Dr G's & Red Bugs

[RUNVS]

So I have Red Bugs unfortunately, I have read many threads on using Interceptor to kill off these little SOB's but Interceptor is seemingly difficult to get your hands on at least from all of my local vets. I have heard from a few sources that dosing Dr G's will do the same thing. Does anyone have experience with this? Also when the Red Bugs die do they release a toxin back into the tank like some other pests?

 

[RUNVS]

Well in case anyone is interested I dosed this to my tank last night, I have about 150 gallons in total water volume I removed the air hose from my skimmer and left it running. I put 6 cap fulls directly into my tank at 5pm last night, I have 2 peppermints in my sump, a coral banded and cleaner in my display and a handful of blue leg hermits and snails. At 9pm I didn't notice a change by midnight I couldn't find a red bug on on the few that were infested with them.

I left the tank like that overnight and this morning I re attached the air hose to the skimmer and again could not find a red bug. All my shrimp and pods in my fuge look fine with no ill effects as of yet. I have yet to do a water change and may wait until tomorrow to perform one.

So far so good.......

 

[RyanCSGO]

you added this directly to your main display??

 

[RyanCSGO]

FYI.

this is from the label of the product.
"Please note: Dr. G's does not recommend the use of this product directly into any aquarium system.

WARNING: Dr. G's Coral Dip should not be used on any display tanks, display aquariums, sumps, or refugiums as it may affect and kill invertebrates, clams, snails, crabs, fish, shrimp and copepod populations."

 

[luke33]

FWIW, I have heard of this being added for red bugs numerous times. My LFS added this to his sps display with RB's and it took care of the issue and didn't harm anything other than the RB's. I'm sure the warning is to cover Dr. G's.

 

[RyanCSGO]

good to hear someone has seen this done before.
However, personally I would never add any type of DIP directly to a tank. IMO I would do a significant water change (80% or more) right away.

 

[Holy_makerel]

I used interceptor that my vet was gracious enough to sell me. It took care of the redbugs but also killed all pods and i rehomed my hermits before treatment. I did 3 total treatments over 4 weeks to make sure i got them all. Haven't seen another one.

Killing all the pods really threw my system off though. I had to re-seed pods and have been battling GHA in the display since(2 months ago). Its frustrating but i'm trying to be patient and let it come to equilibrium again.

I made a video documenting what i did

 

[RUNVS]

Yea I added this directly to my system- I added a relatively small amount compared to water volume as the bottle says one whole bottle will make less than a gallon of coral dip. I only added 6 cap fulls. I believe this will only affect shrimp and crabs and pods, but so far everything seems fine and the red bugs were gone this morning. I even checked my sump for pods and they were everywhere crawling around so I think It worked rather effectively so far. It did take about 6-7 hours before I noticed that the red bugs were affected by the treatment though

 

[RUNVS]

from what I have found is that this dip is pretty much RO water and the same chemical that is in interceptor thats it.

 

[luke33]

good to hear someone has seen this done before.
However, personally I would never add any type of DIP directly to a tank. IMO I would do a significant water change (80% or more) right away.

Yep, it scares me! I have used interceptor years ago to treat RB's and it will kill your pod population, shrimp and crabs almost immediately.

I'm interested to see how runvs's tank is in a week or two. Hoping for the best!

 

[RUNVS]

Yep, it scares me! I have used interceptor years ago to treat RB's and it will kill your pod population, shrimp and crabs almost immediately.

I'm interested to see how runvs's tank is in a week or two. Hoping for the best!

I will keep everyone updated- I went this route as I could not find a vet who would give me the interceptor so I was forced to try this. I wasn't able to find much information on this method but figured I would give it a try.

 

[luke33]

I will keep everyone updated- I went this route as I could not find a vet who would give me the interceptor so I was forced to try this. I wasn't able to find much information on this method but figured I would give it a try.

What all sps do you have in your tank, just out of curiosity? My lfs had a good mix, didn't do a water change after and no ill affects.

 

[RUNVS]

I used interceptor that my vet was gracious enough to sell me. It took care of the redbugs but also killed all pods and i rehomed my hermits before treatment. I did 3 total treatments over 4 weeks to make sure i got them all. Haven't seen another one.

Killing all the pods really threw my system off though. I had to re-seed pods and have been battling GHA in the display since(2 months ago). Its frustrating but i'm trying to be patient and let it come to equilibrium again.

I made a video documenting what i did

Great Video- That is pretty much how my endeavor went as well it seemed to take a long time before I noticed that they started to disappear but so far so good. Thanks for the video!

 

[RUNVS]

What all sps do you have in your tank, just out of curiosity? My lfs had a good mix, didn't do a water change after and no ill affects.

I have a pretty good mix as well it is an SPS dom tank I dont know all the names A huge colony of cali tort, some green slimer, red planet, JKR white rose, rainbow milli, some monti's etc..... here is a pic

 

[RUNVS]

here is a pic of the little SOB's

 

[luke33]

Thanks for the pic, tank looks nice. I hope they are toast!

 

[RyanCSGO]

hows the tank looking today? hope all is well.

 

[RUNVS]

hows the tank looking today? hope all is well.

So far so good- I searched everywhere and could not find a red bug. All my shrimp and crabs and snails all look fine and so does my pod population in my fuge. I still have not done a water change but everything looks great so far...... I am hoping that by not doing a water change the chemical is staying in the water column and will kill any freshly hatched eggs of the red bugs as well.

 

[RyanCSGO]

So far so good- I searched everywhere and could not find a red bug. All my shrimp and crabs and snails all look fine and so does my pod population in my fuge. I still have not done a water change but everything looks great so far...... I am hoping that by not doing a water change the chemical is staying in the water column and will kill any freshly hatched eggs of the red bugs as well.

good to hear

 

[luke33]

Did your skimmer go crazy when you added the dr g's?