Pikachu Acro - Can it recover from bugs?

[puckstopshere]

Hi all - I have a Pikachu acro that had been in my tank for a little over a month. It browned and lost PE fairly quickly after I got it, which surprised me because a Walt Disney I got on the same day is doing great. Eventually I noticed it was crawling with some kind of bug. I was able to get Interceptor and did a dip for 12 hours in a QT tank overnight Wednesday. Nothing seems to be crawling on it now but I haven’t seen any noticeable improvement either. I’m just wondering if those more experienced than I am can look at these photos and opine on whether or not it looks like it can recover. If it’s even still alive, what signs should I look for that would be the first signs of recovery? I plan to treat the whole tank with Interceptor next week, I just need to get my hermit crabs out first. I’m hoping that the dip can get the recovery process started.

Here are pictures of the coral today, a video of where I was earlier in the week, and parameters.

Thanks for your help!

Salinity: 1.026
Nitrate: 20
Phos: 1.1
Alk: 8.2

 

[eggie]

First thing you should see is base growth with base color and color coming back.
Polyp extension will take more time. Looks Like Black Bugs

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-bugs-an-acro-keepers-worst-nightmare.493329/

 

[puckstopshere]

Thanks for your feedback! That’s a depressing thread but it’s a few years old. Do you know what the approach is to attempting to get rid of black bugs today?

 

[eggie]

Thanks for your feedback! That’s a depressing thread but it’s a few years old. Do you know what the approach is to attempting to get rid of black bugs today?

Treatment is the same using Interceptor. Finding it as its a prescription by Vet is a more the issue. You could speak with the Vet and let them know your issue and it could be sold as well as some online Vet stores have them

 

[puckstopshere]

We have a vet who came through for me on Interceptor. I’ll start a course this week. Thanks for your advice!

 

[puckstopshere]

Coming back for advice since I have a choice to make.

As I put in my first post, the first thing I did after I got Interceptor was dip the Pikachu. Since that time I have not seen any bugs on that coral or any other in the tank, and I’m using a digital microscope when I check, same as in the video I posted. The dip was about two weeks ago and I have seen slight improvement in what looks to be redeveloping polyps, but the color is still brown… really not much better, but alive.

Next step do I:

1) Nuke the tank with Interceptor anyway guessing that some bugs were not on this one coral when I dipped it and it’ll get a chance to reinfect if I don’t wipe them out. I’ve tried to catch/trap my skunk cleaner shrimp and emerald crab but I’ve failed (this is why I haven’t done the full tank treatment already, I gave the trap some time to see if it would work). My kids will be upset to learn of the deaths, but will pull through without much permanent life trauma.

2) Consider the Interceptor dip to have been effective as long as I’m not seeing new bugs on this coral or any other. I may need to treat the tank eventually, but it won’t be a disaster to punt on the treatment now.

3) Something else.

Appreciate the advice!

 

[eggie]

I would do the whole treatment, recovery takes time. Try not feeding for one day and next day set the trap for the Cleaner and the Emerald then decide for your self what you think its best.
Iv been in the same line and I risk my emerald and the peppermint shrimp.

 

[Reef_Engineer]

So I just went through this with a buddy who has a full-blown 230-gallon SPS tank. His acros slowly started to bleach, and when we started investigating, it became pretty clear what was going on. So what we did was cut, cut, cut — we cut deep enough into the healthy flesh to remove any bite marks, then inspected for eggs and removed any we found. After that, we dipped the pieces and placed them in quarantine. Unfortunately, we had to remove a lot, but a few months later, they’re growing back and doing fantastic! Good luck with your battle!