Well darn now I have red bugs and AEFW

[afamousjohnson]

When I bayer dip I usually use 5/5/5
5 ml bayer
To 500 ml tankwater
For 5-15 min depending on coral and visual
Always wiped out red bugs for me but more of a stun. Gotta shake or blow some off that haven't fallen.

I would worry more about aefw than red bugs tho if I had to choose a 1st attack.
If you have the extra system for mandarin and inverts might reverse that and remove sps and use it for QT to have a bird's eye while treating dipping and ridding(since interceptor is off the table at the moment)
Do you have any wrasses?

 

[ahmed.boomer]

When I bayer dip I usually use 5/5/5
5 ml bayer
To 500 ml tankwater
For 5-15 min depending on coral and visual
Always wiped out red bugs for me but more of a stun. Gotta shake or blow some off that haven't fallen.

I did 10mL to 1000mL yesterday. That's what the Styrofoam container I use holds. It was when I actually did this that I saw the AEFW. That's when the problem got really wacky.

I'm either going go use Interceptor if I can get it or get fenbendazole to eradicate the red bugs. I'm still trying to get the Interceptor so I don't kill off any of the soft corals I have. 1-800-PET-MEDS still sells it, so I just need to prescription.

If I get fenbendazole I'm going to get all my zoas, palys and inverts out and put then in a separate tank. However the red bugs might stay on that rock, so it puts me in a bad spot.

If I get all the SPS out, I'd get my mandarin out as well along with most my pods. These would be in a 45 gallon system I've felt in the garage with a couple minnows in it. I'm still trying to figure out the lighting situation and how to get encrusting acros off the rock work.

I do not have a wrasse. Might get a six line temporarily, but I really don't want to quarantine a fish while everything else is going on.

 

[dave decarli]

What! Where?!?!

I started noticing them in my system and I took out my sump got rid of EVERYTHING in it and bought a melanarus wrasse and they are no more. I haven't lost a single pod or crustacean nothing. try that first good luck.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

Update 1:

I'm dipping different corals everyday instead of all at once to see which are infected. I'm getting going in no specific order, but the more recent additions are being done first.

Day 1 (7/30): I did 5 mini colonies today. ORA Chips, Tort (I don't even think it's a yellow tort but that' what I got it as), unknown acro, Rose millipora and a pocillopora colony (underside was turning white, wanted to dip to make sure it didn't have anything). All photos are taken an hour after being dipped.

Unknown acro and Tort are where I found all the flatworms from. Can't see any red bugs come off. Perhaps they are too small?

Pocillopora after dip

Unknown Acro after dip

Rose Milli after dip

ORA Chips after dip

Tort after dip (feel free to inspect as this is where we first saw the red bugs), this photo was taken(7/31) today at 7pm.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

Here's how I've been dipping. I've upped it to 15mL bayer to 1L of water.

Found this container which does a great job. I put salt water in one and the liter of Bayer/water in the other. I placed it in the Bayer for 6 minutes. Then put it into plain saltwater for 3 and finally I rinse off any remaining Bayer.

Acros in Bath:

Some stuff coming to the surface towards end of bath:

Place acros into saltwater to sit, then a quick shake before I rinseL:

Day 2:

Dipped most frags that I have had more more than 3 months. I don't know most of their names so they're just misc acros. After bath this is the only critter I saw that was visible to my eye, and this photo is pretty darn magnified:

Also dipped these two other frags that I missed yesterday. Got them from a local fish store a months ago so they may have been the origin, but surprisingly nothing came off of them either. Nothing came off them when I put them in a bath when I got them either.

This is another acro I dipped today. Has a weird hole in middle

Going to dip this sponogdes as well. It started bleaching two weeks ago when I dosed a little bit of chemiclean after a fish had died. Issue decay has stopped, but want to make sure you guys don't see anything odd.

Acros dipped day to show no signs of AEFW. But I will redip all of them in 3 days.

 

[pciscott]

Joespetmeds.com you can get interceptor.

I have tried dipping in the past and it did not work for me. You need to dip and remove all acros to quarantine for a couple months. No acros in display, fallow 2 months to kill any aefw in tank. Then dip 3 times every 5 days before you return them and I cut the bases off just to be safe.

I know this sounds extreme, but while you have aefw you cannot trade, buy new acros, or enjoy your tank as much.

Interceptor makes Red Bugs easy! I wish it were same for Aefw!

