Six-line Wrasse eating redbugs?

[gordob]

I recently had redbugs on my only piece of Acropora in the tank. I was going to treat it with interceptor, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. For a while, I could see the bugs all over the coral, and the polyps wouldn't open up very much. Well, I put a Six-line Wrassed in there the other day, and I noticed last night that the polyps on the Acro were opened up again. Do Six-lines eat redbugs? If not, the only other thing I can think of is that I've been having some trouble controlling my water temperature, so it got up to around 84 degrees.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[gordob]

I forgot to mention that the only other SPS I have in the tank is Monti Cap. It's very small, and I don't see any redbugs on it.

Thanks,
Brad

 

[lifestudent]

Yes, many six-line wrasses eat flatworms. In fact, that's how I erradicated them in my daughter's tank 2 years ago. It may take them a while, but they get it done.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Some people anecdotally say the sixlines will eat redbugs. as Bob stated, they'll eat flatworms too. But it is far from proven, and I doubt they could get them all. If indeed you only have 1 acro in the tank, you can take it out and treat it seperately. But it should be kept out of the tank for at least 5 days. Otherwise, I would suggest treating the whole tank. They will only infest acros, though.

 

[gordob]

Yes, there truly is only the one Acro. What is the treatment process/dose for treating with interceptor?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I would treat the one coral rather then using interceptor. Get yourself some iodine based coral dip such as pro-coral cure and dip the acro for about 30-40 min. you might need to repete the treatment two or three times over the course of a month but MUCH better for your tank then interceptor!

 

[gordob]

I have some reef dip. I'll try that. I was told to use that after treating with interceptor. Is that not accurate?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[xyzpdq0121]

YA I would say something you were told was amiss... but then we all have different opinions. I do not think you need to treat your entire tank for one coral you can pull out and treat in a QT tank.. Just my opinion though

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I disagree with Brandon here. There is a pathogen in your tanks water. treating one specimen, even repeatedly, wont solve the problem. Same as any other pathogen.

I dont know why people freak out about treating with interceptor. It is really easy and doesnt blow up a reef tank or anything.

 

[FutureInterest]

Just dip it and QT the acro. Let the red bugs starve themselves to death. I think that's better than using intercepter for the entire tank and destroying all your crustaceans.

 

[gordob]

It would be very easy for me to remove the Acro from the tank and QT it. I would much rather do that than take the chance of my crustaceans dying.

So, I'm assuming the Wrasse didn't get rid of all of the redbugs. Is that right? If he has eaten most of them, and then I treat and QT the only Acro in the tank, shouldn't the Wrasse in conjuction with starving the redbugs get rid of them?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

jmaneyapanda;47402 wrote: I disagree with Brandon here.

Surprise here!!! J/K

Panda and I rarely see eye to eye on treatments. To his defense, he knows his stuff and you can go either route here and be ok.

To make my point further lets take a look at the risks vs. rewards of each treatment.

Yes interceptor works but 1) it is hard to come across and as Panda has noted before, anyway you come across it will most likely be against the law. 2) Using Interceptor will wipe out most if not all crustations living in the tank (all pods, crabs, shrimp, etc..) Furthermore, to save those crustations, you are going to have to QT all that you can catch. SO you need a QT tank anyways! 3) The die off and polution from said die off can have problems for your tank for months to come.

QTing the ONE acro might take longer to rid the redbugs but it should rid you of them. Coral dip is easier to come across (Aquabuys now carried my favorite in stock now!). Yes it might take a few dips to totally break the life cycle but a dip of the coral once a week is nothing. You have to worry about lighting in QT but that is fixed easy by a flood light and a clip-on Home Depot light socket. Your QT tank that you set up would have to be set up anyways for your crustations if you used Interceptor and can be reused in the future when you QT your new fish, corals and inverts! (You are QTing arn't you?!?) The dip you get can (AND WILL) be used in the future to dip all corals that hit your tank!

Make your own choice but I would treat the coral infected. My advice might be different if you had an entire tank of SPS but you have one coral that you can remove!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Well, I agree for the most part (its a start, huh, Brandon?!) You do not necessariily need a QT. If you have a fuge that has ZERO acros in it, take it off line, put a circulation pump/bubbler, and let it run fallow for 5-7 days. Red bugs within will die. This can be home to shrimp, crabs, and preserve a chunk of the microcrustacean life. Then, just run interceptor through the rest of the system.

And Brandon, it is not illegal to get or use interceptor for reef tank purposes. It is against the vets oath to prescribe it for that use. I got it from my vet quite legally by asking him. He gave it to me no questions asked. Becuase he trusts me to not abuse it. No problem with that. I just frown on people trying to defraud their vets or companies into getting it. That is sketchy to me.

But I do agree, that QTing and treating all of the acro will handle the problem, but I dont think dipping it and returning it will (as suggested in your first post). If the acro is removed to a QT, and run interceptor in there, you should be fine. Just be sure ALL of the acro is out- including any little frags that mightve busted off, or encrusting. There can be none in the tank, otherwise it is possible your treatment was worthless.