Renton's Evolution from 200 to 440 gallons

Renton777 · Apr 1, 2014

I wish this was a April Fools day joke, but unfortunately it is not. I have a biblical plague of red bugs:

They are on multiple colonies.

I am currently in the process of murdering them with Sentinel. Updated pictures to come.

Renton777 · Apr 1, 2014

Pre-treatment:

4 Hours into treatment, picture taken with a flash (you can see a couple still on the coral at the bottom of the picture):

4 Hours into treatment after a little turkey basting action, picture taken with a flash

Renton777 · Apr 1, 2014

I will now be doing a 25% water change and running carbon.

I used the 23mg Sentinel pill.

I will repeat this process again in 3 to 4 days.

Renton777 · Apr 2, 2014

The morning after the first treatment there are no signs of the red bugs. Unfortunately, I did lose 2 fire shrimp and a 3rd seems to be on it way out. I knew it was a possibility. Most of the hermit crabs appear to have survived.

Mercurio · Apr 4, 2014

Very sorry to hear about your shrimp. If I lost mine I would be really upset. You have a very beautiful setup and are an inspiration to me. I love your choice of corals and aquascaping.

Renton777 · Apr 4, 2014

Mercurio said:
Very sorry to hear about your shrimp. If I lost mine I would be really upset. You have a very beautiful setup and are an inspiration to me. I love your choice of corals and aquascaping.

Thanks. I wish I didn't have to do this treatment and lose the shrimp, but the red bugs were seriously stressing the corals, so it had to be done.

Renton777 · Apr 4, 2014

I have not seen a red bug since the initial treatment on Tuesday (4/1/14). I lost all 3 fire shrimp after the first treatment but banded coral shrimp survived. Most of the hermit crabs appeared to survive as well.

Round two of treatment has just begun. In 5 hours I will do a 25% water change and start running carbon again.

I have not noticed any adverse effects on the fish or coral up to this point.

Renton777 · Apr 7, 2014

I did not see any adverse effects on corals or fish during or after round two either. My hermit crabs basically sat in the same stop for about a day and a half but are up and moving once again.

I have seen some tiny white pods buzz around the class, but at a much reduced population. I have not seen any amphipoids which were common so see in the sump and refugium.

I still have not seen any redbugs since 5 hours into the first treatment.

I will be doing the 3rd and final treatment tomorrow, followed by a 25% water change and a fresh batch of carbon in my reactor.

I will then do another 25% water change 2 or 3 days later.

In a week or two I will be adding a large diversified order of amphipods and copepods back into the tank.

Renton777 · Apr 9, 2014

Completed the 3rd (and hopefully final) treatment last night. The tri-color that is pictured with the infestation is already showing better color with the deep purple coming back. No new negatives to report.

Hopefully I can avoid future red bugs with thorough dips going forward!

I hope to find the time to take some quality pictures in the next week or so, haven't done anything but quick shots in a long time.

Renton777 · Apr 13, 2014

Renton777 · Apr 13, 2014

Renton777 · Apr 13, 2014

Renton777 · Apr 13, 2014

Hyperion · Apr 13, 2014

What is your system specs? Everything looks amazing.

arnel0387 · Apr 13, 2014

Do you dose magnesium? Hows the Achilles Tang, dragonets, and pipefish doing? Did you QT them or straight in the DT?

Renton777 · Apr 14, 2014

arnel0387 said:
Do you dose magnesium? Hows the Achilles Tang, dragonets, and pipefish doing? Did you QT them or straight in the DT?

I do dose magnesium, Kent Tech M and I try and keep it around 1400. The Achilles, dragonets and pipefish are all doing well. All the dragonets eat frozen, pellets as well as the pods in my tank. I did not QT any of those fish.