HELP! How to kill black bugs

[campaign000]

One of my friends has a sps tank, which has been suffering black bugs for months.
The bugs eat sps and proliferate very quickly and can't be killed by potassium chloride.
Anyone has any idea?
Thanks!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/3/corals


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-bugs-on-sps.242646/

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wrasse(s).
4 lined wrasse, lunare wrasse, 6 lined wrasse and melanurus wrasse.
Flatworm exit by Pohl's Korallen Zucht should work also

 

[305Reefer]

Black bugs are a nightmare. I currently have them as well... I can tell you what doesnt work is revive dips at normal strength. Bayer doesnt work. Interceptor doesnt work at normal dosages either. What did work for me was taking a frag of everything, dipping heavily and quaranting. That said this tank has huge colonies and is established, so thats probably not gonna happen..

My next step is going to be a very strong interceptor treatment directly to the tank. This will kill all your pods and hurt your inverts, but from what Ive read someone had success with interceptor at a 4x dose I believe.. Search on here for more information. It's hard to come by, but it does exist.

 

[saintsreturn]

That is disappointing! Good luck

 

[Jason1971]

I've tried interceptor and even prazi for intank treatment and unfortunately it does not work on black bugs. Neither does purge so don't bother. I have wrasses, pipefishes and none of them touch them. Only way to contain them is to continuously dip in Melafix and hope the cycle breaks.

 

[305Reefer]

I've tried interceptor and even prazi for intank treatment and unfortunately it does not work on black bugs. Neither does purge so don't bother. I have wrasses, pipefishes and none of them touch them. Only way to contain them is to continuously dip in Melafix and hope the cycle breaks.

Did you dose interceptor multiple times at 4x dose? Or did you follow normal dosing instructions?

 

[Jason1971]

Did you dose interceptor multiple times at 4x dose? Or did you follow normal dosing instructions?

I started with half a tab and followed by one tab a day for 5 days in a row for for my 120G. It didn’t do anything nor harmed my sps but it wiped out all the pods and crabs. Trust me it doesn’t work.

 

[Jason1971]

Interceptor contains praziquantel but it’s too small an amount to have any effect on them. I tried overdosing prazi with negative effects which almost wiped out all my sps and these buggers still survived. They are the worst sps pests by far.

 

[305Reefer]

I started with half a tab and followed by one tab a day for 5 days in a row for for my 120G. It didn’t do anything nor harmed my sps but it wiped out all the pods and crabs. Trust me it doesn’t work.

I'd try again if I were you. Half a tab is nothing, black bugs seem to respond to a 4x dose. Which would mean more like 2 full (large breed sized) tabs for a 120g..

 

[305Reefer]

There is also no point to dosing again, the efficacy of the pill vanishes rather quickly in the tank. Better to spike the concentration all at once to make sure it does its duty. Also your Interceptor should not contain Praziquantel, you usually want to look for the interceptor that only has a single ingredient which is: Milbemycin Oxime it also helps to avoid the ones with beef flavoring and what not.. Dr G also sells the same drug simply a liquid form with no other additives..

 

[Jason1971]

I'd try again if I were you. Half a tab is nothing, black bugs seem to respond to a 4x dose. Which would mean more like 2 full (large breed sized) tabs for a 120g..

Yes I have tried 2 tabs as well but didn’t work. Did it work for you?

 

[305Reefer]

I'm waiting on mine in the mail. Im going to modify the system a bit and put an entire tab into 2-3 gallons of tank water and dip the corals in that. Then I will be adding 2 large breed pills to my 130g system. And repeating the dose the following week, and the week after that with water changes in between. My corals have been surviving and growing for several months with just revive dipping, but the bugs always come back after a few weeks of no dipping... I didnt want to nuke my pod population because I have Mandarin Dragonets but whatever... They actually eat mysis too and are obese anyway... they can go on a little fast for the greater good of the tank.

 

[Jason1971]

I'm waiting on mine in the mail. Im going to modify the system a bit and put an entire tab into 2-3 gallons of tank water and dip the corals in that. Then I will be adding 2 large breed pills to my 130g system. And repeating the dose the following week, and the week after that with water changes in between. My corals have been surviving and growing for several months with just revive dipping, but the bugs always come back after a few weeks of no dipping... I didnt want to nuke my pod population because I have Mandarin Dragonets but whatever... They actually eat mysis too and are obese anyway... they can go on a little fast for the greater good of the tank.

Ok good luck and hope it works for you. I tried one tab a day for 3 days in a row but they still survived. I too had a mandarin and he is still alive today.

 

[Hemmdog]

That kinda looks just like amphipods

 

[305Reefer]

That kinda looks just like amphipods

It's definitely not. Amphipods next to black bugs look much more transparent and beige colored. Black bugs are actually black, and those are definitely them.. jerks are ingrained in my brain forever..

 

[Hemmdog]

It's definitely not. Amphipods next to black bugs look much more transparent and beige colored. Black bugs are actually black, and those are definitely them.. ******** are ingrained in my brain forever..

Hmmm , well now you got ME worried ! lol

 

[305Reefer]

Hmmm , well now you got ME worried ! lol

Dont worry unless you see the bases of your corals start to get all messed up.. You start seeing the skeleton show and before that you'll see PE diminish. Once you confirm you have black bugs you have to be decisive and get to work. I tore down my entire reef to save it. It was scary and horrific. But I saved alot of my SPS.. I still have the bugs but Im controlling them.. About to do my big nuke of the entire system to rid myself of this pest once and for all.. Im going all in with 3 large breed interceptor tabs in my 130g system

 

[ReefSlice]

I had good luck dosing interceptor in the form of Dr. G's coral dip directly into my display. Had no deaths of anything and red and black bugs were gone in 24 hours.

 

[305Reefer]

I had good luck dosing interceptor in the form of Dr. G's coral dip directly into my display. Had no deaths of anything and red and black bugs were gone in 24 hours.

How much did you dose? I have some on hand but didnt know how much is a dose? Especially since with black bugs you double and triple dose the normal red bug treatment. Did you have confirmed black bugs? Or just red bugs?