White Bugs on my lps

Prince916 · 01/16/2010, 12:04 AM

I am having problems with by hammer, frogspawn,a dn torch corals. They have been in my tank for about a year doing great until now. Tentacles wont extend and some white bugs crawling all over it. Could these be like red bugs and how do you get rid of them other than interceptor?

acrodave · 01/16/2010, 12:31 AM

i know what your talking about. but i dont know what they all called.. i have use iodine dips. and it kill off some but not all. i never been able to get rid of them all together. if untreated they kill the coral

Prince916 · 01/16/2010, 03:02 AM

Yea they are killing my lps right now. Just dont know wat to do?

mscarpena · 01/16/2010, 10:06 AM

Sometimes a 6 lined wrasse or a pipefish will eat things like that. Your best bet is some sort of dip and your probably right interceptor. I have never used it and you should look for guidance from someone who has used it.

MAKOOKAM · 01/24/2010, 08:26 AM

i have the same thing on my frogspawn. really would like to know what they are and how to get rid of them. im not comfortable with busting my frogspawn off of my rock to do a dip.

reeferbro0622 · 01/24/2010, 09:14 AM

If you want to try interceptor, one tablet treats 400 gallons. You take the desired amount of a tablet and crush it up and mix it into tank water till it dissolves. You may heat it up in the microwave to make it easier to make it into a solution.

But I have never used interceptor for white bugs on LPS, honestly I do not know what these white bugs are but if you want to use interceptor that is how you do it ^^

best of luck
JT

roblack · 01/24/2010, 09:32 AM

I think it is one large dog pill treats 300 gallons, but better check to be sure. I would test it out first. Pull out a coral or rock with some of these whitebugs and see if they respond to Interceptor dip. Wouldn't want to dose my whole tank for nothing.

Johnny C · 01/25/2010, 12:39 AM

Before you go the interceptor route, I'd pick up some Revive and dip the affected coral(s). JMO

dan10342 · 01/25/2010, 08:33 AM

these white "euphyllia bugs" are nasty buggers. They look like small copepods all over the affected coral. I have tried both FW dips, TMPCC dips, and Revive in the past. The bugs look like they are "gone" the day after the dip, but always came back, worse than they were before the dip. (or so it seemed). I know a few other locals to my area that have had torches killed by these bugs.

Interceptor may work, since I think it targets critters just like the euphyllia bugs.

DThompson · 01/25/2010, 06:53 PM

Are you sure there not copepods?

Can you get a picture of them?

VAHeatt · 01/25/2010, 09:27 PM

Would a mandarin work?

Grasshopper23 · 04/08/2011, 09:39 PM

I had red bugs on my acro and montipora and needed to do a an Interceptor treatment. I did not want to dose my entire tank so I filled up a 10 gallon cooler and and put in ~10-15% of a large pill. Worked great. That was yesterday.

I also noticed a few months ago my torch had little white bugs. It didn't worry me much because it looks very healthy. My frogspawn (two types) extension has not been great so I assumed they might have the same problem but harder to see white bugs. I decided to include these 3 in the treatment as well. All 3 look much better today and no white bugs. I realize they may come back because I did not treat the entire tank.

I am avoiding doing this because I don't want to kill my pods, and possibly crabs, and shrimp. I also have a mystery wrasse... he does not seem to help the problem.

Grasshopper23 · 04/08/2011, 09:39 PM

I have had a mandarin for over a year. Never seen him grazing on my LPS.

ssavader · 04/18/2011, 07:04 PM

I would like to see a pic of these white bugs so we could try to help you identify them. Interceptor is an anti-helminthic (worm killer) that is used in dogs to treat intestinal parasitic worms. Red-bugs are a variety of copepods and it seems unclear as to the common biologic process that makes both worms and copepods susceptible. Depending on what these white bugs are, they may or may not be killed by Interceptor.

justinkarl · 04/19/2011, 10:10 AM

nuke them i just got rid of red bugs had no problem ran heavy carbon after 15 hours of dosing

jc-reef · 04/19/2011, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssavader

I would like to see a pic of these white bugs so we could try to help you identify them. Interceptor is an anti-helminthic (worm killer) that is used in dogs to treat intestinal parasitic worms. Red-bugs are a variety of copepods and it seems unclear as to the common biologic process that makes both worms and copepods susceptible. Depending on what these white bugs are, they may or may not be killed by Interceptor.

