Red Bugs

A vet? My mom recently met a vet at her allergist. Somehow they started talking about my pet corn snakes. I had them for a few years in high school, and then went away to college. I obviously couldn't have them in the dorms. My roommate would have hated me hah :. So they stopped getting attention (my mom kept up with feeding them), and then I got into this whole reef ordeal lol which btw is so much cooler 8).

Her son's birthday was coming up, and my mom said that she could have them for free to give to her son, as long as she took them both in and didn't separate them because they are friends lol. The second time we lost them in our house, we found one, but the other went down a vent. My dad sat next to the vent for like 2 or 3 days with a dead mouse and a heater, blowing the smell into the vent hahah. It was probably gone for two or three weeks. The one we had found wouldn't eat until the other was back. They were about $70 bucks each when I got them, and they grew to probably 5x the size, so who knows how much they were worth. We gave her the tank, heater, extra mice, a bag of substrate, the lights, and everything we had for them. I believe this vet owes me a favor!! ;D I have to find her number!

We also have a vet that comes to our house for my crazy cat, because our previous vet told us not to bring her back. She's crazy but we love her . He just came to our house last week, and will be calling us back with her blood test results because he thinks she has a thyroid problem.. :-/

All these connections, what to do, what to do.

 

So here is the best picture I could get.I posted a direct link to the picture to see it bigger. These are only on acros, however, they don't seem to be on all of them, just most of them.



http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x355/gabbyr189/Frags and Uploads/3d96e66a.jpg

 

Yup, those are red bugs.

 

How much damage can these guys actually do to acros?

 

Is it worth it to treat fo red bugs or is it ok to just leave em be.. as mostof our acros look pretty sweet.

Also... lets say the interceptor does kill shrimp and crabs... would the nitrate spike from the dead inverts kill the acros anyway?

Feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

I will add, that I did not do a large water change after treatment only a small one nor did I run new carbon. My tank is also 28 gallons empty so small volume may have contributed to the death of my shrimp and crabs.

For me I saw decreased coloration, growth and PE on the smooth skinned acropora prior to treatment and improvement to all acropora after treatment, even those I did not think were infected.

 

It's like treating for flees; it's so easy it's definitely worth doing. If your acros look good now, they be stunning without red bugs. They don't do damage quickly, but they definitely take a toll in the long run.

I highly doubt any invert death resulting from treatment would cause you any detectable nutrient spike. Many people have done the treatment, and I've never heard anything bad happening as a result.

 

Awesome guys. We will look into getting the interceptor. Anyone on here a veterinarian?

I thought I saw some interceptor on amazon for sale. Not sure if its the same stuff though.

 

Not the same stuff. Thanks everyone for your help. I'll let you know how it goes!!

 

I can vouch for the larger crustaceans making it and the smaller ones dying. They can kill off your corals because they eat the food that your corals catch.