Red Acro "Bugs" -- Looking for volunteers

[mia1974]

I have completed two doses...the second dose I only performed a 10% waterchange and left the med in for almost 8 hours, which were the only factors that differed from the first treatment...

I have had these the red bugs in my system for almost 2 years and am pretty good at finding them after all this time...I have not seen a single bug since the first dose. I look at 4 acros in particular where they seemed to favor clinging (tricolor, humilis) or where they were easier to spot (loripes, tortuosa)....

After the first dose all mysis shrimp were gone (100%). I had hundreds visable at night, and now cannot spot even one at any time of the day or night. I lost all acro crabs (2 that I knew I had). I still do have some pods in my sump, but the numbers are lower and they seem to be the larger variety. I spotted one very large (3 inch) crab last night on my rock, it doesn't surprise that it lived considering his size. I had no shrimp to begin with before the med was given.

I have always dosed for 400 gallons...my tank is 360 and sump is 112 (only 1/2 full) ...perhaps what is happening is that some of us used a bit more medication per volume?

 

[DustinDorton]

I could have under dosed a bit. It could have been a number of things. Perhaps the medication broke down quicker since the tanks are lit with natural sunlight. Perhaps the medicatoin was bound up in organic matter, or the deep sand beds throughout the system. I also performed a very large water change, turned the uv and ozone on and added a lot of carbon at exactly 6 hours.

Im not considering it a failure by any means, just an expensive attempt. I think I will retreat tomorrow, to get the rest of the bugs.

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

Jeremy, Paul, Chris, Joe, Janine, have you seen any bugs back in your tanks

I completed a thorough check last night and cannot see any signs of the bugs.

Has anyone else other then myself complete all three treatments?

 

[DustinDorton]

Oops, I forgot Andre in that list of names.

Paul, Janine is doing her last test this coming monday. I am pretty sure Jeremy is running his third right now.

When I came in this morning, 3 of us spent 2 hours looking for bugs. The majority of those that were left on the corals were dead and stuck there. We were able to find 1 bug that was alive between the 3 of us.
Strange thing is, the bugs seemed most resistant to the medication on one particular strain of coral. This was the most infested strain in the system, and at the same time, it wasnt bothered by the bugs. A single fragment would have hundreds of bugs, and it grew just fine, with normal coloration.
I decided to retreat the whole system again, this time factoring in the sand beds. It made a pretty significant difference in the doseage.

I am 3 hours into the treatment now. Hopefully I get them all with this treatment.
I have to say, you can hardly tell there is anything in the water. Every single animal in the system is acting just like they normally do.

 

[ReefRelated]

Dustin,
I don't run a DSB in either my fuge or my display. I have about 1.5" in both. I am constantly stirring up my sand keeping it very clean of detritus. My tank does not cloud at all when my sand is stirred up. It's very clean. My question is, would you recomend I stir my sand a couple times durring the treatment and maybe again after my treatment or do you not worry about eggs or bugs being in the sand?

 

[DustinDorton]

I dont think anything will be in the sand. The bugs most likely hatch off and stay on the coral, or hatch and float around in the water for a while.
I guess that its not impossible for them to have a stage in their life thats spent on or in the sand. I don't know enough about them to give a positive answer.
Stir it up if you want, I dont think it will make a difference. I would wait until the end of the treatment so you dont bury any undissolved medication.

 

[DustinDorton]

Update on the latest treatment.
All of the bugs are dead this time. At least all of the ones that I could still find.
Its amazing how little effect there is on the rest of the system. I was able to find a single peppermint shrimp alive about 2 hours into the treatment. His body was starting to turn white. By the end of the treatment this afternoon, he wasnt dead, but he seems pretty much brain dead and is even more white.

I plan on treating for the next 3 weeks, I might stick to the two treatments back to back. I want to be beyond certain that they are gone. Even though it might take months to find out.

 

[Blue Jester]

Still zero red bug life in my tank. No ill effect, and great polyp extension on some frags that had almost nothing prior to the treatment.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I am very axiously await the result of these tests. They are all over a few of my frags, some of the most beautiful one. I only have one system so could not joint into the test.
Let us know, and sell the medication to us soon. I really need it because one of my small colony may not last too long.
Minh.

 

[mia1974]

I am seeing some amazing changes now...I have had the bugs since the beginning of keeping sps, so to me how the acros looked in my tank was what I always thought was normal...well, I am seeing polyp extension like I have never experienced before. I am also seeing certain corals beginning to color up. The weird thing is that I have seen the bugs in other peoples tanks and they have great polyp extension anyhow...I guess that this was not the case with myself ( I do have higher levels of organics than any of them-long story). I will watch these acros closely, because whenever I did get new frags I would notice a decline in polyp extension and color change (which I thought was due to the switch to poorer water quality on my part)on a few specific types within 3 weeks although there were usually only a few bugs to be found on the frags which I didn't think would be that much of an irritant...I would think it would become clear (hopefully) in about 4-6 weeks after the final treatment as to whether or not the bugs will come back ...

 

[fishcraze2002]

tagging along.. really interested in this test - wonder if you take more volunteer

 

[invincible569]

tagging.

Just curious, after the medication, are you guys getting algae outbreaks?

 

[Blue Jester]

No algae outbreaks here... No ill-effect towards anything in my tank.

The only issue that anyone might have (so it appears) is crabs, pods and shrimp loss. This can be curtailed by removal and quarantine in a non-acro tank for the duration of the treatment.

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

Just curious, after the medication, are you guys getting algae outbreaks?

I did not experience a algae bloom either, though I suspect it would not be impossible for a slight cyno bloom to occur. For example, in the presence of a refuge and/or a tank with a large pod population you may see a temporary spike in dissolved organics from the die off which could fuel a bloom. But I would think it would be very temporary.

 

[scavdog]

Jeremy, Paul, Chris, Joe, Janine, have you seen any bugs back in your tanks

No Red Bugs have returned. I observe these corals daily, and so far so good. Great polyp extension, btw.

I have seen pods in the tank and I even spotteed a blue leg hermit who managed to live through 2 treatments.

good stuff.

Joe

 

[DustinDorton]

Still havent been able to find any bugs in the system. Some of corals that are in some low flow corners still have dead bugs stuck to them. They turn pretty bright white after being dead for 24 hours. Even more noticeable than when they are alive. They must have a killer grip on the corals to hang on even when dead.
Today I found a good number of amphipods still alive, as well as the commensal pistol shrimp that were in one of the tanks.
I am a little concerned about the algae blooming up. Amphipods are a pretty important algae consumer in my system. So far it hasnt been an issue but we will see what another week in the sun does.
After some discussions with my staff today, we decided to stick to two treatments back to back every week. We are going to do 3 more weeks of treatments if everything goes well (about $650 worth of medication!!!)

 

[ReefRelated]

So are you saying we are going to have to wait 3 more weeks to find out this medication?

 

[DustinDorton]

No, I did not say that. What I have said over and over again is be patient. The name of the medication will be released when the initial volunteers and I think its safe.

 

[ReefRelated]

Could you tell me roughly how much it will cost for me to do 2 back to back treatments in my 250g system? I am only refering to the medication costs not water, salt, carbon, and whatever else we may need to supply from home. At first I got the impression it wasn't very expensive but when you mentioned $650, I wanted to ask.

 

[DustinDorton]

If you stick to the suggested minimum of 3 treatments, it should cost you $40 to $50 depending on what the medication costs you.
The system I was referring to is about 4,000 gallons and is going to get a total of 8 treatments.