I currently have same issue with my FS. Here is my post taken from this thread. I am currently looking to get some Interceptor and set up a small tank lighted and dosed/dipped with Interceptor for a couple days. The key is having it lighted so the polyps will extend, exposing the white bugs. I tried dipping in Revive and Tropic CC and both only killed bugs that were exposed to water while the ones attached to the retracted polyps lived.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1988356

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc-reef

Well here you go seapug!!

I marked with red arrows (small) pointing to the white bugs....

And here is the lower left corner ZOOMED in showing 2 bugs with the best detailed shape of them that I could get with this photo...

My concern is that when the polyps retract into the skeleton when the coral is removed from the tank the bugs are going to stay 'inside' wedged inbetween the polyps and dipping will not work properly.

I wonder if there is a 'new pest' rearing an ugly face in this hobby that attack frogspawns??

-------------------

ssavader · 04/21/2011, 09:41 PM

I spent quite a bit of time trying different reference sources and could not figure out what this pest (?) might be. Sorry.

jc-reef · 05/08/2011, 08:59 PM

Well, I finally got a hold of some interceptor and set up a small 10g hospital tank with a small power head using the old water from my tank after a WC last weekend. I placed my FS in the tank after I set up and added some interceptor (1/16 - 1/8 sized crushed) of a 51-100 tablet. I placed the corals in the tank and set up a old 2 light T5 fixture over top so the FS would naturally 'expand' as it does during daylight hours....exposing the white bugs on the polyps (this is the KEY!) . I let sit in the tank for about 6 hrs of which the FS started to retract after being inflated for a few hours which indictated to me it was getting ****ed off and ready to get out.

So I then did a quick salt water rinse and placed back into tank.
This was on this past Tuesday. It is now Sunday and the FS has been fully inflated the past few days and I have NOT seen any white bugs alive on the polyps. I will continue to keep my eyes out over next week or so and will 2nd dip if necessary, but I feel like this has been a success in killing the white bugs using interceptor as dip!!

--------

Grasshopper23 · 05/09/2011, 10:19 AM

So it has been almost exactly a month. After the Interceptor ~24 hour dip the white bugs were gone on both my FS and Torch. A few days after the extension on all three pieces was the best I have ever seen.

Bad news, I started noticing white bugs again about a week ago. Their extension is still better than before the dip and the infestation is not as bad however the problem still exists.

My plan is to dip again this time with lights to get full extension during the dip. Last time it was 24 hours in a dark cooler.

Side note - no red bugs on the two SPS pieces I dipped at the same time.

JC - thanks for the pics. That is what they look like (except not as blurry ;-) . Very hard to photo. My Canon Elph could not do any better.

jc-reef · 06/06/2011, 09:15 AM

My Update:
It has been 1 month since I 'dip treated' my FS corals with interceptor and I am happy to report that there is still NO sign of white bugs on either pieces (cant even spot 1 single bug) and both continue to gain color back and completely inflate every day.

--------

slojmn · 06/06/2011, 09:45 AM

My experience with Interceptor dips for Red Bugs is that subsequent dips are very important. It is easy to get lulled into believing one dip did the trick because the corals respond so well to the initial dip. I recommend to do three dips over the course of 4-6 week just to finish off every last bug.

jc-reef · 06/06/2011, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slojmn

My experience with Interceptor dips for Red Bugs is that subsequent dips are very important. It is easy to get lulled into believing one dip did the trick because the corals respond so well to the initial dip. I recommend to do three dips over the course of 4-6 week just to finish off every last bug.

