2 hours into treatment . .

[Paula]

Hi everyone . ..
I am staying home today - doing stuff around the house .... and anxiously watching my tank. I started the treatment at 11:00 - so far, so good. Everyone has had such good success with the bug treatment, but my only concern is my fire shrimp. I have had this beautiful shrimp for almost 4 years - in fact it was my second invert EVER! She is a beauty. So hopefully she will come through the treatment OK. I tried to coax her out so I could isolate her, but she is too smart and too shy. Wish her luck!

 

[dima96]

good luck paula

 

[KAS2]

Good luck Paula...

It is a brave move but many have gone before you

I am sure you will soon have a brand new, gorgeous tank that will be completely bug free!

Keep us posted!
-Karen
PS I'm cleaning my oven... how boring...

 

[Ray]

What do I look for or at to find out if I have bugs? I would say I do not but I do not know what to look for

 

[Paula]

Hi Ray - they are tiny, microscopic bugs that have invaded most of our tanks. The bugs are referred to as the "acro bugs" or "red mites" and they only seem to affect acroporas. While there is much speculation as to where they came from and what harm they do, I feel better just getting rid of them. Jeremy of Coral Reef Aquarium in Seekonk was instrumental in findind a "cure" for them.

do a search on RC (in the main discussion forum or in the SPS forum) for "red mites" and you will see some incredible pictures and descriptions.

BTW - the fire shrimp was looking very stressed - so much so that it came out of hiding and I could actually catch it with my net. She is in another tank right now - whew. Although I didn't give her a full drip acclimation - she seems less stressed.

 

[Syris]

Glad you got the shrimp out Paula. I've read its hit or miss with them during treatment.

 

[dad300]

Paula how did it go? I'll be looking for some acros after I get my new lights up and running.

 

[KAS2]

Whew! Glad you got the fire shrimp out. Did everything else fare well (except the bugs of course)?
-K.

 

[Lam]

Paula,

Hopefully yours will pull out fine like mine. I've done it 3 times and he survived each time.

 

[Silvio]

Are these red mites really microscopic or just very small? How do you know if you have them? What can I do to prevent them? Does reef dip work on them?

 

[Scuba_Dave]

They are VERY small, once you have seen one, you will be able to spot them. This treatment as I understand, is the only thing that works

 

[Ifferfish]

Paula,
How are things going today, and how is your shrimp?

 

[Moe_K]

Gumhead had some great pics and info on his site. Let's see if he can provide a link.

 

[joefitz]

Yeah...give us an update! I hope it all went well...

 

[Keith Sheridan]

Paula, glad you got the shrimp out. Fire Shrimp are great and it would be sad to lose a senior citizen of your reef, not to mention an expensive and beautiful one.

It is always smart to remove any prized animals during such treatments, unless of course it is them you are treating.

 

[Paula]

Hi all,
Thanks for wishes of good luck . .
The fire shrimp made it . . She was staggering around the tank so I was able to scoop her and put her in my empty-but-still-running 72. The only casualty was one of the three cleaner shrimp - and I guess that is about the average; 1 out of 3 has trouble. So, the treatment went well. I follow the instructions to the letter; so phase one is complete. Phase two is this weekend when I will repeat the same process.

I can already see improvement in polyp extension. I can't even see these little bugs without a high-powered magnifying glass (it is tought to get old) but I knew they were there. Nick and Joe and others could see them.

My thanks to Jeremy at CRA for co-discovering this cure and for helping me with my stupid questions. My vet thinks I am crazy, but hey, so what?
Paula

 

[marco67]

Glad it went well Paula.

I guess I'm lucky my vet is a reef keeper and completely understands obsessive compulsive reef keepers.

 

[Mike A]

My vet was also fascinated about it when I last spoke with him.

Paula, the most improvement I noticed was after the first treatment. It was
like night and day after the third hour of the first treatment. One month later,
growth and color are back. Those mites really take a toll on the corals they
infect.

 

[jackie]

Paula, I'm glad to hear of your success in treating. It's really heart wrenching to see bad things happen to our tanks.

 

[Ifferfish]

Paula, Good luck with phase 2. Will be thinking of you and your critters!!!