ID - Possible "white bugs"? Pic of bug under magnification :-0

[CoralClasher]

Acropora never last in my tank. Everything else is growing. Little more than a month ago I did the in tank treatment for BJD with Ciprofloxacin. All death has stopped and I’m planning a large water change soon so this might be a good time for interceptor.

 

[jessezm]

Yessir, that looks just like the bug, just upside down, otherwise I'm sure we'd see those segmented plates on top. Do the treatment, you will not regret it. Every day now my tank looks better.

 

[CoralClasher]

Yessir, that looks just like the bug, just upside down, otherwise I'm sure we'd see those segmented plates on top. Do the treatment, you will not regret it. Every day now my tank looks better.

About 130 gallons one large pill mixed in warm RODI once a week for three weeks? Small water change between, large water change after?

 

[jessezm]

Yep, and make sure to:
--remove crabs and shrimp if you can
--stop chemical filtration and/or UV and take off skimmer cup (but you can let it keep running to keep up aeration and just let the bubbles flow back into the sump)
--make sure the pill is totally dissolved (I crushed between two spoons into a brown powder and then dissolved for 30 minutes in warm water)
--let run at least 24 hours (i did 36)
--then do your water change, fresh carbon or polyfilter (or both), and skimmer cup back on.

Rinse and repeat 7 days later, and 7 days after that. I only did a 20% water change each time and no larger one after that.

Good luck!

edit: remove crustaceans if you can - although I did have my emerald crab, harlequin shrimp, scarlet hermit, and coral banded survive, while my fire and peppermint shrimp did not

 

[CoralClasher]

Yep, and make sure to:
--remove crabs and shrimp if you can
--stop chemical filtration and/or UV and take off skimmer cup (but you can let it keep running to keep up aeration and just let the bubbles flow back into the sump)
--make sure the pill is totally dissolved (I crushed between two spoons into a brown powder and then dissolved for 30 minutes in warm water)
--let run at least 24 hours (i did 36)
--then do your water change, fresh carbon or polyfilter (or both), and skimmer cup back on.

Rinse and repeat 7 days later, and 7 days after that. I only did a 20% water change each time and no larger one after that.

Good luck!

edit: remove crustaceans if you can - although I did have my emerald crab, harlequin shrimp, scarlet hermit, and coral banded survive, while my fire and peppermint shrimp did not

Any idea if this treatment is safe for feather dusters and tube worms? My interceptor plus just showed up and I’m ready to start.

 

[jessezm]

Honestly I do not know, but I think you’d be ok

 

[CoralClasher]

14 hours after treatment everything is still looking good. I do have three tanks running and only treated the DT and the macro algae tanks. I moved all feathers and tube worms to the small 20 gallon tank. Maybe I should use a smaller dose in the 20 with the worms? How much of a large dog pill should I use for the 20 gallon tank?

 

[jessezm]

Hmm, well like I said, I don't think they interceptor targets dusters and worms - I think it is more your crustaceans you need to look out for (crabs and shrimp). I think feather dusters and tube worms are more susceptible to Flatworm Exit. But maybe do a little research before dosing that tank. As for dosage, 1/8 of a pill would be more than enough.

 

[CoralClasher]

Hmm, well like I said, I don't think they interceptor targets dusters and worms - I think it is more your crustaceans you need to look out for (crabs and shrimp). I think feather dusters and tube worms are more susceptible to Flatworm Exit. But maybe do a little research before dosing that tank. As for dosage, 1/8 of a pill would be more than enough.

No shrimp and I wouldn’t mind if the few hermit crabs go. I have lots of new water mixed up. I’ll dose this little tank now and see how things go. Thanks for your help.

 

[jessezm]

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

My tank continues to bounce back with a vengeance!

 

[CoralClasher]

Xenia and toad stool are the only ones that don’t like interceptor. Feather dusters and tube worms seem totally fine. Zero movement on Seneye for ammonia.

 

[jessezm]

Good results so far - I expect the softies will perk back up after a few hours

 

[CoralClasher]

Good results so far - I expect the softies will perk back up after a few hours

Yes they are. The Xenia in my DT did the same and look fine today. Now who has a vaccine for Aiptasia?

