Black bugs....help

[Vmacisback]

Does anyone know a sure fire method to get rid of these? They are starting to show up on the base of some of my sps and making the base turn white and slimy and show filaments at the base. They are mainly in one small area or the tank and were brought in from a maricultured piece I added.

I recently dosed a full pill of the the new version of interceptor which I thought worked but seems like they’re still hanging on. My tank is a Red Sea 525xl so maybe 110g total. Seems like these are tougher than red bugs.

Any help would be great.

 

[Reeferdood]

If you can, pull the coral out and dip it. Use a syringe and blast the coral where the bugs are and see if they come off then. Don’t treat the entire tank if they are on just one coral IMHO. Also look at different types of wrasses that might be of service. Good luck!

 

[29bonsaireef]

Interceptor worked for me. I was doing a strong dose on a small tank though. As always remove your favorite inverts before dosing larger amounts. Narrow-bodied wrasses will eat them, I've found a few caribbean species that really seem to work well for bugs and FW.

 

[Denisk]

So if I’m thinking of the same black bugs I had a few years ago. There was no way I was going to dip every coral that was in my tank. So I bought two wrasses. A yellow coris and a melanurus wrasse. I just use to blow the coral in the morning and and mid day. Over time I just stopped seeing them.

I would try and post some photos for everyone to see exactly what you’re dealing with.

Best of luck!!

 

[Vmacisback]

Welp I nuked the tank with interceptor and did 2 separate treatments over a couple weeks and was able to pull out a few of the corals and dip them. It’s been a week since the last interceptor treatment and they still remain tearing up the base of a few mini colony’s. Not sure if my interceptor was expired but it did not work. Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[hybridazn]

I remember a while back Steve tyree saying these were the worst bugs he's come across. I feel the already suggested options are probably your best bet.

Sorry and I wish you luck!

 

[Jessica_canuck]

do you have a photo ? never even heard of these

 

[reef80]

4x revive at no less then 8 min. worked for me. The worst nitemare for any acrojunkie. Be prepare to loose acros but not total loss...

Here's a short write up if these are the ones you talking about...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-bugs-on-sps.242646/page-4#post-4273790

 

[Acro maniac]

Here is a thread that documents the success with interceptor
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acro-pests.301905/

 

[hatfielj]

I've used interceptor multiple times in the past on previous tanks, but this is my most recent....

I ordered a bunch of acro frags from the recent WWC live sale for my newly set up tank. It was the first set of corals I got for the tank. All of them looked great when they came in, except one. It never had full polyp extension, so I knew something wasn't right. After it had been sitting on the frag rack for a couple of days I decided to take a closer look with a flash light. It was covered in black bugs.
I immediately pulled it and placed it in a small bag of tank water and crushed up some interceptor (I didn't measure it, but it was WAY more than needed for such a tiny bag of water). I left it sit in that bag overnight. The frag looked pretty bad when I pulled it out the next day and then we had to leave for vacation. Now that we're back (10 days later), it looks good. It hasn't colored back up yet, but the polyps are fully extended, the tissue looked healthy, and it's starting to encrust a little. I no longer see any sign of the black bugs. None of the other corals I ordered are showing any signs of distress or evidence of the bugs, so I think I dodged a bullet by finding it when I did. I do not think the black bugs had migrated off of that one frag.
I let WWC know about it. They said they are constantly "on the hunt" for these sorts of critters. So, it just goes to show that even frags from the masters need to be quarantined and checked carefully for pests.
Now that my tank is fully stocked and pest free, I will not be placing any new frags into the tank unless they are first fully quarantined, dipped, and glued to new frag plugs.

 

[Vmacisback]

Does anyone have any new or unexpired interceptor they could sell me? Wondering if the lack of success is from using old pills.

 

[Acro maniac]

I've used interceptor multiple times in the past on previous tanks, but this is my most recent....

I ordered a bunch of acro frags from the recent WWC live sale for my newly set up tank. It was the first set of corals I got for the tank. All of them looked great when they came in, except one. It never had full polyp extension, so I knew something wasn't right. After it had been sitting on the frag rack for a couple of days I decided to take a closer look with a flash light. It was covered in black bugs.
I immediately pulled it and placed it in a small bag of tank water and crushed up some interceptor (I didn't measure it, but it was WAY more than needed for such a tiny bag of water). I left it sit in that bag overnight. The frag looked pretty bad when I pulled it out the next day and then we had to leave for vacation. Now that we're back (10 days later), it looks good. It hasn't colored back up yet, but the polyps are fully extended, the tissue looked healthy, and it's starting to encrust a little. I no longer see any sign of the black bugs. None of the other corals I ordered are showing any signs of distress or evidence of the bugs, so I think I dodged a bullet by finding it when I did. I do not think the black bugs had migrated off of that one frag.
I let WWC know about it. They said they are constantly "on the hunt" for these sorts of critters. So, it just goes to show that even frags from the masters need to be quarantined and checked carefully for pests.
Now that my tank is fully stocked and pest free, I will not be placing any new frags into the tank unless they are first fully quarantined, dipped, and glued to new frag plugs.

Idk there quarantine plan, but i have seen mariculture colonies in with frags in the store. I made a note to self about that. With that said i have had great success with all purcases from them

 

[Vmacisback]

Again does anyone have any sentinel or interceptor I can buy in order to treat my tank?? Thanks

 

[Mike810]

I got mine overseas. It cost a pretty penny

 

[cmcoker]

The active ingredient in interceptor is Milbemycin Oxime, thats also what's in Dr Gs coral dip..
http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/sps-lps-coral-dip-solution.cfm
It's says not to use in tank, but I have read of people doing so. I do not know the dose they used but if you want to pursue that definitely research it

 

[29bonsaireef]

Again does anyone have any sentinel or interceptor I can buy in order to treat my tank?? Thanks

Try looking on eBay, I've got it there multiple times.

 

[Lighthouze08]

i had to go to the vet to get interceptor, have also ordered from overseas

 

[Vmacisback]

Welp pretty frustrated at this point. So far I have dosed interceptor (1 pill) and 2 pills of Sentinel with no affects on the black bugs. Granted the interceptor I used expired in 2012 I thought it would still do something.

The only way to stop the cycle at this point is to remove the coral and dip it. Which I have done a few times but the bugs just keep finding their way back to it. The only thing is that the bugs only seem to be attacking a couple of corals not the entire tank.

Not sure what to do, any suggestions welcomed.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Other than quarantining all the acropora. You could just take the really bad ones out and try to make some frags and toss the rest. Both times I had black bugs they only stayed on a piece of Garf bonsai and a different tricolor valida. Strong dose of interceptor killed them off, but I never saw one on any other piece other than those two. I'd say if you can't kill them with the interceptor just take that bad ones out. Try a 50/50 salt/rodi solution and let them sit for 1-2 minutes. I've gone as high as 75 ro 25 salt and been successful removing pests that way. It's a little risky, but I always try it before I throw out a pest filled coral.

 

[Acro maniac]

All of the acros are affected you just might not see it with the naked eye.
I believe there cycle is 7-10 days to hatch or something like that. Thats why 3 treatments are required. The treatment will not kill eggs so until they hatch you cant kill them .
Quarantine is great but you still need to do 3 treatments to kill them in dt or quarantine