Oh man! Freaking Out!

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

I'm in a panic now.

I positioned an old tri-color (A. valida) frag next to my glass so I could play with the macro lens on my phone. Wish I hadn't now!

What the heck is it? They're tiny! And I mean tiny; not really visible (to me) without magnification. Seems to be a crustacean, with a yellow body and red on its head.

#Lionfish Lair
#reefsquad

TritonsGarden · Apr 10, 2017

Red bugs

cvportagee · Apr 10, 2017

I second it.....Red Bugs

Lionfish Lair · Apr 10, 2017

SNAP!!!!

Wow! May I make some still shots from that video for the hitchhikers guide? Credit to you, of course!

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 10, 2017

That's one way to add color to a tank.

Lionfish Lair · Apr 10, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
That's one way to add color to a tank.

Das cold man.

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 10, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
Das cold man.

Im sorry...

melypr1985 · Apr 10, 2017

Wow. That's excellent video of them. I agree with red bugs.

Reefrookie220 · Apr 10, 2017

Time to take the dog to the vet!

Melevsreef.com/redbugs

Found a lot of info and his trwatment method here.

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

Man! Not cool.

RED BUGS!

Studying up now.
Ive only seen them on the one piece so far, but have many unremovable smooth skinned acro's in the tank.

Curios on the most contemporary medicine and dose if someone can point me.

Strange, no notable damage on any corals, but looking much closer now.

happyhourhero · Apr 10, 2017

So, they are a pest and you have some work ahead of you. They are not the worst thing in the world but be aware that there are cases where the red bugs were keeping aefw in check so if you pull the frags and dip, look for the worms too.

A huge bright side to this is you just produced probably the best footage of red bugs most people in the hobby have ever seen.

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
SNAP!!!!

Wow! May I make some still shots from that video for the hitchhikers guide? Credit to you, of course!

I've got a much much better vid for you. Give me a bit to upload it. My home ISP stinks!

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

In this vid you can actually see the translucent sub-adults.

What really bums me out is the idea of killing off what is surly a vast and predominantly beneficial array of copepods, amphipods, and much more, all for the sake of this one parasitic species.

I mean, what's going to happen for the span of time all the copepods and amphipods are gone? Who's to say I'll get them all, or, that I won't re-introduce them as I repopulate with parvocalanus and grammarus?

Man.....

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 10, 2017

CastAway said:
In this vid you can actually see the translucent sub-adults.

What really bums me out is the idea of killing off what is surly a vast and predominantly beneficial array of copepods, amphipods, and much more, all for the sake of this one parasitic species.

I mean, what's going to happen for the span of time all the copepods and amphipods are gone? Who's to say I'll get them all, or, that I won't re-introduce them as I repopulate with parvocalanus and grammarus?

Man.....

I think a picking fish would work as well. (Not sure what fish you have) Many use dragonface pipe fish for red bug control.

AdamPhe · Apr 10, 2017

That is wild! Sorry jeff. If I can help you out let me know!

Lionfish Lair · Apr 10, 2017

They sure are pretty though. Awesome video. Do people always have to treat for these ?

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
They sure are pretty though. Awesome video. Do people always have to treat for these ?

I don't think so. Ive yet to see visible damage, but, am not sure what to look for.

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 10, 2017

Joe Yaiullo treated his tank for AFEW by blasting the corals regularly and letting the rest of the critters in system eat them.

CastAway · Apr 10, 2017

We'll, Ima think on it; continue to study and assess, then document whatever I do here on R2R.

Thanks everyone.

Reef Nutrition · Apr 10, 2017

CastAway said:
In this vid you can actually see the translucent sub-adults.

What really bums me out is the idea of killing off what is surly a vast and predominantly beneficial array of copepods, amphipods, and much more, all for the sake of this one parasitic species.

I mean, what's going to happen for the span of time all the copepods and amphipods are gone? Who's to say I'll get them all, or, that I won't re-introduce them as I repopulate with parvocalanus and grammarus?

Man.....

Do you have a population of Parvocalanus spp. copepods in your reef tank? They are actually a calanoid copepod that spends their entire life out to sea. They have no benthic tendencies and can get killed quite easily by heavy water current, filters, pumps and aeration. I'm sorry for asking, but that really jumped out at me when you said that. I've been working with Parvocalanus crassirostris for years now and I have never heard of anyone getting them to populate a reef tank. Did someone tell you that they could make it in a reef tank? I do have to say that they make a great food, but I would never claim that they can live in a reef tank. They aren't even easy to culture; requiring live algae at a specific density to maximize reproduction.

I'm curious, as you can tell.

Chad