Red Bugs? Help Please.

[acesfull44]

So this is my first experience with a potential pest issue that needs attention.

This Gold Torch has been in my tank for several weeks now and I noticed 1 of the heads only halfway out. I thought maybe he was unhappy with the location, so I preceeded to move him. In doing so, immediately I see a huge amount of bigger red spots on the base of the torch. I removed it and dipped with revive (this is all I have right this second) and there were a ton of bug looking things that fell off.

Water Parameters:
Sal - 1.025
Temp - 77.1
Cal - 400
Mag - 1500
PH - 7.8
KH - 9.2
NO3 - 2
PO4 - 0

Any help would be appreciated:

 

[cpoynter]

It’s hard to see in the photos, but could those be flatworms? Honestly the red spots on the skeleton look like forams, and I’m not an expert on red bugs, but I think they are a SPS problem. Someone should correct me if I’m wrong here.

 

[Troylee]

It’s hard to see in the photos, but could those be flatworms? Honestly the red spots on the skeleton look like forams, and I’m not an expert on red bugs, but I think they are a SPS problem. Someone should correct me if I’m wrong here.

Red bugs are a Sps problem.. I’m not familiar with LPs pests besides some new flat worms I’m learning about just now that we’re around in my time 12 years ago or so lol..

 

[acesfull44]

It’s hard to see in the photos, but could those be flatworms? Honestly the red spots on the skeleton look like forams, and I’m not an expert on red bugs, but I think they are a SPS problem. Someone should correct me if I’m wrong here.

Not sure what a foram is, but I appreciate the feedback for sure.

Red bugs are a Sps problem.. I’m not familiar with LPs pests besides some new flat worms I’m learning about just now that we’re around in my time 12 years ago or so lol..

Thanks.

 

[Troylee]

Not sure what a foram is, but I appreciate the feedback for sure.




Thanks.

Try posting this in the lps forum I’ll bet you get some feed back..

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

With no tissue around the heads really I’m going to say euphyllia eating flat worms. Anything that looks like a bug is probably a pod that came off. The pic of your hand isn’t a bug. I’m guessing flat worm. Did it come off the base or from inside the torch? Or both? Get a magnifying glass and look for eggs on the hammer. Scrape off any you find. Dip again in a week and see what you get.

 

[acesfull44]

With no tissue around the heads really I’m going to say euphyllia eating flat worms. Anything that looks like a bug is probably a pod that came off. The pic of your hand isn’t a bug. I’m guessing flat worm. Did it come off the base or from inside the torch? Or both? Get a magnifying glass and look for eggs on the hammer. Scrape off any you find. Dip again in a week and see what you get.

I dont have a microscope so all I can do is watch closely. The flesh and tenacals have come back out after dipping so I am watching closely to see what develops. The red spots are super hard, crust like and I could not scrape those off when I dipped it. To be continued.......

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

I dont have a microscope so all I can do is watch closely. The flesh and tenacals have come back out after dipping so I am watching closely to see what develops. The red spots are super hard, crust like and I could not scrape those off when I dipped it. To be continued.......

Not a microscope but a cheap hand held magnifying glass. So you can look over the skeleton of the torch for small clusters of brown eggs. Dip for 4 weeks anyways to be safe. The hard red spots are nothing to worry about. Probably a hard algae.

 

[acesfull44]

Not a microscope but a cheap hand held magnifying glass. So you can look over the skeleton of the torch for small clusters of brown eggs. Dip for 4 weeks anyways to be safe. The hard red spots are nothing to worry about. Probably a hard algae.

Ty bud

 

[Privateye]

I'd agree with flatworms. Flatworm Exit works well and is reef safe, but it won't get all of them in my experience. If you're looking for biological controls then 6-line wrasses and spotted mandarins work well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So this is my first experience with a potential pest issue that needs attention.

This Gold Torch has been in my tank for several weeks now and I noticed 1 of the heads only halfway out. I thought maybe he was unhappy with the location, so I preceeded to move him. In doing so, immediately I see a huge amount of bigger red spots on the base of the torch. I removed it and dipped with revive (this is all I have right this second) and there were a ton of bug looking things that fell off.

Water Parameters:
Sal - 1.025
Temp - 77.1
Cal - 400
Mag - 1500
PH - 7.8
KH - 9.2
NO3 - 2
PO4 - 0

Any help would be appreciated:

Can you provide pic under white lighting? A little fuzzy but may be red planaria.

 

[WheatToast]

Not sure what a foram is, but I appreciate the feedback for sure.

Foraminifera, which are protists of the Chromista kingdom. Homotrema rubrum is one of the more common species in aquaria and is a harmless, filter-feeder that resembles encrusting red algae. It should be rock-solid.

 

[acesfull44]

Foraminifera, which are protists of the Chromista kingdom. Homotrema rubrum is one of the more common species in aquaria and is a harmless, filter-feeder that resembles encrusting red algae. It should be rock-solid.

Thank you for the feedback. When I tried to scrape the red spots off when I dipped this, those red spots were as hard as concrete, literally. Almost as if it was a coraline algae or something.

 

[acesfull44]

Can you provide pic under white lighting? A little fuzzy but may be red planaria.

I am gonna continue to monitor and the dip again next week and see. The tentacles and flesh part of the torch is out, but like 20% right now. I will have a magnifying glass to check for eggs on the skeleton next dip. The worms (or whatever technically fell off when I dipped) were dark brown and not red at all.

 

[ptrahan]

Red flatworms can easily be siphoned with a small hose. If left in the siphoned water, they stain the water a reddish-brown color as they die. Lots on here about using Flatworm Exit. When they die, they give off toxins. Sapphire Damsel (Springeri) are supposed to eat them. Maybe.