Bugs, Interceptor, and Frag Tiles

[nickkohrn]

I found bugs on a few Acropora frags today. Not knowing exactly what they were, I tossed those frags. I’m going to contact my dog’s veterinarian tomorrow and ask for Interceptor.

My system consists of 48 SPS frags, 13 LPS frags, and 2 soft coral frags. I have nearly 100 snails and a cleaner shrimp, so I’d prefer to perform an external treatment procedure in a separate container; heater, pump, and Interceptor for a couple of hours. I don’t mind performing the treatment multiple times, if that means being able to perform the treatment in an external environment.

I know where I received the bugs from, and I contacted the other party. They were kind enough to confirm that they found them on the colony that my frag came from. Below is a photo in which you can see the bugs on the coral. I didn’t place arrows or circles on the photo because I didn’t want to obscure any bugs.

Questions

1. Should I treat all frags or only SPS frags?
2. Will the aragonite tiles absorb Interceptor and harm my crustaceans after replacing the frags in the main system?
   • Should I run carbon in the main system?
   • Are there any precautions that I should take to minimize any I’ll effects on my inhabitants?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Noooo.l Simple dip would have cleared most of them. Ive had the same and beat the pests.

 

[nickkohrn]

Noooo.l Simple dip would have cleared most of them. Ive had the same and beat the pests.

I used CoralRx on every coral that I have. Is it possible that I just didn’t use a sufficiently-strong concentration?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I used CoralRx on every coral that I have. Is it possible that I just didn’t use a sufficiently-strong concentration?

Very possible.

 

[nickkohrn]

Ive had the same and beat the pests.

What did you do to beat them?

 

[vetteguy53081]

CoralRX straight from the bottle and rinsed in ro and placed back in tank. Three weeks later, dipped again using Revive and rinsed in ro and back in tank. Last week I pulled some random pieces and it was bug free.

 

[eraser2001]

Dr. G's Coral Dip has the same that interceptor and you don't need a veterinarian to get it

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Man that sounds like a lot of work when one simple dose would be all you need to rid the tank. They are live bearers so no need for two or three treatments unless you want to be totally sure, I have never needed one. Honestly I have done a lot of treatments and shrimp live More often than not. And that’s the only thing that you have to worry about. Moving everything will be more stress on the corals and you. Plus it’s impossible to know you got them all even after a bunch of dips because pests like red bugs aren’t always on the corals. Also you will have to treat in the buckets for more than a few hours which will complicate things even more.
Whichever way you choose to treat I hope it works out though so good luck! You will be happy to see the difference when they are gone.

 

[nickkohrn]

Man that sounds like a lot of work when one simple dose would be all you need to rid the tank. They are live bearers so no need for two or three treatments unless you want to be totally sure, I have never needed one. Honestly I have done a lot of treatments and shrimp live More often than not. And that’s the only thing that you have to worry about. Moving everything will be more stress on the corals and you. Plus it’s impossible to know you got them all even after a bunch of dips because pests like red bugs aren’t always on the corals. Also you will have to treat in the buckets for more than a few hours which will complicate things even more.
Whichever way you choose to treat I hope it works out though so good luck! You will be happy to see the difference when they are gone.

I didn’t realize that only one treatment would suffice since I’ve been reading that people perform two or three treatments. I like the sound of a single treatment much better than multiple.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Yea red bugs at least don’t lay eggs which was found out a while after we started using intercepter. Not a lot of people give the advice of one treatment because they didn’t know and they read the articles from a while back and see three treatments are required.
When I treat I leave shrimp in there and sometimes only one dies but mostly they get stunned and half to most survive if there are a few of them. Pods rebound in large numbers shortly after the treatment too, it won’t kill every single pod in the tank like a lot of people learn from reading.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I have done treatments with no water change and no carbon added until a week or two later as well. The tiles won’t absorb the medication and kill anything in the tank, it’s not like Bayer which is dangerous.

 

[nickkohrn]

Yea red bugs at least don’t lay eggs which was found out a while after we started using intercepter. Not a lot of people give the advice of one treatment because they didn’t know and they read the articles from a while back and see three treatments are required.
When I treat I leave shrimp in there and sometimes only one dies but mostly they get stunned and half to most survive if there are a few of them. Pods rebound in large numbers shortly after the treatment too, it won’t kill every single pod in the tank like a lot of people learn from reading.

The information that you have provided is making me feel better about treating my tank with a single dose.

I have a 100g system, so it seems like I should use two pills of Interceptor for large-breed dogs. Does that sound correct?

