The White Bugs Returnith

[Cubeguy]

As the title says, I continue to get them. This is my third time in 4 years. Only ever white bugs, nothing else. I dip in a super concentrated Bayer (dipping water is as opaque as milk) so concentrated I have actually had a couple frags shed skin while being dipped. The frags have recovered and I reduced concentration but not by much. Also I cut all frags off plugs, even if they are encrusted.

When I get them in the past I’ve done 23mg mybelium with prazi in about 40-45 gallons of water but just one time instead of the 3 repeated doses people do. But 23mg for 45gal is a 4-10x??? Dose?

The third time I got them I went ahead and did 3 doses of 23mg-45gal so we will see if I’m getting them from my half baked killing or if it’s more my dipping regime.

My question to the acro dweebs out there is what are you all doing and are you getting white bugs even if you get coral from the sketchy places like I do sometimes.

 

[Rocks reef]

Potassium chloride works really well for acros.

 

[Biff0rz]

As the title says, I continue to get them. This is my third time in 4 years. Only ever white bugs, nothing else. I dip in a super concentrated Bayer (dipping water is as opaque as milk) so concentrated I have actually had a couple frags shed skin while being dipped. The frags have recovered and I reduced concentration but not by much. Also I cut all frags off plugs, even if they are encrusted.

When I get them in the past I’ve done 23mg mybelium with prazi in about 40-45 gallons of water but just one time instead of the 3 repeated doses people do. But 23mg for 45gal is a 4-10x??? Dose?

The third time I got them I went ahead and did 3 doses of 23mg-45gal so we will see if I’m getting them from my half baked killing or if it’s more my dipping regime.

My question to the acro dweebs out there is what are you all doing and are you getting white bugs even if you get coral from the sketchy places like I do sometimes.

Did you use the tablet or chewable form? I did 1-23mg tablet per 50g over 6 weeks. I no longer have them.

Potassium chloride works really well for acros.

But not white bugs...

 

[archipelago]

I use this, and toss bad frags before they ever touch the water.

I've had white bugs in 25% of recent acro orders.

 

[robanister]

I use this, and toss bad frags before they ever touch the water.

I've had white bugs in 25% of recent acro orders.

That's nasty. Closed my acro tank down for any new frags.

 

[archipelago]

Potassium chloride works really well for acros.

This thread/post says otherwise.

Edit: Interceptor is key for these. Even some vendors on here state they just treat prophylactically every 6 months. I have seen doses that range from 11.5 mg / 300 gal to 23.5 g / 50 gal (Milbmycin Oxime) that folks are using for treatment.

 

[Cubeguy]

Really seems to be the prevalent pest right now. Real bummer Becuase every time I do interceptor I loose all my inverts except for my porcelain crabs. Actually lost a couple acros from the last dose, had a large nutrient swing and some of the less established ones shed on me.

 

[Cubeguy]

Seems like they are being bred in our tanks to resist dips, only the ones that survive reproduce….

 

[archipelago]

Actually lost a couple acros from the last dose, had a large nutrient swing and some of the less established ones shed on me.

Yes - made the same mistake myself. For anyone doing this, I'd highly recommend verifying/increasing PO4 to 0.1 ppm or greater before beginning treatment.

Two more shipments with white bugs since my last post. That's 50% of all coral orders this year.

 

[hatfielj]

As the title says, I continue to get them. This is my third time in 4 years. Only ever white bugs, nothing else. I dip in a super concentrated Bayer (dipping water is as opaque as milk) so concentrated I have actually had a couple frags shed skin while being dipped. The frags have recovered and I reduced concentration but not by much. Also I cut all frags off plugs, even if they are encrusted.

When I get them in the past I’ve done 23mg mybelium with prazi in about 40-45 gallons of water but just one time instead of the 3 repeated doses people do. But 23mg for 45gal is a 4-10x??? Dose?

The third time I got them I went ahead and did 3 doses of 23mg-45gal so we will see if I’m getting them from my half baked killing or if it’s more my dipping regime.

My question to the acro dweebs out there is what are you all doing and are you getting white bugs even if you get coral from the sketchy places like I do sometimes.

The 3 doses (or more) is actually VERY important if you want to eliminate parasites. The reason being is that the bugs have various life stages in your tank at any given time. The interceptor only kills the adults. It doesn’t kill eggs. You have to repeat the dose at least once to kill any newly hatched bugs, but ideally you want to repeat the dose multiple times to make sure you get all the newly hatched bugs. The eggs are also at various stages of development when you dose your tank, so some may have been freshly laid the same day as your treatment. They may not even be hatched the day of your second treatment a week later.
Also, for the same reason your doctor tells you to take all of the antibiotics when they prescribe them, it’s important to extend treatment long enough to ensure any resistant organisms are also killed or rendered unable to reproduce, etc. If not, you run the risk of helping resistant bugs survive and reproduce which could be very bad for our hobby if that happens.

 

[Cubeguy]

They showed up again I want to try a different approach this time, has anyone had luck with an out of tank treatment? Or even going without any acropora for a period of time?

 

[IPT]

I use this, and toss bad frags before they ever touch the water.

I've had white bugs in 25% of recent acro orders.

WOW! That's insane! Some you can hardly see and that's a microscope! Lord help us.

Sounds like Quarantine with some doses of interceptor will (should) become the new norm.

 

[IPT]

Yes - made the same mistake myself. For anyone doing this, I'd highly recommend verifying/increasing PO4 to 0.1 ppm or greater before beginning treatment.

Two more shipments with white bugs since my last post. That's 50% of all coral orders this year.

Please elaborate. I'd figure with the Interceptor dose (especially if using the one with Prazi) you'd see a die off of worms or some critters that would increase Po4 and No3. Why do suggest elevating it first?