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 State of the Tank: (cont.) |
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naked eye), their preference for coming out more so at night, or their apparent preference for only certain types of Acropora. And while I've yet to hear of anyone losing corals directly to the bugs, there have been several cases of them irritating the pieces to the point of death from secondary causes. More commonly, symptoms of infestation include lack of polyp extension, a lightening of coloration and the slowing down of growth. Generally, the corals just don't 'look right' for some reason. But when you decide to give your pieces a once over, be sure to look closely and carefully. Also, make sure you check every single acro in the tank because infestation can occur on just a few pieces. In my tank, it seemed to occur on Acros #37 and #46 Were there more? Probably. But by this time I was far too depressed to go on and had already resigned myself to what I had to do: Get some Interceptor.
Now, there has been a great deal of information made available about this product. In fact, I haven't come across a reefkeepers bulletin board yet that doesn't have several threads devoted specifically to this stuff so I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail here. But for those who've never heard of it, Interceptor is the brand name of a medicine used to treat dogs for heartworms. Originally, it was available through a vet by prescription only but lately I've been seeing a few online vendors offering it without one. As with any |
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medication, I would be wary of purchasing from someone I didn't know or trust though. You just can't be sure of what you're getting. Anyway, in the link I provided above, you will note that the instructions for treatment are very specific and were no doubt arrived at through a great deal of research and testing. You will note that Dustin all but begs those readers who intend to treat to follow these instructions precisely. You will also note this advice was ignored within minutes...with the expected variations in results. So let me reiterate here: If you plan to use Interceptor to treat your tanks for red bugs, please follow Dustin's instructions as closely as you can. Do all three doses. Save 'the road less traveled' for when you're making steak sauce or painting the kitchen, if you're single.
When used correctly, this stuff will kill your red bugs. In fact, most of them will be gone after the very first treatment (which is where many people stop...only to get them again, presumably when the eggs hatch), but it's imperative that you continue for complete eradication. Sadly however, when used correctly, this product will also kill most of your crustaceans (crabs, shrimps, pods, etc.). For instance, I lost a few acro crabs that I've had for quite some time  but unfortunately, there is no alternative unless you can physically remove them until the treatments are over. But then, there is a chance that you'd be reintroducing the bugs back into the tank with them
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