I apologize for all of my questions. As you said, a lot of the posts are outdated, and I want to ensure that I know what I’m doing before I treat.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I think one large dog pill treats 400 gallons if I remember correctly. I normally use a double dose but that’s because my pills are always towards the expiration date and because I normally don’t for a follow up dose.

 

[Silent]

That's too bad, that is a nice looking frag.

 

[nickkohrn]

I called five local veterinary offices this morning, and not one carries Interceptor or will write a prescription for it. So, I checked eBay, but I came away empty-handed.

I didn’t imagine that interceptor would be this difficult to obtain. Maybe I should just order Dr. G’s Coral Dip instead.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

The trick is to go in person with pictures and info on the treatment. And only visit mom and pop vets. I went to one and he asked how many boxes I wanted so I got 5 boxes and he charged me what he payed for them too. Couldn’t believe it.

 

[C. Eymann]

I cannot speak of experience of treating/dipping only affected corals, but I have hit my own systems and LFS systems I have worked at with milbemycin oxime (inceptor) at more than double the dose recommended by Dustin Dorton (not recommending this, follow dosing instructions )without any ill effects to anything but the crustaceans in the systems.

After a few 25% w/c and running carbon for several weeks shrimp, crabs, etc etc were added back to these systems with no I'll effects to them.

I'm not educated on the chemistry involved on the absorbition/break down of milbemycin oxime in a reef aquarium, but I figured I would share my experience with it.


Coral dip wise in the prevention of RB/pests I have always preferred Tropic Marin pro coral cure over Revive and others on the market. Knocks a lot of critters off/dead, yet causes little stress to the coral.

 

[Jettareefer223]

I’ve done a ton of interceptor treatments over the past 18 years. Most recently I had black bugs experimented over the course of roughly 18 months. Finally beating them doing follow up treatments,but I’ve tested concentrations of interceptor ranging 3-9x what the standard dosage (red bugs) at durations ranging 18-48 hours. All treating the whole tank finally having success 3 total treatments 7 days apart back to back. Interceptor is really safe if you administered correctly especially the initial/first treatment on the system. Even at the the insane dosages I’ve never had any loses or really even any issues. If you have a question or anything PM me I don’t mind glad to help.

I dipped all my stuff super hard and still got bugs The acro that infected my system looks very similar to the one you pictured. It’s huge no despite being infested on and off for 18 months.

 

[nickkohrn]

I’ve done a ton of interceptor treatments over the past 18 years. Most recently I had black bugs experimented over the course of roughly 18 months. Finally beating them doing follow up treatments,but I’ve tested concentrations of interceptor ranging 3-9x what the standard dosage (red bugs) at durations ranging 18-48 hours. All treating the whole tank finally having success 3 total treatments 7 days apart back to back. Interceptor is really safe if you administered correctly especially the initial/first treatment on the system. Even at the the insane dosages I’ve never had any loses or really even any issues. If you have a question or anything PM me I don’t mind glad to help.

I dipped all my stuff super hard and still got bugs The acro that infected my system looks very similar to the one you pictured. It’s huge no despite being infested on and off for 18 months.

I want to use Interceptor because I have read about positive experiences with it. However, it has proven to be challenging to obtain. I have reached out to six local veterinarians, and none of them carry it or will write a prescription, even after explaining the situation and intended usage. I was unsuccessful finding it on eBay as well. I had no idea that it would be this difficult to obtain after reading how easily others have acquired it. So, I ordered Dr. G’s Coral Dip, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, after reading about successes with that product.

 

[Jettareefer223]

I want to use Interceptor because I have read about positive experiences with it. However, it has proven to be challenging to obtain. I have reached out to six local veterinarians, and none of them carry it or will write a prescription, even after explaining the situation and intended usage. I was unsuccessful finding it on eBay as well. I had no idea that it would be this difficult to obtain after reading how easily others have acquired it. So, I ordered Dr. G’s Coral Dip, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, after reading about successes with that product.

I’ve called all over city many time and had the same experience, and the vets are really
unwilling to be helpful at all. Part of the problem is simply the fact interceptor plus isn’t readily used anymore since there’s plenty combination products like trifexis. It took me two months until I finally obtained mine. eBay did come thru for me I checked the listings often. One day total dumb luck a “pot of gold” showed up I purchased 3 full boxes (36 chews lol) of medium dog chews 11.5 for $80 and they weren’t expired. All gone now along with the bugs. I was helping another guy out and he used DR G’s he said it appeared to work. Just take it easy on the first round then do 2-3 heavier follow up treatments and you should be good.