Well undertood. However, these are NOT Red Bugs (look at OP headline)...they are some kind of White Bug that are similar in size as the infamous Red Bugs. These White Bugs seem to afflict LPS only...specifcally Frogsporn. They must be some kind of 'pod' but are an obvious irritant and seem to be a predator to the polyps...causing retraction and fading of colors.

These White Bugs may not be as 'resistant' as the Red Bugs, as (for me) there is NO sign of return after a month and I have looked through my Macro lens to verify. There also seems like very little is known about these critters....so I am just reporting back what has worked to cure my infestation....and would love to hear back from the OP and others whom have experienced with these bugs.

-----

jmadden · 06/07/2011, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc-reef

Well undertood. However, these are NOT Red Bugs (look at OP headline)...they are some kind of White Bug that are similar in size as the infamous Red Bugs. These White Bugs seem to afflict LPS only...specifcally Frogsporn. They must be some kind of 'pod' but are an obvious irritant and seem to be a predator to the polyps...causing retraction and fading of colors.

These White Bugs may not be as 'resistant' as the Red Bugs, as (for me) there is NO sign of return after a month and I have looked through my Macro lens to verify. There also seems like very little is known about these critters....so I am just reporting back what has worked to cure my infestation....and would love to hear back from the OP and others whom have experienced with these bugs.

-----

These small white "bugs" were on one of my frogspawn colonies. The coral would barely extend. I decided to do a fresh water dip, at the time I had never hear of these before. After about a week the coral was starting to inflate to about half it's normal size. Within a couple weeks all was well. It's been 3 months and haven't had an issue.

I think that the best option would be to remove the affected coral and treat it outside your DT. You never know what intercepter, and like treatments, will do to your systems pod population.

jc-reef · 06/07/2011, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmadden

These small white "bugs" were on one of my frogspawn colonies. The coral would barely extend. I decided to do a fresh water dip, at the time I had never hear of these before. After about a week the coral was starting to inflate to about half it's normal size. Within a couple weeks all was well. It's been 3 months and haven't had an issue.

I think that the best option would be to remove the affected coral and treat it outside your DT. You never know what intercepter, and like treatments, will do to your systems pod population.

...and that is exactly what I did for that reason alone. Didn't want to nuke my tank unless it was a last resort.

Ricardo_Jorge · 06/30/2011, 10:27 AM

Nice to hear that some of you are successful treating this f****ing bugs. But i have a concern over here.
The treatment will kill the bug´s eggs too?? I´ve heard that the eggs still remaing in the coral and after some time, they hatch and the bugs come over again. Does it true?

01/16/2010, 12:04 AM	#1
Prince916 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 549	White Bugs on my lps I am having problems with by hammer, frogspawn,a dn torch corals. They have been in my tank for about a year doing great until now. Tentacles wont extend and some white bugs crawling all over it. Could these be like red bugs and how do you get rid of them other than interceptor?

01/16/2010, 12:31 AM	#2
acrodave REEF NERD Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: maryville tn-- work in knoxville Posts: 4,187	i know what your talking about. but i dont know what they all called.. i have use iodine dips. and it kill off some but not all. i never been able to get rid of them all together. if untreated they kill the coral __________________ Peace,Dave Superman puts on Tim Tebow pajamas when he goes to bed The Heisman as a sophomore nuff said Less technology more biology Tattoos are the only art you can take to the grave Current Tank Info: 26gal bow,20gal mantis tank/fuge150wHQI,20k AB Seio 620 maxijet1200x's 2 on a wave maker. all sps