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner and respond. Glad to hear the Interceptor is doing it's job. Many vendors and hobbyist have now started using Interceptor prophylactical (including me). I believe that white bugs are being spread rapidly in the hobby at this time. I do an Interceptor dip on all new additions now. It's more of a bath actually as I have an IM AIO that I set up when I have incoming pieces or a larger tank if I'm bringing in colonies. I run Interceptor on the new frags for 24 hours then dip them in Potassium Chloride before putting them into grow out. I plan to set up an actual QT for future arrivals. I will then QT all pieces after they've been through the bath and dip. I also now treat my frag tanks with Interceptor on a regular basis as a preventative measure.

 

[ScottB]

I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner and respond. Glad to hear the Interceptor is doing it's job. Many vendors and hobbyist have now started using Interceptor prophylactical (including me). I believe that white bugs are being spread rapidly in the hobby at this time. I do an Interceptor dip on all new additions now. It's more of a bath actually as I have an IM AIO that I set up when I have incoming pieces or a larger tank if I'm bringing in colonies. I run Interceptor on the new frags for 24 hours then dip them in Potassium Chloride before putting them into grow out. I plan to set up an actual QT for future arrivals. I will then QT all pieces after they've been through the bath and dip. I also now treat my frag tanks with Interceptor on a regular basis as a preventative measure.

Does seem to be a good idea.

Curious if you see much of a hit to your pod population. I've been through 2 dose weeks and still have a large pod population -- at least the smaller amphipods. I dosed 1 large pill to 250G.

Lost a cleaner shrimp I couldn't catch and a crab I missed.

 

[CoralClasher]

I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner and respond. Glad to hear the Interceptor is doing it's job. Many vendors and hobbyist have now started using Interceptor prophylactical (including me). I believe that white bugs are being spread rapidly in the hobby at this time. I do an Interceptor dip on all new additions now. It's more of a bath actually as I have an IM AIO that I set up when I have incoming pieces or a larger tank if I'm bringing in colonies. I run Interceptor on the new frags for 24 hours then dip them in Potassium Chloride before putting them into grow out. I plan to set up an actual QT for future arrivals. I will then QT all pieces after they've been through the bath and dip. I also now treat my frag tanks with Interceptor on a regular basis as a preventative measure.

Has there been any studies on the time line life cycle of these bugs? How fast do they lay eggs? Is three treatments one week apart enough?

 

[jessezm]

I'm sorry I didn't see this post sooner and respond. Glad to hear the Interceptor is doing it's job. Many vendors and hobbyist have now started using Interceptor prophylactical (including me). I believe that white bugs are being spread rapidly in the hobby at this time. I do an Interceptor dip on all new additions now. It's more of a bath actually as I have an IM AIO that I set up when I have incoming pieces or a larger tank if I'm bringing in colonies. I run Interceptor on the new frags for 24 hours then dip them in Potassium Chloride before putting them into grow out. I plan to set up an actual QT for future arrivals. I will then QT all pieces after they've been through the bath and dip. I also now treat my frag tanks with Interceptor on a regular basis as a preventative measure.

I've heard and starting to suspect something very similar, and I'm trying to get word out to local folks here who do a lot of trading and selling. I am also in the process of setting up my full acro QT system so I can do multiple prophylactic treatments outside of my main system and observe long term before adding any new corals. It almost feels like too much of a risk vs reward lately for adding livestock, but the interceptor treatment is so easy that it encourages me. If only the meds were less expensive and/or easier to get. I have a small supply now of back up, as well as Dr Gs for the baths/dips for brand new stuff. But a 6 hour dip outside of a running system is still scary to me!

Anyways, thanks for weighing in! It sucks to admit you've had a pest but it's the only way we're going to start knocking it back. This one is particularly pernicious because the effects are so subtle and difficult to observe/pinpoint.

Does seem to be a good idea.

Curious if you see much of a hit to your pod population. I've been through 2 dose weeks and still have a large pod population -- at least the smaller amphipods. I dosed 1 large pill to 250G.

Lost a cleaner shrimp I couldn't catch and a crab I missed.

I, too, noticed a lot of pods and microfauna surviving the treatment just fine. Made me worry I didn't dose strongly enough, but the current results in my system say otherwise!

Has there been any studies on the time line life cycle of these bugs? How fast do they lay eggs? Is three treatments one week apart enough?

I wish I had the answer to this! Time will tell, in my case. So far so good.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I'm not aware of any studies, but the consensus seems to be to do 3 treatments 1 week apart in order to get any new hatched bugs. I still have pods in my frag tanks that are treated regularly. I have not had to treat my DT.