Possibly Some Very Bad News.......

[3mrhythm]

POSSIBLY SOME VERY BAD NEWS.......

I was just moving my tank around when i was cleaning it .. and moved the humils ... and just noticed lots of little orange speks on it ....possibly red bugs? i dont see them on any of the other acros .. and in the last month an a half .. i've had some of the best acro growth yet .. so it might be nothing .... would a like 2min freshwater dip kill whatever is on the acro? the polyps are fully extended on all the acros too

the humilis is definately the only thing with these orange things on them ... they are very small .. tiny tiny ... and orange ... the move a little i think ... it almost looks like the cyclopeeze ..but maybe smaller ... idk what it is .... the last thing i put in the tank was a purple tort frag from skiptons back in Nov.... but it looked clean when i purchased it.. so thats why i think it might be something else .. hopefully im not in red bug denial .. heh heh


any suggestions .. and i dont like this interceptor idea .. seems like i will lose to many inverts....

 

[Moe_K]

check out the interceptor threads on RC or RDO.
treatment doesn't sound like that big a deal. just remove as many shrimp and crabs that you can.

 

[Kim]

Sounds like it could be. I was in bug denial for a week too when I got them. Your description "it almost looks like the cyclopeeze " is exactly what mine looked like to my naked eye. But over the week it became clear that they were moving around.

I hope for your sake its not those bugs but if it is the treatment really isn't so bad.

 

[3mrhythm]

we'll im not going to try to remove my shrimp in a 90 gallon full of LR ... i'll take out the coral and FW dip it .. if that doesnt work then i'll just toss the coral and go on with life...

 

[seasno]

Freash Water dip will probably kill the acro...monti's can take a short dip, but my experience isn't good with acro dips. If you do have the little buggers you will probably have them elsewhere in your tank also. The only sure way I know of to get rid of them is the Interceptor treatment like Moe mentioned.

 

[Moe_K]

Is that your only Acro?

Don't just toss it. Maybe somebody near you would be willing to take it, hold in a Q tank for treatment and then add to their tank.

Edit: BTW according to those who've tried, a FW dip won't do much at all.

 

[Paula]

YOu would toss a humilis rather than treat your tank????? Heck before you toss it let me know - I'll come get it and treat the coral in a quaratine tank and add it to my sps reef. I treat EVERY coral before putting it in my tank. I did do the interceptor and lost 1/3 of my shrimp and most of my acro crabs - but it wasn't too bad. Now I am diligent about dipping all incoming corals.

Most likely if you see them on one coral, they are on others. You might as well treat it . . .
Good luck - and let me know if you want me to come pick up that "buggy" coral!
(and btw - we all have had the cooties . .. don't be ashamed!)

 

[Ray]

the only way to get rid of them is to treat your whole tank

 

[3mrhythm]

will it hurt my clams? i have 6 clams that i dont want to lose...

 

[Kim]

I treated with a maxima clam in the tank. No ill effects with mine.

 

[LauraD]

I treated w/ interceptor and my clam was not effected. Your hermits and shrimp are at risk.....If you cant move them then you may lose some. Tossing your coral wont fix the problem, because if they are on one, you have them in your tank.
Can you remove the coral. Rinse it over a bowl so that they will fall off. Then look at it under a microscope or magni glass and see if it is a redbug. Redbugs have a clear looking body with a red "butt"....very distintive. Check out the threads for pics.
If you determine that it is redbugs....go ahead with interceptor. Not a big deal.
YMO LauraD

 

[3mrhythm]

i can take the coral out .. but i dont have a microscope anymore .. i had a really nice one ... but i sold it ...

 

[LauraD]

Some people have been able to id it with their naked eye. So try it anyway. Wash the bugs off the coral into a shallow bowl. Put the coral back into your tank. then try to get a better look at the critter. My redbug was white/clear color....but had the "red"butt as the threads will decribe.
Good luck.

 

[Ray]

I treated with 12 clams in my tank and had no problems

 

[Moe_K]

Here's a picture of a mite in some hair algae at 10x magnification.
The mite is gold colored, with a red spot on its posterior.
The critter in in the middle of the bubble of water, where the alaga makes a Y.

 

[Moe_K]

Here it is at 60x magnification:

 

[Moe_K]

And finally at 200x:

 

[Greg Hiller]

>the only way to get rid of them is to treat your whole tank<

I disagree, from experience. I even wrote an article about it:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2003/feature.htm

There are more photos in the article.

If you only have one Acro, remove the Acro and treat it. Wait a week and return the 'clean' Acro to your tank and you should be fine. These guys have a very short lifespan, and IMO/IME do not hang out on much of anything other than Acropora.

 

[Lam]

Greg,

I believe 3M has many sps in his tank. Would you advise him to just treat that one coral? Would that be safe enough? Or would you rather advise as Ray did to "(the only way to get rid of them is to) treat your whole tank"?

 

[Greg Hiller]

Lam,

My mistake in not reading the initial post more carefully. If the other SPS were just Montipora's then it would not be a problem, but since the post specificially stated he had mulitple Acropora's then yes, a full tank treatment would be necessary unless ALL Acroporas were removed from the tank.

Again, my mistake...reading too fast!