01/24/2010, 09:14 AM	#6
reeferbro0622 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bucks County PA Posts: 92	If you want to try interceptor, one tablet treats 400 gallons. You take the desired amount of a tablet and crush it up and mix it into tank water till it dissolves. You may heat it up in the microwave to make it easier to make it into a solution. But I have never used interceptor for white bugs on LPS, honestly I do not know what these white bugs are but if you want to use interceptor that is how you do it ^^ best of luck JT __________________ 150 Gallon, Octopus 200 Extreme, 40B refugium, Quite 0ne 6000 pump, Two Koralia 3's, Mixed Reef Current Tank Info: 150 Gallon Mixed Reef

01/25/2010, 12:39 AM	#8
Johnny C Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 4,140	Before you go the interceptor route, I'd pick up some Revive and dip the affected coral(s). JMO __________________ "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever" -Jacques Cousteau

01/25/2010, 09:27 PM	#11
VAHeatt Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Halifax Posts: 48	Would a mandarin work? __________________ Gangsters Love Fish 2! Current Tank Info: (180 & 55G)180 - Regal Tang,Salfin Tang,1 Clarkii Clown,Fire Fish,Royal Gramma,Lyretail Anthias,Cleaner Wrasser,BTA Anemone,Cabbage Coral,Leather Finger,Blue Clam,Turbina Coral,Polyp Colony & a few mushshrooms,2 flame scallops,2 blood shrimp!

01/16/2010, 03:02 AM	#3
Prince916 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 549	Yea they are killing my lps right now. Just dont know wat to do?

01/16/2010, 10:06 AM	#4
mscarpena Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York Posts: 1,924	Sometimes a 6 lined wrasse or a pipefish will eat things like that. Your best bet is some sort of dip and your probably right interceptor. I have never used it and you should look for guidance from someone who has used it.

01/24/2010, 08:26 AM	#5
MAKOOKAM Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 26	i have the same thing on my frogspawn. really would like to know what they are and how to get rid of them. im not comfortable with busting my frogspawn off of my rock to do a dip.

01/24/2010, 09:32 AM	#7
roblack Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Miami Beach Posts: 3,087	I think it is one large dog pill treats 300 gallons, but better check to be sure. I would test it out first. Pull out a coral or rock with some of these whitebugs and see if they respond to Interceptor dip. Wouldn't want to dose my whole tank for nothing.

01/25/2010, 08:33 AM	#9
dan10342 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Geneseo, NY Posts: 3,331	these white "euphyllia bugs" are nasty buggers. They look like small copepods all over the affected coral. I have tried both FW dips, TMPCC dips, and Revive in the past. The bugs look like they are "gone" the day after the dip, but always came back, worse than they were before the dip. (or so it seemed). I know a few other locals to my area that have had torches killed by these bugs. Interceptor may work, since I think it targets critters just like the euphyllia bugs.

01/25/2010, 06:53 PM	#10
DThompson Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Scottsadale, AZ Posts: 374	Are you sure there not copepods? Can you get a picture of them?

04/08/2011, 09:39 PM	#12
Grasshopper23 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SF CA Posts: 176	I had red bugs on my acro and montipora and needed to do a an Interceptor treatment. I did not want to dose my entire tank so I filled up a 10 gallon cooler and and put in ~10-15% of a large pill. Worked great. That was yesterday. I also noticed a few months ago my torch had little white bugs. It didn't worry me much because it looks very healthy. My frogspawn (two types) extension has not been great so I assumed they might have the same problem but harder to see white bugs. I decided to include these 3 in the treatment as well. All 3 look much better today and no white bugs. I realize they may come back because I did not treat the entire tank. I am avoiding doing this because I don't want to kill my pods, and possibly crabs, and shrimp. I also have a mystery wrasse... he does not seem to help the problem. __________________ ~Doug Current Tank Info: 75G mixed reef / 29G sump / 6x 54W T5 / SWC 160 Cone

04/18/2011, 07:04 PM	#14
ssavader Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Carmel, IN (Indianapolis suburb) Posts: 928	I would like to see a pic of these white bugs so we could try to help you identify them. Interceptor is an anti-helminthic (worm killer) that is used in dogs to treat intestinal parasitic worms. Red-bugs are a variety of copepods and it seems unclear as to the common biologic process that makes both worms and copepods susceptible. Depending on what these white bugs are, they may or may not be killed by Interceptor. __________________ Scott

