I beat red bugs!

[secretreefer]

Hey guys,
Just darn happy that i defeated an outbreak of red buggies i had in my tank. I was trying to get some interceptor and by chance i found a old tablet that i had left in one of those small tupperwares. it was pretty old but i decided to take a chance after the pests were over running my sps. They were like dust all over it.... anyways i cut the tab in 4 (large dog size unflavored) pieces and smashed 1/4 tab into some tank water. i smushed it with a spoon as fine as i could, mixed with tank water and dumped it in my tank. ran my skimmer w/o the bubbly and 24hrs later NO RED BUGS!!!! YEAH, water changed 25% this afternoon and put 2 bags of carbon in the sump. I'm a believer. I will do another treatment next week. :bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile: this was before it got out of control.

 

[melev]

That's great. Try to remember to dose your new arrivals in a quarantine tank for at least 12 hours in Interceptor to keep them out of your system.

 

[secretreefer]

Thanks Marc, I actually read your treatment and followed it for the whole tank treatment. Thanks, you've saved alot of reefers!!! ALSO, I didn't lose any coco worms, featherdusters, hermits. my green mandarin seems as fat as usual so i don't think i lost too much copepods. NO cleaner shrimp in my tank but i have a couple of pistol shrimps that also survived.

 

[nayrgaijin]

Congratulations man!!!!
Best feeling ever huh? I had this issue awhile back, interceptor is awesome!

 

[melev]

Happy to help. Hey, you added a picture.

What I do is keep one crushed pill in powder form in a tiny vial. Each time I get a new coral, it goes in my quarantine tank. I take a single scoop (the tiny white Salifert spoon) and mix it in some tank water and pour it in the QT. That is how I've avoided redbugs ever since.

 

[secretreefer]

Congratulations man!!!!
Best feeling ever huh? I had this issue awhile back, interceptor is awesome!

thanks man! where u been?

Marc- thanks, i'll remember to do that. you've just made my qt treatment easier !!

 

[Acroholic]

Happy to help. Hey, you added a picture.

What I do is keep one crushed pill in powder form in a tiny vial. Each time I get a new coral, it goes in my quarantine tank. I take a single scoop (the tiny white Salifert spoon) and mix it in some tank water and pour it in the QT. That is how I've avoided redbugs ever since.

I do exactly the same thing, right down to the Salifert spoon, hehehe! Way too many people overdose their tanks to the detriment of their other crustaceans. If you follow the rule of one large breed pill per 380 net gallons you can kill the RBs but not kill your hermits, shrimp, etc. A large breed Interceptor pill weighs just under 1 gram, so if you have a scale you can get pretty exact dosage for any net volume of water.

 

[secretreefer]

i am going to do that. maybe turn 2 into powder and put it in a short test tube with a cover.

 

[MitchReef]

I wish every problem in this hobby was as easy to fix! I also keep a crushed pill and a Salifert spoon with the QT!

 

[Der ABT]

ask your vet if they have any expired pills they would let you have, expired stuff still works in tanks and if its free why not, my vet was like to do what....fun explaining what your using it for specially when they actually look it up online and go wow that makes sense but are suprised it doesnt hurt corals.

 

[secretreefer]

yeah, unfortunately my vets near me are donkeys who aren't very openminded.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

I will do another treatment next week.

Don't forget to dose again! In a main tank treatment I always dose twice to ensure the suckers are gone ;)

 

[secretreefer]

thanks! Will do another treatment on saturday.

 

[Acroholic]

yeah, unfortunately my vets near me are donkeys who aren't very openminded.

Interceptor (Ivermectin) is manufactured for the intended purpose of preventing heartworms in dogs and cats, but most States have laws that allow Veterinarians to prescribe drugs for "other than intended use" for animals based on their discretion. Most States probably have this on the books as well. You can check thru you States Veterinarian Laws.

Vets can do this in Georgia (my State), and if your State has the same, then it is not any legality that would keep a Vet from doing it for you. But some may be closed minded, as you say.

 

[melev]

I asked my vet how a person was supposed to get these if the vet is resisting, and this is the advice I was given:

1) Plan on paying for the office visit
2) Bring a picture of your tank to staple to the patient chart
3) Buy a full pack

The fact is, if you walk in with a dog or cat, they will tell you how important it is that you buy Interceptor to keep your pet alive and healthy. The irony is that we are trying to do the same for our reefs. What happens, I believe, is that people are trying to buy a single tablet for $6 or so and the vet won't do it. I can't blame them for this - it would be annoying. That's like going to Firestone and asking to buy a cup of oil.

So go prepared; bring the URL to my red bugs page so they can see the 'fleas' in question, and spend the money. It is still one of the easiest treatments we will ever do. Buying a full pack of pills provides you with well over a year of dosing, including all those times you need to dose new arrivals in quarantine. A single pill can dose my QT five times (one pill is about 5 Salifert spoon scoops).

Melevsreef.com - Interceptor | Red Bug treatment

 

[secretreefer]

thanks again for all your insight Marc, appreciate it!

 

[secretreefer]

UPDATE I looked in my tank last night, was planning to do another INTERCEPT treatment tomorrow and ......RED BUGS ARE BACK! GRRRRRRRR i'm ready to flip the tank!!

 

[Troylee]

be thankful its not aefw!!!!!!! red bugs are easy and the best of pests to get if you were gonna get one...

 

[melev]

You should treat the tank three times in a row, one week apart. This kills them all, including any hatchlings.

 

[secretreefer]

thanks Troy and Marc. i really appreciate your help. got some water made last night. so i'll be DOSING EVIL BUGGERS tonight. .....i'm also getting some REVIVE hopefully today. should i take all my colonies out and qt them in my spare 20L? and intercept the tank? i did have aefw before and i took all my sps out and treated them. lost 2 mini colonies :cry: but i don't see any "signs" of aefw except on my christmas Milli. But i heard aefw only goes on smooth skinned sps?