Ridding amphipods
- Thread starter dalston
- Start date
I have dosed a tank with interceptor in the past for no other reason than to knock the amphipod level down to manageable proportions in which a wrasse or two can keep them in check beyond that.
Predators aside, a clean system will aslo keep the pod populations in check. The dirtier your tank, the more pods of all kinds you will have.
Predators aside, a clean system will aslo keep the pod populations in check. The dirtier your tank, the more pods of all kinds you will have.
not all. clams and snails are fine IME up to a pretty heavy dosage many times above Dustins original formula.
shrimp and hermit crabs are usually toast. If you keep shrimp I would catch them before dosing, and the crabs deserve it. Just kidding...kinda. You can remove them as well.
shrimp and hermit crabs are usually toast. If you keep shrimp I would catch them before dosing, and the crabs deserve it. Just kidding...kinda. You can remove them as well.
dalston
Active member
How about bristle worms? I love my bristles...but saying that it would be a worthy sacraifice compared to my polyps...Is there a link on dosing instructions anywhere, I guess I'm also gonna have to try to find some first.
Oh and I do have a couple of hermits but I think they have long over stayed their welcome anyways.
Oh and I do have a couple of hermits but I think they have long over stayed their welcome anyways.
you will lose a few of the tiniest of worms. It wont make a difference in your worm populations
here is dustins orignal recipe. you are going to want to go at least double his recomendation if you want to really hit those amphipods hard. they are much tougher than the redbugs, and dustins formula is kind of dated. We are no longer afraid of the stuff and know it is pretty harmless, the well being of various tiny critters aside. I dont even think that any precautionary measures need to be taken besides turning your skimmer back on after dosing and letting it cycle for a while. That is JMO, and I have experimented quite a bit with the stuff. If you have never used it....follow his directions minus upping the dosage a little due to the strength of your intended targets. better safe than sorry and everyones system is different
quote:
The dosage used in an aquarium to kill red bugs is 25 mg per 10 gallons of actual tank water. That is 25 mg of the entire tablet. Each tablet in the pack of 6 will treat about 380 gallons. The tablets are ground with a mortar and pestle into a fine powder.
The entire volume of water in the system must be considered as the pill will dissolve into the whole system, not just main aquarium. Thus, it is necessary to take into account things like the sump, a refugium, the water in a skimmer, calcium reactor, canister filter, or any large pieces of plumbing. Also, before adding the medication to your tank, turn off your skimmer and any UV sterilizers and ozone generators. Then, remove any mechanical filtration and carbon if present.
Remove any shrimp or crabs that you want to save. They will have to stay out of the system for the duration of the treatment. However, be warned that if you add them back to your tank, there is a slight chance that you will re-introduce the red bugs to your tank.
The next step is to dissolve the medication into some aquarium water, a process that will likely require stirring, as the powder is not very water soluble. Then, spread the mixed water evenly across the surface of the water. Your tank should remain perfectly clear and look normal the entire time. The bugs hang on well into the 4th and 5th hour of the treatment as their appendages will still be hanging onto the flesh. Many of the bugs may even hang on for days even after they are dead.
If anything goes wrong during treatment perform a water change ASAP and add a large amount of carbon to your system.
After 6 hours, a 25% minimum water change is performed and as much activated carbon as you can fit should be added to the tank. In the initial tests, crustaceans that were reintroduced to a tank after a 25% water change and carbon were unaffected by the medication. 24 hours later the water should be changed again and the carbon replaced. There is no maximum for the water changes or carbon, the more you do the better.
The treatment needs to be performed a minimum of 3 times as the medication does not kill them at every stage of their life. Thus, even though most adults may be killed in the first treatment, there may be some juveniles and eggs that remain which were not affected by the treatment. The third treatment is a “just in case†treatment, its goal is to get any bugs that could have possibly survived the first two.