04/19/2011, 10:10 AM	#15
justinkarl Moved On Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 65	nuke them i just got rid of red bugs had no problem ran heavy carbon after 15 hours of dosing

04/21/2011, 09:41 PM	#17
ssavader Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Carmel, IN (Indianapolis suburb) Posts: 928	I spent quite a bit of time trying different reference sources and could not figure out what this pest (?) might be. Sorry. __________________ Scott

05/08/2011, 08:59 PM	#18
jc-reef Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Treasure Coast, Florida Posts: 969	My White Bugs Update Well, I finally got a hold of some interceptor and set up a small 10g hospital tank with a small power head using the old water from my tank after a WC last weekend. I placed my FS in the tank after I set up and added some interceptor (1/16 - 1/8 sized crushed) of a 51-100 tablet. I placed the corals in the tank and set up a old 2 light T5 fixture over top so the FS would naturally 'expand' as it does during daylight hours....exposing the white bugs on the polyps (this is the KEY!) . I let sit in the tank for about 6 hrs of which the FS started to retract after being inflated for a few hours which indictated to me it was getting ****ed off and ready to get out. So I then did a quick salt water rinse and placed back into tank. This was on this past Tuesday. It is now Sunday and the FS has been fully inflated the past few days and I have NOT seen any white bugs alive on the polyps. I will continue to keep my eyes out over next week or so and will 2nd dip if necessary, but I feel like this has been a success in killing the white bugs using interceptor as dip!! -------- __________________ My Little Hobby FMAS - Member Current Tank Info: 300gal DD upgraded from 90 gal Mixed Reef Powered by T5 / LED

05/09/2011, 10:19 AM	#19
Grasshopper23 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SF CA Posts: 176	So it has been almost exactly a month. After the Interceptor ~24 hour dip the white bugs were gone on both my FS and Torch. A few days after the extension on all three pieces was the best I have ever seen. Bad news, I started noticing white bugs again about a week ago. Their extension is still better than before the dip and the infestation is not as bad however the problem still exists. My plan is to dip again this time with lights to get full extension during the dip. Last time it was 24 hours in a dark cooler. Side note - no red bugs on the two SPS pieces I dipped at the same time. JC - thanks for the pics. That is what they look like (except not as blurry ;-) . Very hard to photo. My Canon Elph could not do any better. __________________ ~Doug Current Tank Info: 75G mixed reef / 29G sump / 6x 54W T5 / SWC 160 Cone

06/06/2011, 09:15 AM	#20
jc-reef Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Treasure Coast, Florida Posts: 969	My Update Cont' My Update: It has been 1 month since I 'dip treated' my FS corals with interceptor and I am happy to report that there is still NO sign of white bugs on either pieces (cant even spot 1 single bug) and both continue to gain color back and completely inflate every day. -------- __________________ My Little Hobby FMAS - Member Current Tank Info: 300gal DD upgraded from 90 gal Mixed Reef Powered by T5 / LED

06/06/2011, 09:45 AM	#21
slojmn Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Napa, CA. Posts: 4,625	My experience with Interceptor dips for Red Bugs is that subsequent dips are very important. It is easy to get lulled into believing one dip did the trick because the corals respond so well to the initial dip. I recommend to do three dips over the course of 4-6 week just to finish off every last bug. __________________ Play hard and respect all living beings. Current Tank Info: 120g Starphire Cube, 30g nanoreef

06/30/2011, 10:27 AM	#25
Ricardo_Jorge Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Brasil Posts: 209	Nice to hear that some of you are successful treating this f****ing bugs. But i have a concern over here. The treatment will kill the bug´s eggs too?? I´ve heard that the eggs still remaing in the coral and after some time, they hatch and the bugs come over again. Does it true?