Interceptor and Clams

[Acroporaguy]

Hello. I've had an extremely mild infection of black bugs (or something of that nature) in my reef for the past 4 months. I've finally been able to find some interceptor (large chew tablets) and it's supposed to arrive early next week. My tank has a lot of feather dusters, micro brittle stars, and a Crocea clam. My question for those with experience with interceptor is if it's harmful to anything besides pods and crustaceans? Especially if it's safe for Tridacna clams? Thank you.

 

[jda]

I have never had a problem with MBE at the dosage that Dustin from ORA recommended with clams. Shrimp, crabs and starfish were not too happy, but some lived after being stunned for a while. I never dosed more than recommended.

 

[Acroporaguy]

I have never had a problem with MBE at the dosage that Dustin from ORA recommended with clams. Shrimp, crabs and starfish were not too happy, but some lived after being stunned for a while. I never dosed more than recommended.

I appreciate the response. I ordered a digital scale to get the exact dosage correct as my tank is only 20g. Hopefully all works out, I'll post an update when I dose the tank next week.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Ha I nuked my tank with half a large pill for about 125 gallons. No issues. I have a nice maxima and long spine urchin. I did remove as many crabs as I could. I did three repeat doses one week apart.

 

[Acroporaguy]

Ha I nuked my tank with half a large pill for about 125 gallons. No issues. I have a nice maxima and long spine urchin. I did remove as many crabs as I could. I did three repeat doses one week apart.

Sweet, I can't wait to nuke these little buggers! Did you do a water change after, or just let the medication circulate?

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I added carbon after 24 hours. I did a water change of 15% Also. After the third and fourth dose I did a 20% water change. I did the carbon 24 hours after each dose. So I did a maintenance dose 1 year later as my acros were pale, and as a precaution I did it. I placed carbon in the reactor, and left for 9 weeks. Currently I’m four weeks into it and my tank buddy says the tank is looking great. So unless you have crabs and shrimp you can’t remove, don’t worry to much about the water changes.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

You will also love watching them freak out and die after you dose. Crush the pill up with a spoon and add to warm water to help dissolve. Good luck and do it lights out, and take a video with a flashlight. It is awesome.

 

[Acroporaguy]

You will also love watching them freak out and die after you dose. Crush the pill up with a spoon and add to warm water to help dissolve. Good luck and do it lights out, and take a video with a flashlight. It is awesome.

I appreciate the tip! I have hardly any (can only observe them after lights out and no flow), and they only seem to like my A. valida for some reason! They're practically microscopic it's crazy. Even though my acros look great and are growing fine, I want the bugs gone so bad. I'm curious to see if the corals look better after the treatment as they look great currently.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Weird my corals looked like crap with red bug. No color, no polyp extension. A few corals were unaffected.

 

[Acroporaguy]

Weird my corals looked like crap with red bug. No color, no polyp extension. A few corals were unaffected.

I'm not sure if I have red bugs exactly (they're not really red, more of a brownish colour), but they're definitely some species similar. They crawl pretty fast on the surface of the coral

 

[homer1475]

Sure there not flatworms? From the description they sound more like FW then red bugs.

I would definetly get a positive ID before dosing interceptor as that will do nothing to flatworms.

 

[Acroporaguy]

Sure there not flatworms? From the description they sound more like FW then red bugs.

I would definetly get a positive ID before dosing interceptor as that will do nothing to flatworms.

I thought I was dealing with flatworms initially, but they're definitely some species of copepod. I was able to capture a video of them actually, they look like brown pods of some sort (maybe because they feed on the acropora flesh?). They crawl super fast just like a pod, and they definitely don't move like a flatworm does.

 

[ScottB]

When you see them crawling, are they on the acropora flesh or just along the base? Are the shaped like shrimp/amphipods or more like copepods?

I have a handful of colonies/frags soaking in a bucket of Interceptor right now to confirm if I have any of these bugs (tegastes acroporanus) before nuking the whole tank.

 

[LOVEROCK]

When you see them crawling, are they on the acropora flesh or just along the base? Are the shaped like shrimp/amphipods or more like copepods?

I have a handful of colonies/frags soaking in a bucket of Interceptor right now to confirm if I have any of these bugs (tegastes acroporanus) before nuking the whole tank.

any chance you can put one under a scope? curious to what they are

 

[Acroporaguy]

When you see them crawling, are they on the acropora flesh or just along the base? Are the shaped like shrimp/amphipods or more like copepods?

I have a handful of colonies/frags soaking in a bucket of Interceptor right now to confirm if I have any of these bugs (tegastes acroporanus) before nuking the whole tank.

Here's a video - I was able to catch a couple crawling around. They only crawl on the tissue, so i'm assuming they're parasitic. You can see one right when the video starts (look near the top of the video). The interceptor is arriving tomorrow so this weekend I'm going to hit my tank with it.

I don't have a microscope unfortunately, and there's no way I'd be able to catch one haha! Would love to check out their anatomy though.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

That one was moving. I’m not sure what you had. let’s see if someone has a better idea. Also that coral had good polyp extension. Usually they won’t. It’s for sure not a flatworm.

 

[Acroporaguy]

That one was moving. I’m not sure what you had. let’s see if someone has a better idea. Also that coral had good polyp extension. Usually they won’t. It’s for sure not a flatworm.

I've read posts about black bugs, white bugs etc. so maybe there are many different species of parasitic copepods? Like you said, the coral still shows good PE so maybe this species is not exactly detrimental to the health of the coral, but I'm sure the Acro probably doesn't like it haha. I plan on eventually trading frags and such so I definitely want to make sure my coral are clean.

 

[ScottB]

any chance you can put one under a scope? curious to what they are

I've dipped a hundred times and have never seen one. Just a hundred dead amphipods of various sizes. Nothing shaped like the ones pictured. Dipped in KCl and /or Melafix / Bayer.

I have some frags/colonies soaking in Interceptor right now though, and will be looking for these critters this evening when the soak is over.

 

[ScottB]

I've dipped a hundred times and have never seen one. Just a hundred dead amphipods of various sizes. Nothing shaped like the ones pictured. Dipped in KCl and /or Melafix / Bayer.

I have some frags/colonies soaking in Interceptor right now though, and will be looking for these critters this evening when the soak is over.

Well, for one thing my AEFW are BACK! But I know how to solve for those. Surprised that Interceptor knocked them off.

Before I go nuking the tank, I am trying to get a bug confirm ID. Anybody think this is red bug or white bug? This is 400X so these buggers are small, guessing maybe like 40-50 microns?

 

[Acroporaguy]

Well, for one thing my AEFW are BACK! But I know how to solve for those. Surprised that Interceptor knocked them off.

Before I go nuking the tank, I am trying to get a bug confirm ID. Anybody think this is red bug or white bug? This is 400X so these buggers are small, guessing maybe like 40-50 microns?

Your video isn't playing, I think it's private :-( maybe change the video to unlisted?