Strange STN

[ReefHunter006]

I wonder if these are the problem, or just some wee beasties that happen to be around.

If you don't have a bunch of ornamental crabs and shrimp maybe Interceptor is in your future.

Those black specs look like this under a microscope

 

[ReefHunter006]

Yes

Any advice on how to explained to the vet to provide a prescription?

 

[Huskymaniac]

Any advice on how to explained to the vet to provide a prescription?

The vet we take our dogs too has an exotic department. They knew what it was for.

 

[sculpin01]

Apparently these are halacarid mites, the only truly marine mites. From the little information I could find, these are poorly characterized and described, and exist in many marine niches. It is definitely possible that a coral parasite halacarid could exist.

 

[ReefHunter006]

I did find this. Looked like a close match to a known black bug family.

 

[dadnjesse]

You can get them from Canada

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www.canadapetcare.com

 

[ReefHunter006]

Would love to hear what people did with their cleanup crew during the treatment.

 

[ReefHunter006]

So never did figure out what caused the STN.

The home wrecker Frag I was worried about had about 1cm of flesh left since January. You can see the progression of the Frag below.

Never ended up dosing interceptor or changing anything. Reduced all swings from .3-.5 daily to .1-.3 daily on average by switchingand raised ph from a range of 8.1-8.35 to 8.4-8.8. Probe is calibrate quarterly and checked again via the probe on a second system.

It appears to be recovering. Top is Dec, middle is mid jan, and bottom is today ( you can see the pink flesh at the top left).
Since the changes, Growth appears to be taking off. I can’t wait to get the heavy duty camera set up to track it.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

So never did figure out what caused the STN.

The home wrecker Frag I was worried about had about 1cm of flesh left since January. You can see the progression of the Frag below.

Never ended up dosing interceptor or changing anything. Reduced all swings from .3-.5 daily to .1-.3 daily on average by switchingand raised ph from a range of 8.1-8.35 to 8.4-8.8. Probe is calibrate quarterly and checked again via the probe on a second system.

It appears to be recovering. Top is Dec, middle is mid jan, and bottom is today ( you can see the pink flesh at the top left).
Since the changes, Growth appears to be taking off. I can’t wait to get the heavy duty camera set up to track it.

Interesting to me your first photo almost looked like a sponge was taking over a few of your frags and the coral was building a barrier and tried to grow over it. I've seen some nasty sponges that engulf corals, they are super sticky too. Hard to explain.

 

[ReefHunter006]

Interesting to me your first photo almost looked like a sponge was taking over a few of your frags and the coral was building a barrier and tried to grow over it. I've seen some nasty sponges that engulf corals, they are super sticky too. Hard to explain.

Apologies, I don’t see the sponge your referring to.

I never cleaned any sponge off the Frag either.

 

[Dr. Jim]

I did find this. Looked like a close match to a known black bug family.

That parasite looks very much like the "Brown Bug" I recently described here:

IVERMECTIN and DYACIDE to Kill an Unidentified Parasitic “BROWN BUG” on SPS

Several months ago, I obtained 10 SPS frags from a seller on Ebay. At the time, I had 8 frags already in my Q-tank. All frags were dipped with my usual procedure: -50:50 mix with seller’s and my water; 10 minutes with pinch of Interceptor -Transfer to container with Coral...

www.reef2reef.com

Look at the picture in post #7.
I found this bug to be resistant to Interceptor, Bayer, and a few other common dips and treatments that we generally use. I recommend trying Interceptor first. If that doesn't help, consider an organophosphate like the one I used, Dyacide. I eventually got rid of the parasites, but I am not sure if it was the Dyacide or the combination of that with ivermectin that did it.

 

[Syntax1235]

That parasite looks very much like the "Brown Bug" I recently described here:

IVERMECTIN and DYACIDE to Kill an Unidentified Parasitic “BROWN BUG” on SPS

Several months ago, I obtained 10 SPS frags from a seller on Ebay. At the time, I had 8 frags already in my Q-tank. All frags were dipped with my usual procedure: -50:50 mix with seller’s and my water; 10 minutes with pinch of Interceptor -Transfer to container with Coral...

www.reef2reef.com

Look at the picture in post #7.
I found this bug to be resistant to Interceptor, Bayer, and a few other common dips and treatments that we generally use. I recommend trying Interceptor first. If that doesn't help, consider an organophosphate like the one I used, Dyacide. I eventually got rid of the parasites, but I am not sure if it was the Dyacide or the combination of that with ivermectin that did it.

Hello,

I know they this is an old thread, but I thought I’d reach out because I am dealing with the same thing, tiny black mites that are killing my acropora. Just wondering if you tried kcl at any point on these things? Dyacide is not available anymore. These things seem to be immune to everything.

 

[Dr. Jim]

Hello,

I know they this is an old thread, but I thought I’d reach out because I am dealing with the same thing, tiny black mites that are killing my acropora. Just wondering if you tried kcl at any point on these things? Dyacide is not available anymore. These things seem to be immune to everything.

I never tried KCl but doubt that it would work. It wasn't too long ago that I found Dyacide. If it is true that it is not available, I would look for another organophosphate. Organophosphates are always my last resort because of their toxicity hazards but they should work well for stubborn arthropods/crustaceans.

 

[Syntax1235]

I never tried KCl but doubt that it would work. It wasn't too long ago that I found Dyacide. If it is true that it is not available, I would look for another organophosphate. Organophosphates are always my last resort because of their toxicity hazards but they should work well for stubborn arthropods/crustaceans.

I wonder if neem oil would work as a coral dip?

 

[Dr. Jim]

I wonder if neem oil would work as a coral dip?

If it was me, I'd look for an organophosphate: dichlorvos or trichlorfon. I just did a quick search and see that they may not be easy to find, but if you spend time you might succeed. The quick search showed that they are often in grub killer solutions but I didn't look at all the ingredients. If you can find some in it's PURE form, let me know. I have a veterinary fish disease book that has a lot of treatment options (for fish) and can probably help you with a dosage for corals. I'm somewhat confident that an organophosphate would work. (The dyacide worked for me when many other treatments failed).

 

[Syntax1235]

I've got some Melathion lying around for when I used to use it in the flower garden. I'm working on a frag plug that is covered... using 100ml of tank water and increasing it every 15 minutes... I'm up to 10ml and nothing yet. The solution I'm using is in a spray bottle and already diluted, so it may be too weak to work. I have the original bottle somewhere.... will try that when I have more time.

Thanks for your offer to help. I'll do some research on acquiring the products you mentioned. Won't Melathion work?

 

[Dr. Jim]

Won't Melathion work?

If you find the right dose it probably would provided saltwater doesn't interfere with it, I suppose. I didn't mention it because I have aquarium-use dosages only for the ones I mentioned.

 

[Syntax1235]

If you find the right dose it probably would provided saltwater doesn't interfere with it, I suppose. I didn't mention it because I have aquarium-use dosages only for the ones I mentioned.

I'll look for the others; however, upon the completion of a brief search, it doesn't seem like it is attainable in a form that is not diluted by many other things I can't pronounce.