Good luck and I tried dipping several times my first few years in the hobby and going acro fallow is the only way to guarantee getting rid of those devils.

Yes you can live with them, but I would not. Crazy how camouflage those suckers are!

 

[Tek]

AEFWs are the worse. I dismantled a small tank which they got into via eggs. Cut all colonies and dipped them in a 10ml/cup Bayer solution for 10 minutes before transferring to my larger tank. Haven't had the problem since and I no longer keep the base of rocks or frag plugs after dipping.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

Another question before I start to dose Interceptor:

How do I catch a Tiger Tail cucumber? I haven't seen it for a good while. I don't want it to die when I put in interceptor.

 

[gdemos]

Is that a vermatid in the 'weird hole' of the acro pic above? . Millie's and chips look strong. Tort and the frag nubs iffy. Not sure if you have mentioned but would be good if you can get some flow in there while Dipping. Like a little maxi jet. The only worse thing than tossing corals is second guessing yourself when the time comes. Just some moral support as I'm sure your doing every right. Sometimes you got to toss stuff. Keep posting.

 

[Eric G]

Speaking from experience your better off just tossing the acros, waiting and starting over. all it takes is one egg and bam, your in the same boat. I finally pitched everything in my 300 after years of dipping thinking I was in the clear and they returned.

 

[FarmerTy]

Another question before I start to dose Interceptor:

How do I catch a Tiger Tail cucumber? I haven't seen it for a good while. I don't want it to die when I put in interceptor.

Mine was fine with the treatment. I actually had 5 in the tank at the time. All survived and seem unaffected.

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm all about trying to save the corals. Put the good work in and you'll be rewarded. I had to battle it too early on when my dipping procedures were more laxed and won out.

Nowadays, with all these effective treatments, it's not really the tank destroyer it used to be. Good luck!

 

[Shep]

I agree with the recommendation that you should take them all out and put them in QT. You could dip them everyday for a month but if there are any AEFW in the tank itself, it will be for nothing. Plus in QT you would be able to keep a closer eye on them.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

I agree with the recommendation that you should take them all out and put them in QT. You could dip them everyday for a month but if there are any AEFW in the tank itself, it will be for nothing. Plus in QT you would be able to keep a closer eye on them.

I'm leaving the display without acros till November. I'm hoping that kills the ones in display. I might push it to December to be sure. I actually think those orange dots on the first photo are from new polyps. I can't find anything remotely orange/brown when looking after a dip at what's fallen or floating. It's either that or my Mandarin keeps them under control to the point they do not affect anything.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

Update: I'm still continually dipping every other day. Have not discovered any AEFW larger than 1/8" after dipping. Radion just came in so now I can set up my quarantine system. Will post photos when everything is ready to be moved.

 

[twilliard]

Hey guys please remember interceptor "itself" is no longer made.
What you are pointing out are chews that contain other ingredients that may harm a tank in the long run or even the moment.
http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=35393
I was using pure interceptor back before they quit making it. Yes someone else took on the line but please read what you are buying.
This is why I have been doing so much research over the years.
If you can find milbemycin oxime in its original dose please don't be afraid to say something.
Be wary of what you are putting in your tank

 

[Tek]

The replacement I believe is Spectrum and it has been proven to work just as well with the same side effects with inverts. We used it on a fellow reefers tank a few years ago with good success on red bugs.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

I dosed the interceptor(1/6 of a tablet). I think it did more damage to the pods rather than anything else. I isolated my cheato then put it back in, so hopefully there enough to keep my Mandarin alive till I can get more.

I didn't see any red bugs jump off the colonies after I dosed it. I hope that means there was only a few in the tank. I saw pods die almost immediately.

 

[Tek]

You should have treated all the water including the cheato just in case. People have found red bugs through the whole system. It would be better to rehome the mandarin until the pods can be reseeded.

I noticed the OU avatar so are you in Oklahoma? I can collect some pods for you to reseed.

 

[Ezeke1]

I'm glad you're already treating with interceptor and hopefully you'll rid of those pesky red bugs.

I'm going through a similar scenario with red bugs in my system but instead of using interceptor, which was extremely difficult to get a hold of, I found Dr. G's coral dip solution. I've used it as a bath to treat my colonies with bugs and it does a good job. You have to bathe the corals for a long time though. For those of us who have trouble getting interceptor this is a good alternative.

http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/sps-lps-coral-dip-solution.cfm