Repost for information purposes. (external link)
Sara’s Suggestions for a Full SPS Quarantine Procedure:
This process will be for treatment of AEFWs, red bugs, Sea Spiders, Monti Nudis and the many other pests that prey on our SPS corals. Also, one time dips will not kill off the eggs that are laid by many of the pests. The dips only kill living bugs, not ones in the egg stage.
There are many dip treatment methods available and they include the following:
- Iodine Dip (Overall pest dip)
- Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) - Overall pest dip
- Levamisole (pig wormer) - AEFW dip treatment
- Interceptor (dog wormer) - Red Bug dip treatment
- Fluke Tabs - AEFW dip treatment
Please note that if there are acro crabs on the corals you want to treat, you will need to remove them prior to the treatments as they will die from the dip medications.
With an incoming batch of new corals, I will first treat with a Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) dip. I overdose based on the directions on the bottle and mix a batch of saltwater in a white container and mix until a coffee brown. I let the corals sit in that for 20 minutes and blast them with a turkey baster to remove any pests that hang on during the dip. Other Iodine dips can be used instead as TMPCC can get expensive, but I have had great results with TMPCC and will continue to use it.
The next immediate treatment will be for Red Bugs. Even though the TMPCC claims to be a treatment for Red Bugs, I will still treat separate for them with Interceptor. I will do a dip in a larger container based on the quantity of SPS that came in. In the past I have used about 8 gallons of water for the treatment and going forward at least a few gallons of water will be used along with a powerhead for circulation and a heater as well. In the past I have treated for 6 hours with Interceptor for 3 treatments and have rid myself of Red Bugs. I had used about a BB size section of the large dog pill, crushed it and added it to the water. I will most likely only do 2 treatments going forward as the 3rd one was most likely overkill.
I will use the TMPCC and Interceptor for the first 2 weeks of dips. All dips will occur every 7 days and the corals will be kept in a separate QT tank for 4 weeks total before they are put in the display tank.
Starting with the 3rd dip through the 5th dip, I am going to move on to Fluke tabs for continued caution treatments for AEFWs. The recommended treatment is using 2 gallons of water and 2 crushed Fluke tabs, along with a pump to keep the water circulating for 60 minutes and a heater unless you can keep your temps stable for that 1 hour treatment. Here’s a link to the fluke tabs I will use: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
For AEFWs I had treated in the past with Levamisole. Many have had some SPS not survive the treatments as Levamisole can be pretty harsh. I have had about 20% die off when using Levamisole over 4 weeks with 5 dips. Going forward I would use fluke tabs rather than Levamisole.
After the 5th treatment is done, the corals will be acclimated and added to the display tank.
Water used for the treatments will come from the QT tank. While the corals are in their treatment in a separate container, the QT tank, filter and heater will be washed in hot water with Vinegar and will be refilled with water from the display tank. The small amounts of frequent water change water for the QT will also come from the display tank.
Here are some photos of my QT tanks. The first shots show my 10 gallon tank that was used prior. I had to manually top off evaporation water at least twice a day and do frequent partial water changes throughout the week.
I have now moved to a 15 gallon tank and had a float valve drilled into the tank to that I can now do gravity feed top-off. I will still need to do water do frequent water changes to keep the parameters in check.
For lighting, I happen to have a spare 250W MH and Power Compact set-up that I use.
I cut the lighting timeframe in half as it’s hard to keep the heat down on a small tank with that much lighting (6 hours of PCs and 4 hours of MH) I had also placed my QT tank directly on the basement floor for my latest treatments and that had kept the temperature stable with a heater only. You can find some nice used lighting if you decide to QT as I do. You do not need to have MH lights as the Acro’s will survive without it, you just need to be sure to acclimate them to the MH lights when you add them back into the display tank is all.
There are many dip treatment methods available and they include the following:
- Iodine Dip (Overall pest dip)
- Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) - Overall pest dip
- Levamisole (pig wormer) - AEFW dip treatment
- Interceptor (dog wormer) - Red Bug dip treatment
- Fluke Tabs - AEFW dip treatment
Please note that if there are acro crabs on the corals you want to treat, you will need to remove them prior to the treatments as they will die from the dip medications.
With an incoming batch of new corals, I will first treat with a Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) dip. I overdose based on the directions on the bottle and mix a batch of saltwater in a white container and mix until a coffee brown. I let the corals sit in that for 20 minutes and blast them with a turkey baster to remove any pests that hang on during the dip. Other Iodine dips can be used instead as TMPCC can get expensive, but I have had great results with TMPCC and will continue to use it.
The next immediate treatment will be for Red Bugs. Even though the TMPCC claims to be a treatment for Red Bugs, I will still treat separate for them with Interceptor. I will do a dip in a larger container based on the quantity of SPS that came in. In the past I have used about 8 gallons of water for the treatment and going forward at least a few gallons of water will be used along with a powerhead for circulation and a heater as well. In the past I have treated for 6 hours with Interceptor for 3 treatments and have rid myself of Red Bugs. I had used about a BB size section of the large dog pill, crushed it and added it to the water. I will most likely only do 2 treatments going forward as the 3rd one was most likely overkill.
I will use the TMPCC and Interceptor for the first 2 weeks of dips. All dips will occur every 7 days and the corals will be kept in a separate QT tank for 4 weeks total before they are put in the display tank.
Starting with the 3rd dip through the 5th dip, I am going to move on to Fluke tabs for continued caution treatments for AEFWs. The recommended treatment is using 2 gallons of water and 2 crushed Fluke tabs, along with a pump to keep the water circulating for 60 minutes and a heater unless you can keep your temps stable for that 1 hour treatment. Here’s a link to the fluke tabs I will use: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
For AEFWs I had treated in the past with Levamisole. Many have had some SPS not survive the treatments as Levamisole can be pretty harsh. I have had about 20% die off when using Levamisole over 4 weeks with 5 dips. Going forward I would use fluke tabs rather than Levamisole.
After the 5th treatment is done, the corals will be acclimated and added to the display tank.
Water used for the treatments will come from the QT tank. While the corals are in their treatment in a separate container, the QT tank, filter and heater will be washed in hot water with Vinegar and will be refilled with water from the display tank. The small amounts of frequent water change water for the QT will also come from the display tank.
Here are some photos of my QT tanks. The first shots show my 10 gallon tank that was used prior. I had to manually top off evaporation water at least twice a day and do frequent partial water changes throughout the week.
I have now moved to a 15 gallon tank and had a float valve drilled into the tank to that I can now do gravity feed top-off. I will still need to do water do frequent water changes to keep the parameters in check.
For lighting, I happen to have a spare 250W MH and Power Compact set-up that I use.
I cut the lighting timeframe in half as it’s hard to keep the heat down on a small tank with that much lighting (6 hours of PCs and 4 hours of MH) I had also placed my QT tank directly on the basement floor for my latest treatments and that had kept the temperature stable with a heater only. You can find some nice used lighting if you decide to QT as I do. You do not need to have MH lights as the Acro’s will survive without it, you just need to be sure to acclimate them to the MH lights when you add them back into the display tank is all.
Here is a batch of Acro's in a 6 hour Levamisol treatment:
Here's a photo of my most favored pests!
Here's a damaged Acro!
I hope you were able to pick up some idea's and feel free to comment!
- Credits to Sara
Here's a photo of my most favored pests!
Here's a damaged Acro!
I hope you were able to pick up some idea's and feel free to comment!
- Credits to Sara
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