red acro bug cure DISCUSSION

[Anonymous]

Hey Dustin,

I treated with Interceptor two days ago (thanks by the way, it worked like a charm) in one of my small tanks and I am having a cyano problem in the same tank - its smothering some corals. Do you think its ok to treat with chemi clean so quick after Interceptor? Any advice would be great.

Thanks

RR

 

[DustinDorton]

I have no idea. If I had to guess though I would say it wouldnt be a problem.

Glad you had good luck with the stuff.

 

[DKKA]

I've read this whole thread and only noticed one mention of snails. Am I correct in assuming snails have been unaffected by this treatment. I'd hate to lose my queen conch.

Dan

 

[PlaneCrazy]

I lost no snails during the course of treatment in my 90. I have a good size queen conch and she's still kickin'. The only things I lost were cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp. My emerald crabs and pistol shrimp are fine. YMMV.

-Aaron

 

[josh2338]

So you are saying to use 25mg of Interceptor per 10 gallons. Not 25mg of Milbemycin Oxime. Is that correct?
Each large dog tablet contains 23mg of Milbemycin Oxime. The tablet weighs just under 1 gram. You will be using 25mg (0.025grams) per 10 gallons. Each pill treats 350 to 400 gallons. There are 6 pills in a box. You will have enough to treat your system 6 times if you get a full box.

I did the treatment two days ago and everything went well What I did with the info quoted above, thats 5mg of milbemycin oxime per 100g so I got the INTERCEPTOR 5.75mg, a tablet containing 5.75 mg of milbemycin oxime. I used one tablet for 120gal. I did a 20% water change and added activated carbon and all is doing fine. Like everyone else I lost the hermits and a few acro crabs other than that everything else is still alive! Will be doing second treatment in about 7 days and will do the 20% water change. Hopefully this info makes it easier. Thanks Dustin for the info!!!!!!!! ---> 8) :wink:

 

[zuri]

I am doing a modified version of this recipe based on earlier discussions on other forums. You can see my progress here:

http://exoticreefs.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29

 

[mopecula]

I would like some people who had done this treatment a year or so ago to chime in and give some results on their tanks. How are fish doing, clams, snails and etc.? I am waiting to get the medicine myself and will be treating here in the next few days or so. I am confident this will work, lord knows my acros need it badly cause they are starting to have some tissue die off due to these bugs and colors are all turning pale on the ones infected. I have also noticed no growth on the corals that are infected, has any one else experienced this? Also these bugs are hard to see even with my magnifying glass. and on some corals you can't see them at all depending on the color of the coral but you know they are there cause of the symptoms the coral is showing. I just here everyone chatting about these bugs like you can clearly see them but maybe i need a microscope or a bigger magnifying glass, lol.
Mo

 

[rnosal]

Been thinking of doing this but not for Red Bugs.... I have a Cirolanid Isopod problem. Yes the kind that attach to your fish and eat there blood., eventually killing hte fish and devouring it.

So I dont care if all Pods are killed,they are easy to reintroduce.

My plan is to get as many crabs and snails out as I possibly can.

What about anemones? is it safe for them, I might even pull the 2 I have just to be safe.

Does anyone see a problem with this ?

 

[tinker1227]

First I would like to thank Dustin for testing this treatment so thoroughly, the dosage worked like a charm for my tank. It was really not hard at all to figure out, my vet was happy to give me the medication and facinated by the whole thing, especially when I told her it worked. The guy at the drug store thought I was crazy at first, but was much more interested when he found out the reason and was very nice in weighing the doses.

The thing I'm having a hard time with is why people are not removing the crabs and shrimp from their tanks before dosing? It took about 5 minutes to remove acro crabs into baggies and place in the sump for the treatment, and the same to get them back in the tank after carbon and water change. Now, I understand that sometimes there are animals that can't be removed, especially out of the really big tanks. I have a pretty lg. crab (almost 2") that couldn't be removed, and I was terrified that he would die in the treatment. I think he made it because of his size. I would think that the chance of reintroducing the bugs from these animals would be pretty minute, and isn't it worth saving the lives of those you can? It doesn't really take that long. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[tinker1227]

For those asking, from what I understand this medicine only kills crustaceans. Snails, slugs, clams ect. are mollusks and aren't affected. The fish do fine also.

 

[Toomnymods]

Can I use this as a substitute for the other medicine?
I's called Iverhart Plus the ingrediants inside are 272MCG Ivermectin, and 227MG pyrantel as pamoate salt
I've been to 3 vets in my area and they don't sell the type listed above and he said it was the same thing.. good for up to a 51-100lb dog
Please respong quickly my corals are under siege :/

 

[wade1]

Toomnymods
:welcome:


Ivermectin is not the active ingredient in the cure for red bugs. It is Milbemycin Oxime and is not the same thing. See this thread for exact dosing instructions: http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=439155

What you can do is ask for a prescription for it from your vet and then contact one of the mailorder places to fill it (1-800-petmeds for example).

Wade

 

[coastal]

what about shrooms do they make it through the treatment? anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

IIRC the med attacks the exoskeloton of the bugs so the 'shrooms should be fine. If you have any shrimp or crabs you may have problems. You will probably notice a decrease in the pod poplation also.

 

[coastal]

are flat worms and red bugs the same?never mind they arent and thank god i dont have red bugs yet.....

 

[wade1]

They are not the same... if you do a quick search on each of those terms, you will likely find both descriptions and pictures of them.

In brief: the red bugs are tiny, barely visible, and only live on the tissue on acroporas. The flatworms are larger and live on many surfaces in the tank, typically under ledges and edges where they are partly shaded from direct light.

 

[coastal]

thanks i had already figured that one out just not used to having parasites in my systems so i dont know much about them i will surley watch out who and where my live stock is comming from no red bugs here

 

[brandonberry]

Is anyone aware of any other coral other than Acropora sp. that can be a host for these bugs. I am about to begin treatment of all of my acroporas in a quarantine tank, then move them to a seperate reef tank that is not infested. I plan to wait at least 15 days before placing them back in my main display. I realize that this may not be effective in treating them, but I'm willing to give it a try before I commit to treating my entire tank. I just want to make sure that the bugs cannot use any of my Montiporas, Seritoporas, Pocilloporas, Porites, or any LPSs as an intermediate host. I do not see any on any of these currently, but didn't know if it was just that they prefered acropora. Lastly, I saw a previous post about A. Millipora getting these bugs. I noticed that my Millipora also has the bugs, but not to the extent of some of my other Acroporas.

 

[coastal]

from what i have read acro's seem to be the only thing they bother but that wont keep one from leaving the acro you must treat the whole system to be sure

 

[wade1]

Ideally you will want to do 2 or 3 treatments on the corals before you move them. Once will 90% likely not kill them all (for whatever reason... eggs might survive, even a single one and they'll spread again). Treating in a seperate tank can be a good idea though.