Cheap and effective acropora dip

Not sure if any of you have followed the thread about the red bug treatment, using a easily obtainable insecticide. Originally it was used to treat corals with red bugs, but a few found the treatment killed flatworms as well. I wanted to test this out, because using a 1/4 tablet of interceptor everytime I buy a new coral, gets a little expensive, not that it isn't worth the cost. So I got a mini colony, basically a multi branched acro, and a frag of a deepwater today. On the way home, I stopped at HD and bought the Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer the bottle costs 12 bucks, and the amount you use, it will last a lifetime.


I used around .04 ml of the stuff, its a cloudy white. And shot it into a few cups of tank water. 15 minutes of basting, you remove, and rinse in tank water. I found 4 little flatworms on the multi branched piece, and nothing on the frag. I did a visible inspection, and saw a white spot under the coral, that made me a little suspicious. Now I am not going to say where I bought them, I know for a fact all the stores have them from time to time, its the nature of the business, importing corals from the wild. Anyway, I wanted to point out that you as a hobby enthusiast are solely responsible for what you put in your tank. Imagine a few months from now, if just tossed that coral into my tank....

I had to add to my thread, because I am pretty certain that 90% of our members don't dip at all. To me that is russain roulette....now I have proof that at least for the AEFW's the product worked, it's cheap, and can be found everywhere. Now I need to find red bugs. Ill post pics off my phone of the FW's.a little later.

 

Oh it works alright....


after around 5 minutes I saw one, then another...



The acro with these suffered the most, it's fine, I will update tomorrow.

 

I bought that coral from a very good LFS, but in all honesty even the best of stores don't really check all their corals. I've seen AEFW bite marks on coral at stores, more times then not. I have given store owners, Interceptor for redbugs. To me its the buyer's responsibility to check every coral you place into your tank. I use a magnifying glass to make sure there are no egg clusters, etc.....Trust me, without QTing your new arrivals, it's just a matter of time unless you dip, and inspect before dropping into your display. This is especially true with club swaps, where people assume their fellow members wouldn't ever pass bugs...that is not true...It's a cheap, easy, and safe way to kill pests before they can enter your tank. It's a no brainer.

 

Uhhh dip my corals in poison?

 

Hey thanks for sharing.

Did you see that thread on RC using the same product to treat RB? I have not seen any information regarding treatment of AEFW. I wonder how it works on MEN.

For the RB as a preventative dip that would be great indeed. I bath my acropora/sps in the interceptor for the RB now, but I am currently out so if this is effective saves me a lot of headaches.

 

I normally use interceptor, but after awhile, it just is too much, I would rather keep it for an in tank treatment. This dip works for AEFW and red bugs, for sure. I do not know about MEN's. I have only seen those twice before, but will definitely be dipping my montis with this, just to be safe.

I know it's an insecticide, but its a lot gentler to the coral then Revive or TMPCC. My first test was with like 70.00 worth of coral, and they were unaffected, other than having the flatworms fall off. Polyps out in the dip.

 

Have you used this on anything else aside from Acro's? Like Zoa's, Leathers, or duncans? Just curious.

 

Another option for red bugs - Reef Central Online Community

 

Iodine is a poison, as is Interceptor, ReVive, CoralRX, MediCoral, and any other dips.

The key to them all is that they're not poisonous to corals at proper dosages, but are poisonous to flatworms and red bugs. It doesn't matter whether they're poisonous to us, insects, canines, or anything else for our purposes.

 

What are MEN and what do they do? What do red bugs like to target? Still learning about all of these things. Are there any safe in-tank treatments?