Anyone have ay interceptor? yeah...ughhh

[MarkO]

Had a fellow Boston Reefer stop by today and he was kind enough to point out my "little red bugs". Well good news is it is limited to one coral as I do not have any other Acros in the tank. Bad news is... well I got 'em.
I'd prefer to not treat the whole tank as I am sure I may lose hermits, blood shrimp and acro crabs (lives in a pocillopora). But right now, I'd prefer to remove the rock the acro is on and quarantinethe rock for a week or whatever necessary if you guys think it will do the job.
I think for this reason, I may not swap frags at the next frag swap. I did not plan on fragging this acro, but I'd hate to accidentally transfer these bugs to anyone else's tank.
Does anyone know where I can get some "Interceptor"?

 

[Piscevore]

If that is the case mark, why don't you just treat the affected coral? Or better yet, give it to someone ELSE who is treating. Granted we don't know how the life cycle works so removing the coral and treating it may not be effective, hey, give it a shot.

I know a bunch of people are treating for red bugs right now, why don't you just toss the affected acro into their tanks for a month...that way you'll starve the red bugs in your system while getting the infected coral treated in another!

I have a few too many acros to not dose the whole tank, but if you truly only have one, have someone else you trust treat it.

 

[Yaktop]

good advice. does anyone know the lifespan of this buggers without an acro host?

 

[MarkO]

I think I am going to try and remove the coral (and rock it's on) and treat them in a separate tank.
Greg H. might have some insight on how long the bugs can live without a host.

 

[JohnK]

I have some extra interceptor (dog died).

send PM if you want to work something out

 

[MarkO]

I have some extra interceptor (dog died).

send PM if you want to work something out

Thanks Jimmy for the offer, but I think a local reefer is going to hook me up.

So here's what I am going to try first.
Unfortunaltely, because the coral is on a very large (20# or so) rock on the base of a column of rock. Moving the rock is pretty much out of the question. The acro is located on a "head" on the rock that is about 4" in dia. I am going to try to enclose the head with a plastic bag, about a gallon in size. Then I'll pump it full of water. Shut down the pumps (maybe keep a small powerhead running). Then I plan to inject a solution of interceptor that is about 100-150% the recommended dosage and let it sit for about 6 hours. Then I plan on sucking (syphon) out the water out of the bag and crank up the pumps. I'll then do a "cleaning" of the acro with a powerhead. Hopefully knocking any remaining bugs off.
My only concern is the porosity of the rock and how tight I can pull the bag around the head of the coral/rock. I don't think there will be a much flow in and out of the bag, but I may be wrong.

What do you guys think?
Comments please

 

[MarkO]

Here's a photo of the rock and the "bag" I will place over the rock:

 

[Greg Hiller]

Interesting idea. Might work. Since you are isolating the rock with a bag I'd even go with a much higher dose of interceptor for that bag's volume of rock, maybe 2-3X the normal dose.

Don't know EXACTLY how long they live, but IMO/IME, they will not survive MORE than 2 weeks without a host. Might be as little as 1 week.