Reef Bugs? Retracted Polyps and STN

[Jason Hieger]

Tank Info:
130 gallons been running since 2022. Alk 8.5 CA 443 Mg 1361 Phos .08 Nitrate .11on my latest ICP. No pollutant issues found in the latest ICP.

I'm looking for a little help here. I've been struggling with retracted polyps starting roughly three-four months ago - possibly longer on a few corals. I've lost a couple of new frags and started to notice some STN on a few of my older SPS. I pulled one of the corals and dipped in Melafix pond. I see some pods and a couple bristle worms. There are a lot of really tiny round red-ish things that I can't identify with a magnifying glass. They don't seem to move either. I don't see any eggs or bite marks. I don't see any flatworms, or anything come off when I baste the corals in the tank. I think there are a few copepods and tiny bristle worms that came off. Below are some pictures of the dip this afternoon.

 

[robanister]

Yeah looks just like what I had. I believe it's a new flatworm but mine didn't dye in kcl dips or bad process. Had to go several rounds of moonshiners dip exodus to remove 3 hr dips.... everything! Definite bite marks. I was seeing around 4 day hatches at one point.
Just so I'm not spreading misinformation flatworms are 2g recommended i used 4g KCL per gallon 30 min dip for up to 2 hr I have gone 3 .
Once a week for 16 weeks to be sure all are out. Twice if loosing frags.

 

[robanister]

Adults almost look like slime. I would do iodine dips for 30 min incase it's a slug of some sort my other guess!

 

[Jason Hieger]

I'm not confident it's flatworms. Below are some macro shots of corals in the tank tonight. I really think redbugs. After the dip last week, you can see the tiny specs and they looked red in my perspective. If you look closely, you can see their shadow below the glass on the white background. There are a few pods in there as well.

Any other thought would be greatly appreciated.