Do I have black bugs????? HELP!!!!

[pcmc3]

Today while looking at my tank i notice super small black specs moving all over my clams shell (only after lights out). They are so small I cannot get a good photo with my phone.

Now after doing some research I feel like it is black bugs however, they are nowhere to be found on any of my sps. I know that this does not mean they are not but I am hoping I have noticed the issue early enough. This would be the first pest i have seen in my tank since its start (5 months ago).

I have a 3 dragonface pipe fish on order in the off chance that they might take interest in black bugs as they do red bugs. This being said i do not want this to be my only approach. Has anyone had any luck killing black bugs or anything i could do? All help and info is appreciated.

 

[tdileo]

Have you heard of copepods and amphipods? Those would be my first guess. Copepods are usually tiny white dots but amphipods are definitely noticeable and they look like bugs crawling around. If you have any rock right on your sandbed I suggest you stare at it for a minute and you will probably see them again

 

[pcmc3]

I appreciate the response. I am familiar with the two but these guys are much darker. Almost as dark as a sharpie marker and seem to be much smaller(.5mm) if even that. I'm going to try and get a pics or two.

 

[Achilles]

It's easier to find the eggs look for a single copper color egg. Also look at your coral most of the time it will be showing stress and sliming up on the affected area. Hopefully this helps.

 

[tdileo]

Agree with Achilles, slime is a solid stress indicator. If you can somehow get pictures of them that would help too. I couldn't do it since I don't have an actual camera, just my phone lol

 

[pcmc3]

So photos are near impossible. Imagine a black spec crawling around no bigger than a sewing needle. I have only one acro that seems to be mad and thankfully it is fairly small as only one branch looks messed with. I'm going to pull it see if I see anymore and either take photos or just outright dip the hell out of it using bayer. It's not to pricey of a frag.

Also it seems that they stay in the sand mostly. That where I see them a lot.

 

[Acro maniac]

I beat them and documented the treatment that i used in this thread
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acro-pests.301905/
Fwiw i could only find them with a flashlight and magnifying glass. The pics in the thread are cell phone but you can get the idea

 

[pcmc3]

Awesome! I will take a look at that now. Thank you very much

 

[pcmc3]

Here is the plan im going with. Hopefully it will work either way i will keep everyone posted.
1) Natural killers
2) Water change
3) Interceptor
4) Super strong Bayer dip (if required)
I might change the order of 2 and 3.

When i first noticed the bugs about a day ago i went and picked up at scooter blenny. Since then it would seem that i see less of the bugs hanging around the frag plugs in the sand. However i still see a coral or two not so happy.
Now it is well know that dragonface pipefish eat "red bugs" and some times are known to eat "black bugs" so my idea is if i get 2-3 pipefish will cause them to eat the ones i have. Now if i see that the bugs are growing larger in population or i do not see a change that i see as significant in coming in hot with a 4x does on interceptor. This last part is subject to change as i might just do it anyway once the pipe fish are in.

Now the only thing i worry about is if i do the interceptor i am going to kill a lot of the good pods and will be required to re seed the tank to sustain the pipefish and scooter.

 

[Achilles]

Step one seal eggs of black bugs

Step two dip coral in a standard strength coral RX bath with a large powerhead

Step three bayer dip(10oz per 3 gallons ) for 10 mins with strong power head

Step four / five rinse for 10 mins with a powerhead in the rinse container.

Repeat once a week for 3-4 weeks.

Good luck buddy!

 

[Achilles]

Please let me know if you are unclear about the steps. I am confident that this will cure your issue . Ps this works for any pest, it's extremely effective.

 

[Acro maniac]

Step one seal eggs of black bugs

Step two dip coral in a standard strength coral RX bath with a large powerhead

Step three bayer dip(10oz per 3 gallons ) for 10 mins with strong power head

Step four / five rinse for 10 mins with a powerhead in the rinse container.

Repeat once a week for 3-4 weeks.

Good luck buddy!

Not sure if he has the same black bugs I had. But I wasnt able to see them without a flashlight and magnifying glass. I never saw any eggs.
Either way i hope hes able eradicate them as they are very destructive. Also coral rx didnt do anything for the ones i had

 

[Achilles]

Depending on stage of life depends on how easy they are to see. The RX is more of a quick stuns to them so they don't have a chance to burrow into the polyp , what really eradicates them is the bayer paired with Sealing the rock perimeter around the encrusted portion of the acro that is where you'll see the most eggs, Which then cuts majority of the lifecycle out, thus less baby's to kill next week.

 

[pcmc3]

I'm definitely going to try it! Here is the best photo of what I'm seeing. Keep in mind I'm using a magnifying glass and he is on a small frag plug. I'm going to go after better pictures tonight.

 

[Acro maniac]

This is what mine looked like . This picture is a cell phone pic with full zoom taken 10 to 12 inchs from the coral. Also had a flashlight on the coral cause you couldnt see them under tank lights

 

[CoralWealth]

I'm definitely going to try it! Here is the best photo of what I'm seeing. Keep in mind I'm using a magnifying glass and he is on a small frag plug. I'm going to go after better pictures tonight.

any update on what happened here?

 

[raultsu]

Any updates?

 

[raultsu]

Any updates?

 

[305Reefer]

I'm now dealing with these as well as AEFW, both at the same time.

I think because I was dosing KZ Coral Booster I hadn't noticed the FW's. Coral growth and coloration are good on the majority of my Acros. But then in the last week I lost 3, and today I started seeing some of my more pricey corals get affected so I went nuts and took macro photos of them and found the dreaded black bugs. Now after spending several hours researching, tomorrow Im cutting frags of my healthy corals, 2x coral RX, then Bayer OD and they are going to another tank for 8 weeks of dipping warfare.. Im guessing they remainder will eat the encrusted leftover acros and then eventually die out when everthing is dead.. At which point I'll may consider moving SPS back into the tank. I'd rather keep my inverts and avoid interceptor. I may consider the interceptor overdose technique for dipping.. Sounds strong.

 

[305Reefer]