Acropora parasitic pods how to deal with?

[zedxplorer]

Some of my acropora has been having STN and I was wondering what is going on. Today I took a flashlight and shine on the ones that are receding and I found a dozen very tiny fleas looking thing that crawl around where it is receding. Looks like parasitic pods to me. A quick Google says that they feeds on acropora tissues and stress them out. Anyone has dealt with this before?

 

[Cpage101]

Some of my acropora has been having STN and I was wondering what is going on. Today I took a flashlight and shine on the ones that are receding and I found a dozen very tiny fleas looking thing that crawl around where it is receding. Looks like parasitic pods to me. A quick Google says that they feeds on acropora tissues and stress them out. Anyone has dealt with this before?

@ReefBum ran into these maybe the can provide some insite on how to deal with these. Did you try interceptor.

 

[zedxplorer]

@ReefBum ran into these maybe the can provide some insite on how to deal with these. Did you try interceptor.

I haven't, I do have it on hand though. I am just hesitant to nuke my tank with it as a first option. Would potassium chloride dip work?

 

[Cpage101]

I haven't, I do have it on hand though. I am just hesitant to nuke my tank with it as a first option. Would potassium chloride dip work?

I recall something like 2 or 3 times the recommended dose to kill them. Dip may work but they are already in the tank so it will be hard to eradicate without the full nuke.

 

[moyangjackwang]

if it’s red bugs then Kcl doesn’t work that well. It works better for AEFW.

I got rid of the red bugs with Bayer dip

 

[zedxplorer]

if it’s red bugs then Kcl doesn’t work that well. It works better for AEFW.

I got rid of the red bugs with Bayer dip

Don't think it's red bug, looks more like white bugs. I dip the affected ones in KCL and super glue the recession. Most seem to have fallen off. Let's see how it goes. Good thing they tend to stick with whatever piece they are colonizing so hopefully I don't need to run the nuclear option

 

[zedxplorer]

Lol shite...took a flashlight to look at my acro just now, turns out I have red bugs on many of them. Never noticed them before.

Do you guys have experiences with the interceptor plus (the one with prazi) for a full tank treatment? That's the one I have and can get my hands on.

 

[Reefried]

Are you sure they are red bugs? They could also be white bugs (some people call them grey bugs) or worse black bugs.

Red bugs are the easiest to see or notice with the naked eye. And they seem to be the easiest to eradicate. A good way is to use your phones camera to zoom in at night while you hold a separate flashlight with your other hand. The black bugs are tiny. About a third of the size of typical red bugs. White and black bugs require more interceptor.

I have experience with interceptor, and I usually do at least one proactive full treatment yearly to every 18 months.

I would not be worried about dosing the full tank with interceptor at all. I have also used the interceptor plus with Prazi, I would much rather the old school pills but the chews are fine, and I would also prefer the regular interceptor over the plus.

The standard treatment is 1 pill for large dogs (23mg milbemycin oxime) for every 400 gallons. I think this is way too low of a dose. This dose is for red bugs. The white bugs and more recent to the hobby black bugs take much more than the standard dose. I would consider 1 23mg pill per 100 gallons to be the standard red bug treatment currently. And I would go much higher for white or black bugs.

I have done 3 large dog pills per 100 gallons (my tank happens to be right at 100 gallon water volume) once a week for three weeks, with no ill effects. Everything was fine. Now I guess per the original formula that would technically be 12x the dose. However in my mind I consider that 3x the dose as like I said I go by 1 large dog pill for every 100 gallons. Using my method I would definitely prefer the regular interceptor as I don’t love dosing the tank with that much Prazi. However the last time I did the *12x I used the plus and the tank was fine.

The interceptor plus will obviously kill all crustaceans, and the Prazi will kill all bristle worms. Which some people like. I happen to not mind bristle worms so that is a negative for me. The Prazi will also deplete oxygen so I would remove the skimmer cup and let it overflow, which you should do anyways.


