makingbubbles
Guest
For months now I have been watching a few of my acros dwindle down to almost nothing. I had red bugs. The first step is acceptance. How could I get these deviant little spawns of Satan? Well I can only guess that I introduced them to my tank on a sps frag I got from someone. All the coral looked healthy till one day I saw little orange specs crawling around on one of my new additions. I knew right there that I was in for some pain.
After turning on my computer and doing research I figured using interceptor spectrum would be my best choice for dealing with this problem. Interceptor spectrum is a heartworm preventative chewable for dogs. The main ingredient being milbemycin which is proven to be a common destructor of red bugs. One problem is you need a prescription if you live in the states. This isn't a bad problem if you just take photos and information to your local veterinarian clinic. Every vet I talked to seem happy to help and wanted to know more about my tank. The real issue is everyone I talked to no longer carried interceptor. In fact I found that the best place to get it is from canada. You don't even need a prescription.
I was very concerned about putting an item like this in my tank and wile waiting for it to come in the mail I kept racking my brain if it was even worth trying. I travel quite a bit for work and for pleasure and wile out of town and working for 2 weeks I came home to 3 of my acros half gone. I had had enough.
After rounding up all my hermits and struggling to catch my shrimp, which I never did catch I decided to take the plunge. I dosed 1/4 of the lrg breed chew in a plastic cup of heated ro water. I crushed the chew up and stirred till it was all liquid. The slurry was added to my 65 gallon after lights out, and clouded the tank. My brs reactor was turned off, carbon was removed, and skimmer was turned down. The battle for life had begun.
The results this morning after 6hrs of sleep and ready to head off to another 12hr shift Was awesome. All signs of red bugs were gone. The only casualties were pods, a few hermits that I didn't notice, and my shrimp that I was unable to catch. My fish, urchin, starfish, snails, and corals were all survivors.
I would recommend this treatment for anyone dealing with the treat of losing their acros to red bugs. I write this only to explain what I have learned through my own experience. I hope this could help someone in the future.
After turning on my computer and doing research I figured using interceptor spectrum would be my best choice for dealing with this problem. Interceptor spectrum is a heartworm preventative chewable for dogs. The main ingredient being milbemycin which is proven to be a common destructor of red bugs. One problem is you need a prescription if you live in the states. This isn't a bad problem if you just take photos and information to your local veterinarian clinic. Every vet I talked to seem happy to help and wanted to know more about my tank. The real issue is everyone I talked to no longer carried interceptor. In fact I found that the best place to get it is from canada. You don't even need a prescription.
I was very concerned about putting an item like this in my tank and wile waiting for it to come in the mail I kept racking my brain if it was even worth trying. I travel quite a bit for work and for pleasure and wile out of town and working for 2 weeks I came home to 3 of my acros half gone. I had had enough.
After rounding up all my hermits and struggling to catch my shrimp, which I never did catch I decided to take the plunge. I dosed 1/4 of the lrg breed chew in a plastic cup of heated ro water. I crushed the chew up and stirred till it was all liquid. The slurry was added to my 65 gallon after lights out, and clouded the tank. My brs reactor was turned off, carbon was removed, and skimmer was turned down. The battle for life had begun.
The results this morning after 6hrs of sleep and ready to head off to another 12hr shift Was awesome. All signs of red bugs were gone. The only casualties were pods, a few hermits that I didn't notice, and my shrimp that I was unable to catch. My fish, urchin, starfish, snails, and corals were all survivors.
I would recommend this treatment for anyone dealing with the treat of losing their acros to red bugs. I write this only to explain what I have learned through my own experience. I hope this could help someone in the future.
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