Dipping Dilemma

[Anonymous]

Well, red bugs have been spotted on my ORA tort. Not sure how they got here, as I am deligent about dipping incoming corals. So far I have only seen them on the tort. I suspect that my Halichoeres chrysus can't see them very well against the dark flesh, cause that fish has been a great pest eliminator for me. I am planning on dipping the tort this evening.

My dipping dilemma. The tort is on one end of a long narrow rock, at the other end is a fairly large colony of ATLs "strawberry patch" monti cap. I'm going to have to remove the entire rock to do the dip.

My question:

Should I mix up a large bucket of water with the dip, and dip both the tort and cap at the same time OR should I fill a bucket with enough water to just cover the tort and leave the cap exposed to the air for the duration of the dip?

Either way I'll be needlessly stressing the cap, but I want to nip these bugs before they get out of hand. I don't want to interceptor my entire tank when I have seen no evidence of anything other than a few bugs on the tort.

Any advice appreciated.

-Marcus

 

[Anonymous]

I thought dipping wasn't very effective for red bugs?

Do you have any crustations you care about? QT that rock (if possible) and use interceptor.

 

[Anonymous]

Seconded. That sounds like the best plan to me.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you bust a chunk off the rock freeing the Tort and leaving the Monti.

Drop the hammer Thor.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought that I read in an AA article that dip was effective on corals that were not heavily infested (but I could be wrong). So far I have only seen 3 of the buggers.

The only crustations I have that I care about are 3 cleaner shrimp, which would be easy to remove. I'm reluctant to treat the entire tank as Ihave heard stories of people lossing corals by doing it incorrectly. That and I'm not convinced red bugs are that big of a deal... but maybe I should. I can get interceptor easily.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you bust a chunk off the rock freeing the Tort and leaving the Monti.

Drop the hammer Thor.

Yes I think I can. Its a nice rock though.

I'm also thinking about soaking some newspaper in tank water and setting that over the cap while I dip the tort.

I could also do nothing and live with the shame of having cooties.

 

[Anonymous]

How long do they recommend to dip?

 

[Anonymous]

15 minutes
I've kept corals out of the water for that long before when I have re-aquascaped my tank, and I think their slime should keep them cozy and warm, but still...

 

[Anonymous]

You worry too much

Dip it. Use wet newspaper.

BTW - there is no shame in cooties.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you are probably right
I might not do anything at the moment. Even if the dip was effective in cleaning the tort, I bet the odds that there are no other bugs in my system is nearly nill.

Maybe I should just treat the entire tank. Other than the 3 shrimp I have very little crustacean life in my tank. The wrasse and orchid dottyback keep the tank pretty well picked clean.

 

[Anonymous]

I have treated my system several times. The shrimp I couldn't catch made it just fine, but I would still catch them out if you can. In other words, I haven't seen any problem at all with treating the whole tank. Have carbon and a water change ready and go for it.

Did you read the big thread here on RDO by Dustin? Since then, people have reported no negative side effects even at triple dosage. YMMV

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I have read a lot, and if it wasn't for a current thread in the SPS keepers forum on RC about someone losing half thier corals after treatment I would be enthusiastic.

But I think I'll just go ahead and treat the entire tank.

I just so happen to have fresh carbon and 40 gallons of fresh SW mixed up.

I guess I need to get some interceptor.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you read the big thread here on RDO by Dustin? Since then, people have reported no negative side effects even at triple dosage. YMMV

What dose did you use to treat your tank. 25mg/gallon?
I'm not sure how I will accurately measure it, so I might error slightly on the overdose side.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Tank Razed,

Send me a link to that thread - every time I have heard something like that it turns out that there was some other problem.

I dose with what dustin recommends - 380 gallons per pill? I crush up the whole pill and then divide it by eye trying to stay on the 'over' side.

Also, from what I have been reading and dosing, you only need one dose, not three.

 

[Anonymous]

Tank Razed?

You RDO admins always be outing me

I'll send you the link to the thread, it sounds like it was more of a problem of not dealing with the aftermath (slime event) than with the treatment itself, but it still makes me leary.

Good to hear about the single dose, but I have been receiving conflicting info about that.

Thanks for the help

 

[Anonymous]

Oh woops, that thread was about TMPCC, not interceptor. I'm an alarmist for no reason.

Can I tune a banjo to "my tank has fleas"... never mind, that won't make any sense to anyone

 

[Anonymous]

It makes sense to me!

Dipping is always a issue because it is easy to over does and some corals really really don't like it.

Everyone I know in the Bay Area, heavy sps here, only does one dose of interceptor.

 

[Anonymous]

Good to know, thanks

I'm going to see if I can get some interceptor from a local reefer.
We have a friend that is a vet, so I'm sure she would sell it to me if I told her what I was using it for, but that stuff taint cheap and I can't imagine ever needing an entire box of it.

 

[Anonymous]

If you got red bugs you need to treat the entire tank to get them all. I had RB, reciently. I did three threatment and only lost my cleaner shrimp. I took the 50-100 lb size intercepter, cut it roughly in half, crushed it up and dumped it in the tank. Let it sit for 6 hours with the skimmer off then did a 40 gallon water change, what ever % that is on 150 gallons. The corals started perking up after the first treatment. I did not see any more after the first, but did the multiple treatrments anyway. I got the pills from my vet. They sold me 2 instead of a whole pack of 6. If you have dogs or cats and a cool vet you should be able to get just what you need.

 

[Anonymous]

My vet sold me a single tablet of interceptor yesterday.

I'm planning on treating the tank in a couple of hours from now.
I have about 45 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed up and two phosban reactors filled with carbon ready to go.

So far I have been able to catch and remove 2 of my 3 cleaner shrimp. I haven't been able to catch the third. I don't know if I will be able to. If I can't I hope it makes it. There isn't anything else in my tank I am worried about. Between the wrasse and dottyback I don't have much of a pod population anyway.