I also do not preform any of the typical water changes and use of carbon in between the three weekly treatments. I do the following. Week one, let’s say Monday night: turn off UV, remove skimmer cup, remove media from any reactors but let water flow through them. Dose tank. Wednesday I would put the skimmer cup back on, but not add carbon, and don’t do a water change. Then I would do the same the next two Mondays. The first Saturday after the last treatment (week 3) I would do a water change and run some carbon. I would also definitely recommend placing an order for some pods earlier in the third week. Maybe Tuesday/Wednesday of the third week so I have them ready. And I would spend about $100-$150 on them making sure I load the tank back up. Usually by the third week, people start seeing algae outbreaks, diatoms, and sometimes Dino’s. If any of these happen I would not do anything different. I would not start going crazy trying to resolve any of them. I would just give the tank, and pod population time to rebuild and things will settle back down in a few weeks.

 

[zedxplorer]

Are you sure they are red bugs? They could also be white bugs (some people call them grey bugs) or worse black bugs.

Red bugs are the easiest to see or notice with the naked eye. And they seem to be the easiest to eradicate. A good way is to use your phones camera to zoom in at night while you hold a separate flashlight with your other hand. The black bugs are tiny. About a third of the size of typical red bugs. White and black bugs require more interceptor.

I have experience with interceptor, and I usually do at least one proactive full treatment yearly to every 18 months.

I would not be worried about dosing the full tank with interceptor at all. I have also used the interceptor plus with Prazi, I would much rather the old school pills but the chews are fine, and I would also prefer the regular interceptor over the plus.

The standard treatment is 1 pill for large dogs (23mg milbemycin oxime) for every 400 gallons. I think this is way too low of a dose. This dose is for red bugs. The white bugs and more recent to the hobby black bugs take much more than the standard dose. I would consider 1 23mg pill per 100 gallons to be the standard red bug treatment currently. And I would go much higher for white or black bugs.

I have done 3 large dog pills per 100 gallons (my tank happens to be right at 100 gallon water volume) once a week for three weeks, with no ill effects. Everything was fine. Now I guess per the original formula that would technically be 12x the dose. However in my mind I consider that 3x the dose as like I said I go by 1 large dog pill for every 100 gallons. Using my method I would definitely prefer the regular interceptor as I don’t love dosing the tank with that much Prazi. However the last time I did the *12x I used the plus and the tank was fine.

The interceptor plus will obviously kill all crustaceans, and the Prazi will kill all bristle worms. Which some people like. I happen to not mind bristle worms so that is a negative for me. The Prazi will also deplete oxygen so I would remove the skimmer cup and let it overflow, which you should do anyways.


I also do not preform any of the typical water changes and use of carbon in between the three weekly treatments. I do the following. Week one, let’s say Monday night: turn off UV, remove skimmer cup, remove media from any reactors but let water flow through them. Dose tank. Wednesday I would put the skimmer cup back on, but not add carbon, and don’t do a water change. Then I would do the same the next two Mondays. The first Saturday after the last treatment (week 3) I would do a water change and run some carbon. I would also definitely recommend placing an order for some pods earlier in the third week. Maybe Tuesday/Wednesday of the third week so I have them ready. And I would spend about $100-$150 on them making sure I load the tank back up. Usually by the third week, people start seeing algae outbreaks, diatoms, and sometimes Dino’s. If any of these happen I would not do anything different. I would not start going crazy trying to resolve any of them. I would just give the tank, and pod population time to rebuild and things will settle back down in a few weeks.

Thank you so much for the long write up, this is very informative. I think they are red bugs? Or maybe a mix of a few. I took a picture. I think I'll do an interceptor treatment as it seems very safe to dose into the tank. I only have hermits so I can take them out, should be no problem. I do have a pistol shrimp that's hiding under a cave, just made a bottle trap and let's hope it gets in LOL. Hopefully my mandarin doesn't starve by then. What do the ones in the picture look like to you?

 

[Reefried]

They are 100% red bugs. If I were you, I would still do more than the original dose recipe

 

[zedxplorer]

They are 100% red bugs. If I were you, I would still do more than the original dose recipe

I think I'll try to do the 23mg for 100 gallon dosage. It seems standard nowadays and I have a 150g tank with around 100g water. That makes life easy. Will report back.