The most likely side effect of this medication is that it will likely kill off most of the crustaceans in your aquarium, including all crabs, shrimps, mysis shrimp, and copepods. As mentioned, if you want to save any of your crustaceans you have to remove them before treatment. Also, if you have any fish or other animal that relies almost exclusively on micro-crustaceans for food, it may be better to evacuate them to another tank as this treatment will likely wipe out most of your micro-crustacean population.
here is dustins orignal recipe. you are going to want to go at least double his recomendation if you want to really hit those amphipods hard. they are much tougher than the redbugs, and dustins formula is kind of dated. We are no longer afraid of the stuff and know it is pretty harmless, the well being of various tiny critters aside. I dont even think that any precautionary measures need to be taken besides turning your skimmer back on after dosing and letting it cycle for a while. That is JMO, and I have experimented quite a bit with the stuff. If you have never used it....follow his directions minus upping the dosage a little due to the strength of your intended targets. better safe than sorry and everyones system is different
quote:
The dosage used in an aquarium to kill red bugs is 25 mg per 10 gallons of actual tank water. That is 25 mg of the entire tablet. Each tablet in the pack of 6 will treat about 380 gallons. The tablets are ground with a mortar and pestle into a fine powder.
The entire volume of water in the system must be considered as the pill will dissolve into the whole system, not just main aquarium. Thus, it is necessary to take into account things like the sump, a refugium, the water in a skimmer, calcium reactor, canister filter, or any large pieces of plumbing. Also, before adding the medication to your tank, turn off your skimmer and any UV sterilizers and ozone generators. Then, remove any mechanical filtration and carbon if present.
Remove any shrimp or crabs that you want to save. They will have to stay out of the system for the duration of the treatment. However, be warned that if you add them back to your tank, there is a slight chance that you will re-introduce the red bugs to your tank.
The next step is to dissolve the medication into some aquarium water, a process that will likely require stirring, as the powder is not very water soluble. Then, spread the mixed water evenly across the surface of the water. Your tank should remain perfectly clear and look normal the entire time. The bugs hang on well into the 4th and 5th hour of the treatment as their appendages will still be hanging onto the flesh. Many of the bugs may even hang on for days even after they are dead.
If anything goes wrong during treatment perform a water change ASAP and add a large amount of carbon to your system.
After 6 hours, a 25% minimum water change is performed and as much activated carbon as you can fit should be added to the tank. In the initial tests, crustaceans that were reintroduced to a tank after a 25% water change and carbon were unaffected by the medication. 24 hours later the water should be changed again and the carbon replaced. There is no maximum for the water changes or carbon, the more you do the better.
The treatment needs to be performed a minimum of 3 times as the medication does not kill them at every stage of their life. Thus, even though most adults may be killed in the first treatment, there may be some juveniles and eggs that remain which were not affected by the treatment. The third treatment is a “just in case†treatment, its goal is to get any bugs that could have possibly survived the first two.
The most likely side effect of this medication is that it will likely kill off most of the crustaceans in your aquarium, including all crabs, shrimps, mysis shrimp, and copepods. As mentioned, if you want to save any of your crustaceans you have to remove them before treatment. Also, if you have any fish or other animal that relies almost exclusively on micro-crustaceans for food, it may be better to evacuate them to another tank as this treatment will likely wipe out most of your micro-crustacean population.
"all" is a big word
All, none, always, and never are four words you should always remember never to use all but none of the time...especially in this hobby
I have had shrimp, emeralds, larger species of commensal crabs and hermits among other things live through various dosages of Interceptor for different applications and tests. Creatures do also build up a tolerance to the stuff. Moral to the story is if you dont want it dead...get it out or take your chances.
Unless using very high dosages it wont even kill "all" of these bastard amphipods in question all of the time. It iwll surely put a huge dent in them though and kill most of them. A yellow coris or similar very diligent pickers of the wrasse family are your best tools for population control
blasto_master
New member
I have the same problem with the pods eating my fancy zoos and blasto's. I was loosing alot of heads until I moved them way up to the top of the tank. I have no problems now except the pod population is way to much for my tank.
blasto_master
New member
<a href="http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/the413pimp/?action=view¤t=podseatingzoo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk313/the413pimp/podseatingzoo.jpg" border="0" alt="pods eating zoo"></a>
blasto_master
New member
Believe or not I never heard of a zoa eating spider before. I posted the picture of the garammid shrimp and didn't know what the other thing was. Lol. I have the same problem but I posted it in a different part of Reef central.
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