I heard others use this dose with no problems. It probably was too much or too long. Of course its my favorite corals that are dying including an icefire echinata and $500 efflo, oh well at least I dont have RB any more lol

That sucks, sorry to hear. After looking back on it, I didn't have any extremely delicate species in the system when I dosed. I can easily see the treatment being tough on echinatas and a few others.

[Reef obcession]

I have a 400 gallon system, 250 display 40g fuge,30g frag, 100g sump. My system is all tied into the same sump. I noticed only in my frag tank red bugs. I know I got them from this one piece of rock I added from a sady sorce. I got interceptor for large dogs and croshed it into a powder and mixed it with heated seawater. I added it to the system when lights where off and I shut down the air into my skimer keeping water flowing thu it. I also shut down all reators. I waited till the next day 12hours and noticed a lot where gone but not all. I spoke to a fellow RC member and he told me add two more tablets, so I did. I lost most of my hermits ,crabs and shrimp:(.

I re inspected my frag tank and see them still clinging to life! ***. I wait another 4 dayswithout doing a water change, I do a waterchange and dump all the water in the reactors and run full carbon. Skimmer is now back on line. I wait another day and still see bugs, so guess what I add anothe 2 tablets and nothing. I think the bugs like this stuff. Today 8 am I go to inspect my frag tank and see more bugs then ever. Guess what I remove all live stock (snails& fish ) and move them into a quarentine system thats 100% stand alone. and shut the flow thru the frag tank and pump all the water out till the tank is dry. I left the rock in the empty tank becuase I just cant trust it. I will leave this system dry for a good few days. If that doesnt kill them I give up.

[nikesb]

seems like you would want to do the seoncd and third treatments

[vdubfiend]

I followed directions on Melev's site and never had a problem... You have to do all 3 doses or you risk survival (of the red bugs)

I caught as many crabs and shrimp that i could

the emeralds survived treatment.

[nanotank]

I never do a water change and have never had a problem. I used full pill on 250 net and only needed 1 treatment each time. 3 different occasions. After 24 hrs I put the carbon back in.

[ousnakebyte]

I have a 400 gallon system, 250 display 40g fuge,30g frag, 100g sump. My system is all tied into the same sump. I noticed only in my frag tank red bugs. I know I got them from this one piece of rock I added from a sady sorce. I got interceptor for large dogs and croshed it into a powder and mixed it with heated seawater. I added it to the system when lights where off and I shut down the air into my skimer keeping water flowing thu it. I also shut down all reators. I waited till the next day 12hours and noticed a lot where gone but not all. I spoke to a fellow RC member and he told me add two more tablets, so I did. I lost most of my hermits ,crabs and shrimp:(.

I re inspected my frag tank and see them still clinging to life! ***. I wait another 4 dayswithout doing a water change, I do a waterchange and dump all the water in the reactors and run full carbon. Skimmer is now back on line. I wait another day and still see bugs, so guess what I add anothe 2 tablets and nothing. I think the bugs like this stuff. Today 8 am I go to inspect my frag tank and see more bugs then ever. Guess what I remove all live stock (snails& fish ) and move them into a quarentine system thats 100% stand alone. and shut the flow thru the frag tank and pump all the water out till the tank is dry. I left the rock in the empty tank becuase I just cant trust it. I will leave this system dry for a good few days. If that doesnt kill them I give up.

Anecdotally, I have seen red bugs make it through multiple doses of Interceptor. I do wonder if we are starting to see Interceptor-resistant red bugs and need to search for alternative treatments.

Someone else here - Whisperer - posted a good thread about an alternative treatment using some household yard pest management product (can't remember the name).

I have been working on a protocol using Ivermectin, which seems to be working wonderful for me.

HOWEVER - neither of these treatments are full-tank remedies. These are only for "bath treatments" in a separate container.

Cheers
Mike

[Brian Chong]

You're scaring me Mike. It's been an hour since I began treatment and i see some dangling and some still crawling on the acros. Is this normal or am I just being impatient? I was tempted to add a tiny bit more. Btw, can I do the second treatment sooner than a week if i still see redbugs?

[ousnakebyte]

They will still be fine after only an hour. Give it the full 6-8 hours but then inspect carefully (I would go at least 8).

There will not be any harm in treating your corals sooner than a week apart - that suggestion was just to try to capture any different life stages of the copepods - 3, 5, 10 days shouldn't matter.

[Brian Chong]

Thanks Mike. I just got through reading your Ivermectin for red bugs thread. Hopefully someone will toft and do an in-tank treatment. I've been doing revive dips for months but it was a losing battle.

[ousnakebyte]

Ivermectin seems to kill off any crustaceans, chitons, brittle stars, and bristle worms - that's four different phyla represented - plus various stuff that I have no idea what it is... I think Ivermectin will remain a prophylactic dip.

And, still quarantine your corals... ;)

Cheers
Mike

[smtank]

How did the treatment go??:)

[Brian Chong]

So far so good. I used 1/4 of the pill and left it in there for 8 hours. Cant find any red bugs yet. The most severely affected corals are now showing some improvement in polyp extension. my blue legged hermit crab made it and I saw some pods scurrying around in the tank hours after the treatment, but there is no sign of my cleaner shrimp and one acro crab jumped out of his acro and was twitching (still alive) while another one looked dead.
Overall, the treatment was a success.

[Brian Chong]

Nikesb~How did it go? Any fatalities besides the red bugs? My cleaner shrimp survived. :) I think I'm going to wait another week to do the 2nd treatment

[SPSEMPIRE]

glad to hear that the cleaner shrimp survived. sounds like the treatment went well. Any signs of red bugs yet?

[DustinB]

I'm surprised some of you had problems. I dosed 1 large pill in my 90g with 105g total volume. 1/2 pill at first, then the other 1/2 an hour later. Let everything run for 24 hours, then ran a carbon reactor with about 4 cups for 24 hours. No water change at all. Never had any reaction out of any coral or fish and only lost 1 cleaner shrimp. Never dosed again and they haven't come back yet.

[nikesb]

Nikesb~How did it go? Any fatalities besides the red bugs? My cleaner shrimp survived. :) I think I'm going to wait another week to do the 2nd treatment

It went well. I ran for 8 hours and used 1/4th pill. No red bugs on the acro. After 8 hours i didnt even run carbon, just turned on the skimmer. 48 hours later and still no carbon lol. everythings fine, no red bugs, some copepods, and some amphipods. I will add carbon today though just for secondary measures