red acro bug cure DISCUSSION
- Thread starter DustinDorton
- Start date
You really won't miss much Joe. Everything appears very normal. The only real action I noticed was the bugs slowly disappearing and the bristle worms seemed to be curious.
I think I may have killed my acro crabs. I found one in my green humilis that wasn't moving so I blew him with a turkey baster and he just fell out dead. I had about 2 or 3 in my purple humilis and I haven't seen them. They are much harder to spot because the piece is so much bigger but I fear they are gone also. I have one that is alive in another acro but I think he may actually be bad. He does not look like any of my other acro crabs. He is fuzzy with what appear to be blue eyes. Can anyone tell me if that particular crab is bad. I can easily remove him if I have to.
I think I may have killed my acro crabs. I found one in my green humilis that wasn't moving so I blew him with a turkey baster and he just fell out dead. I had about 2 or 3 in my purple humilis and I haven't seen them. They are much harder to spot because the piece is so much bigger but I fear they are gone also. I have one that is alive in another acro but I think he may actually be bad. He does not look like any of my other acro crabs. He is fuzzy with what appear to be blue eyes. Can anyone tell me if that particular crab is bad. I can easily remove him if I have to.
Thanks Dustin...I got my answer to that from one of your posts on RC. "If its brown and fuzzy with blue eyes, introduce it to a pair of needle nose pliers. They dont kill corals, but they will clear off the area they like to live in."
I am removing this little guy asap. I always thought he may be a problem. Thanks!
I am removing this little guy asap. I always thought he may be a problem. Thanks!
Yeah, I didn't think I would miss much. I also thought about removing the acro crabs, but I'm not sure if they will reintroduce the red bugs if removed. So we'll see what happens with them. It will be a shame if they all die, I've got a bunch of them maybe 12-15 in the whole system.
12-15 that's a bunch. You must buy a lot of wild colonies. I think acro crabs are very cool to watch but I have my doubts about them actually cleaning/taking care of the coral. I think they are just there for there own protection and serve no benefit to the coral. IMO, it's just a good hiding spot. What's your thought?
After I looked at the pics of the bugs on RC, I can see the diff. now: the Acro bugs have clear bodies w/ red heads while the cyclopeze bugs have a solid red or orange body.
I'm waiting on the medication ordered from canadapharmacy.com. They told me it was shipped on last Sat, but still haven't received it yet
, and they also said it was shipped from a New Zealand pharmacy.
I'm waiting on the medication ordered from canadapharmacy.com. They told me it was shipped on last Sat, but still haven't received it yet
, and they also said it was shipped from a New Zealand pharmacy.OK. Came home at 6 PM and looked at the tank. Looked over all my acros. I couldn't find any red bugs, not one. I checked a few acros that had at least 8-10 bugs on one branch. I didn't see anything. Then I checked the rest of the tank. One acro crab on a yellow A. tenuis was hanging on to a branch in a dramatic death display. Wasn't happy to see that guy. I looked at other acros and could see the crabs moving though. So they weren't all dead. I found a few more scarlet hermits roaming around, they looked fine. So I started rinsing lots of carbon.
Shut everything down at 6 hours. did a 65 gallon water change on total system volume of 280 gallons. Threw in about half the 3.65 liter black diamond carbon(about 64 oz.), and two poly filters. Looked at the tank two hours later and still no red bugs to be found. Some of the acro crabs are still moving, my starlets are out and eating algae. I noticed polyp extension on two of my acros that had shown no polyps for months. Nothing crazy but they were out! I'll look at them at night and see if it looks better.
So far I'm very impressed. Thank you Dustin!!
Shut everything down at 6 hours. did a 65 gallon water change on total system volume of 280 gallons. Threw in about half the 3.65 liter black diamond carbon(about 64 oz.), and two poly filters. Looked at the tank two hours later and still no red bugs to be found. Some of the acro crabs are still moving, my starlets are out and eating algae. I noticed polyp extension on two of my acros that had shown no polyps for months. Nothing crazy but they were out! I'll look at them at night and see if it looks better.
So far I'm very impressed. Thank you Dustin!!
I've noticed that many people who have tried the treatment are geting immediate polyp expansion, and that the bristle worms are coming out...
I might guess that that might not be from a respite from the red bugs, but a feeding response to the gravy flavouring of the medication. If so, that is pretty interesting. If the flavouring is what causes the feeding response, how could that be usefull?, and maybe we could we buy ust the flavouring?
How are the fish reacting to the meds?
P.S.
