I never found Red Bugs on any of my Acros back in 2012 with my first tank, and swear I never saw any on my Acros back in 2016 in my second tank, but after my tank re-start back in July of 2019 I now have Red Bugs.
During the time from tank shut-down July-2019 and re-start Aug-2019, I did not share any corals from anywhere.
I can only surmise I either had them to start with, or they came from the new LR I purchased.
Or they came from either the Trochus snails or Cleaner Shrimp I bought. Not likely.
I can't blame any vendors as the only wet things that were added to my re-start were some Real Reef Rock, a large troupe of Banded Trochus Snails, and a Cleaner Shrimp.
Let's just assume I had them to start with and never knew about it.
Regardless of where they came from, I now have Red Bugs, and am going to document my journey as I go through it.
Some of the necessary info is repeated below'
First, a friend brought me a bottle of Bayer Complete, so I no longer need to worry about Frags.
Second, I bought some Milbemax for my DT. See below
My Acros have been very lacking in color, almost severely so.
After lights out, I saw my issue ...
Viewing my corals with a flashlight and magnifying glass after lights-out was my first viewing of these pests. During the day they look kinda red-ish. But you can't identify them even with a magnifying glass.
Then a cut acro dipped in Coral rx for about 30mins confirmed it ... I pulled a pest out of the dip and, under a microscope, I saw a copepod with a red head ...
So, now I'll start using some Milbemycin Oxime.
I found some MilbeMax which contains 12.5mg MO and 125mg Prazi in 2 tablets. Others have used the same mix/dog pellets, so away I go.
The recommended dose is 1 x 23mg Large Dog tablet per 400g of tank water.
I have a total of 115 gallons of system volume, so I'll use these 2 pills throughout 3 doses.
This will give me a higher dose than the recommended 5.75mg/100g dose.
Mine will be about 8.3mg but I won't worry about it. Others have dosed higher than this without issues.
I've removed my breeding banded trochus snails and a cleaner shrimp to a QT.
I have no other inverts to worry about, although I've read micro stars survive and hope mine do as well.
My 2 tablets are rated for 400+ gallons, so I've divided the tablets in to 3 doses that I will administer over 3 weeks.
I've started by removing, cleaning and replacing my skimmer cup. I've then installed a hose on my skimmer cup drain to run into the sump and removed the air inlet hose.
I've also added an airstone with air pump to the DT. 4 hours later and my pH is still holding strong @ 8.2 so I'm good to go without the skimmer for a night.
Tonight, @ midnight, I start my first dose, and tomorrow @ noon I'll perform my waterchange.
Then I'll add some carbon (0.8Rox) and wait a week before adding the second dose.
This will be followed by 2 more doses and hopefully it'll be the end of my Red Bugs
Wish me luck !!!
Pills before crushing
After weighing
During the time from tank shut-down July-2019 and re-start Aug-2019, I did not share any corals from anywhere.
I can only surmise I either had them to start with, or they came from the new LR I purchased.
Or they came from either the Trochus snails or Cleaner Shrimp I bought. Not likely.
I can't blame any vendors as the only wet things that were added to my re-start were some Real Reef Rock, a large troupe of Banded Trochus Snails, and a Cleaner Shrimp.
Let's just assume I had them to start with and never knew about it.
Regardless of where they came from, I now have Red Bugs, and am going to document my journey as I go through it.
Some of the necessary info is repeated below'
First, a friend brought me a bottle of Bayer Complete, so I no longer need to worry about Frags.
Second, I bought some Milbemax for my DT. See below
My Acros have been very lacking in color, almost severely so.
After lights out, I saw my issue ...
Viewing my corals with a flashlight and magnifying glass after lights-out was my first viewing of these pests. During the day they look kinda red-ish. But you can't identify them even with a magnifying glass.
Then a cut acro dipped in Coral rx for about 30mins confirmed it ... I pulled a pest out of the dip and, under a microscope, I saw a copepod with a red head ...
So, now I'll start using some Milbemycin Oxime.
I found some MilbeMax which contains 12.5mg MO and 125mg Prazi in 2 tablets. Others have used the same mix/dog pellets, so away I go.
The recommended dose is 1 x 23mg Large Dog tablet per 400g of tank water.
I have a total of 115 gallons of system volume, so I'll use these 2 pills throughout 3 doses.
This will give me a higher dose than the recommended 5.75mg/100g dose.
Mine will be about 8.3mg but I won't worry about it. Others have dosed higher than this without issues.
I've removed my breeding banded trochus snails and a cleaner shrimp to a QT.
I have no other inverts to worry about, although I've read micro stars survive and hope mine do as well.
My 2 tablets are rated for 400+ gallons, so I've divided the tablets in to 3 doses that I will administer over 3 weeks.
I've started by removing, cleaning and replacing my skimmer cup. I've then installed a hose on my skimmer cup drain to run into the sump and removed the air inlet hose.
I've also added an airstone with air pump to the DT. 4 hours later and my pH is still holding strong @ 8.2 so I'm good to go without the skimmer for a night.
Tonight, @ midnight, I start my first dose, and tomorrow @ noon I'll perform my waterchange.
Then I'll add some carbon (0.8Rox) and wait a week before adding the second dose.
This will be followed by 2 more doses and hopefully it'll be the end of my Red Bugs
Wish me luck !!!
Pills before crushing
After weighing
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