Black bugs?

[Syntax]

I have a red planet that had tiny black bugs at the base of the coral. I noticed the bugs after taking the frag out and dipping in iodine. There definitely has been something eating at the base. I have had one other coral that had the same issues a month or so ago. I have dragged the coral and placed on my frag rack.

Has anyone dealt with these? If so, how?

Video here: Black bugs?

 

[Syntax]

Any advice Dong? @dz6t

 

[Syntax]

Here’s an even better video.

Bugs2

Anyone have an idea of what these are?

 

[dz6t]

Any advice Dong? @dz6t

How long do you have that coral?
It is hard to tell from the photo. But I will say dip it in Bayer and that will kill of black bugs if there is any.

 

[Syntax]

I’ve tried Bayer and it does nothing. I even left it in the dip overnight and they were still moving around the next day. Here are some pictures that I took last night.

I have tried dipping with the Red Sea Dip and Purge. Going to try KCL and then Ivermectin.

Apparently these are called: halacarid mites. They are smaller than a red bug, almost microscopic.

I can’t be the only one who has ever dealt with these?

 

[JohnK]

Black bugs

Thanks Steve. That's why I pulled all my caps. Just to be sure. When I kick these bastards I'll replace your frags.

www.bostonreefers.org

Assuming these are the same bugs, it sounds like interceptor worked in the past. Curious about any long term feedback about the effectiveness, at least short term looked good.

 

[Syntax]

Black bugs

Thanks Steve. That's why I pulled all my caps. Just to be sure. When I kick these bastards I'll replace your frags.

www.bostonreefers.org

Assuming these are the same bugs, it sounds like interceptor worked in the past. Curious about any long term feedback about the effectiveness, at least short term looked good.

I saw this, thanks for posting. I have been researching these a lot over the past few days. So much conflicting information.

It’s hard to believe that these things can sit in Bayer for 24 hours and be fine. If the kcl dip doesn’t work I may have to toss all the coral and try an extended fallow period. I’m at a loss.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

That's crazy. Are you sure they are bad? Are they eating your corals?

 

[Syntax]

That's crazy. Are you sure they are bad? Are they eating your corals?

I know! Check out the pictures at the top of the thread... they are eating the acros. I religiously dip all my corals, but even a 24 hour Bayer dip doesn't touch these things.

I'm experimenting on a frag plug at the moment, using melathion to try to kill them.... I have an old bottle of diluted solution... so far I am at a 10/1 saltwater to melathion ratio and they are still moving around. I'm increasing the dose every 15 minutes, been almost two hours and they are alive and well. Of course, I don't know the dilution of the solution I'm using, I think it is pretty weak.... maybe a couple tablespoons in a typical spray bottle.

 

[Syntax]

Update: KCL was not effective enough, about a 75% kill rate with a 5% solution.


I’ve been doing a lot of research and reading on ivermectin baths… there are several threads that discuss this in detail.

I just finished my first ivermectin bath of all my corals, a 2 hour soak in 3 gallons of tank water with 2.2ml of ivermectin. I used an air stone and a heater. The corals slimed a little, but some kept polyp extension throughout.

I removed from the bath and placed the coral into a container of fresh saltwater with a phosban 160 running carbon for about an hour. I observed many bugs coming off in the slime of the coral, none of them moving. This method has a 100% kill rate on the bugs. I may need to repeat this process weekly for several weeks with the hope of eliminating them from the tank.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I feel bad for you. It's scary that the Bayer doesn't work since that is what many of us use for a dip.

The worst I've had is montipora eating nudibrachs, and they were a pain to get rid of. I hope your corals appreciate your effort and thrive after all this work. Good luck.

 

[Mavpond]

So I had these. There’s two types of these black bugs. Bayer does work. They instantly fall off. You have to scrub the eggs off. They are golden brown color. I’ll see if I still have pictures and videos. I fought with these for a long long time. not much reach on them. But after I do clean them off I super glue everything to encapsulate anything I missed. or cut the base of depending on size of colony. Any questions feel free to shoot me a message. These are the worse. The eggs are so hard to find.