I've got lots of red bugs on one of my acro's, but stangely enough, that acro has excellent polyp expansion, so I havnt rushed out to try the treatment yet. soon though.
Chris
I might guess that that might not be from a respite from the red bugs, but a feeding response to the gravy flavouring of the medication. If so, that is pretty interesting. If the flavouring is what causes the feeding response, how could that be usefull?, and maybe we could we buy ust the flavouring?
How are the fish reacting to the meds?
P.S.
I've got lots of red bugs on one of my acro's, but stangely enough, that acro has excellent polyp expansion, so I havnt rushed out to try the treatment yet. soon though.
Chris
It's been about a month since I first medicated...all I have to say is THANK-YOU Dustin!!!!!!!!!!! I have had the RB from day one of keeping sps so I really had no idea what the overall effects on the acros were because how the sps looked was how they appeared from day one in my tank...I always thought my polyp extension and color differences from others were the result of other parameters....
Well, I have numerous acros coloring up now. A. tenuis and A.selago are the most noticeable, my PM is looking more richly colored, jaquelineae is looking nicer etc... and the polyp extension overall on all acros is much more pronounced.
I cannot wait to see how they all look in another month
Well, I have numerous acros coloring up now. A. tenuis and A.selago are the most noticeable, my PM is looking more richly colored, jaquelineae is looking nicer etc... and the polyp extension overall on all acros is much more pronounced.
I cannot wait to see how they all look in another month
I did my second treament yesterday. I did a 60 gallon water change. Today I did another 42 gallon water change. I could not find any sign of bugs since the first treatment. Corals are looking great. I did loose one peppermint shrimp durring this second treatment but both of my cleaners survived again. They are pretty large shrimp so I think this helped with there survival. I had very little pod loss if any.
I have the red bugs in two of my corals, and I wonder if it is a good idea to treat them in a separate 10 gal tank instead of the whole 200 gal setup that they are in? I understand that egg/larva/juv./adult may be in the sand bed and other corals, but I only visually see them in only two of my 30+ acrops....
And is it illegal to obtain the med. from a local reefer due to federal law?
:?
And is it illegal to obtain the med. from a local reefer due to federal law?
:?
I think you should treat your entire tank. You might have a few on some of your other corals that you cant see. There is a good chance that there are unhatched eggs or larvae in the system as well.
No one is going to bust down your door for trading the medication. The law would have you get it from a vet though. Its not a controlled substance because its dangerous or addictive. The main reason it is not sold over the counter is becuase if its given to a dog that has heartworm and has not been screened for it, the dog can die when the worms are killed.
No one is going to bust down your door for trading the medication. The law would have you get it from a vet though. Its not a controlled substance because its dangerous or addictive. The main reason it is not sold over the counter is becuase if its given to a dog that has heartworm and has not been screened for it, the dog can die when the worms are killed.
I see your point on insisting treating the whole tank. In fact, last night I saw a red bug free-swimming in the water column when I disturbed the coral they were on... aren't they suppose to be difficult to get off the coral without blow it with hydroblasting jet :?
Dustin,
First let me thank you for all the incredible work you have done. Individuals like yourself are what make this hobby possible for people like me, and I hope someday there is something we hobbiest can do to help repay your work!
Anyways, after spending the last 3 hours reading the various related threads I ordered my pills from the online vendor and am planning on treating my setup as prescribed.
However, my question is (and please forgive me if you already answered this - if so no need to reply I will go back and find it):
Why not dose this like an antibiotic treatment and maintain a certain level of chemical in the system for an extended period of time rather than trying to dose, remove, dose, remove, etc.?
Again forgive me if this has already been answered/tested.
Joe
First let me thank you for all the incredible work you have done. Individuals like yourself are what make this hobby possible for people like me, and I hope someday there is something we hobbiest can do to help repay your work!
Anyways, after spending the last 3 hours reading the various related threads I ordered my pills from the online vendor and am planning on treating my setup as prescribed.
However, my question is (and please forgive me if you already answered this - if so no need to reply I will go back and find it):
Why not dose this like an antibiotic treatment and maintain a certain level of chemical in the system for an extended period of time rather than trying to dose, remove, dose, remove, etc.?
Again forgive me if this has already been answered/tested.
Joe
Simply because we don't know exactly how toxic it is. I dont know what would happen to everything else in the tank if you did it that way.
I found one way that worked, and didnt put it through the "clinical trials" that would have been necessary to determine what could go wrong if things got changed around.
I found one way that worked, and didnt put it through the "clinical trials" that would have been necessary to determine what could go wrong if things got changed around.
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
