Interceptor help from the pros

[dewboy1127]

I thought I had got them all off the new frags when i dipped but not so lucky.So now I am going to get interceptor and treat the dt. I have access to actual interceptor for dogs 25-50lbs and 50-100lbs in mg its 11.5mg and 23mg roughly the vet said. Im thinking I will get the 25-50 lb or 11.5mg one as other may be to much for my system and said sell me one for $10. Is this the right size for my tank? Also can someone please tell me how much to dose and how. My dt is 72gal and around 10-15 gal water in sump.Thanks.

 

[twilliard]

Here is good info on this
http://www.melevsreef.com/node/655

 

[dewboy1127]

Here is good info on this
http://www.melevsreef.com/node/655

I read that exact article this morning but was confused as says a large tablet will treat 400gal of water is that up to or should i try break down to tank size accordingly. Wondering id maybe theres a mg to water ratio? Will the smaller one work on my tank then should i use hole thing or divide? I have never used this beforeand definitely dont want to overdue it and harm anything except the pests.

 

[jgraz]

You want the 23mg pill. With your water volume, 1 pill with give you the 3 treatment you need to complete. The Melev article pretty much sums it up. You will want to split that pill into 3 equal(ish) pieces. It is important to keep all equipment running that normally runs even reactors, just take out media turn off air flow to the skimmer.

Try to remove all crabs, hermits, and shrimp. Most will not make it through the treatment. Its a very easy pest to get rid of, and the treatments are easy to do also.

 

[jgraz]

You can't really overdose the system with this so don't go crazy trying to get the pieces exact size. Its the first treatment that is most important as that will kill all the bugs. The second and third treatments are kind of a "just in case" since its unknown whether they are egg layers or live bearers.

 

[dewboy1127]

Is there any water changes needed between or after treatments? Should i get some carbon to run for afterwards to pull anything left over out or is this not an issue?..when is it safe to reintroduce inverts?does this affect fish at all i have blue star leopard especially concerned about.

 

[dewboy1127]

Does this kill any other pests as well?

 

[twilliard]

It's been several years since I last was doing work with interceptor
It is effective but harsh on the tank.
Carbon and water changes afterwards is a great idea to help remove the medication.

 

[jgraz]

Is there any water changes needed between or after treatments? Should i get some carbon to run for afterwards to pull anything left over out or is this not an issue?..when is it safe to reintroduce inverts?does this affect fish at all i have blue star leopard especially concerned about.

You want to do a WC after each treatment. Shoot for at least 25%, that's what I did. Also after the 12Hrs and the WC you want to get the skimmer going again and get carbon running. 1 week later repeat the process. After the third treatment is complete you should be good to go adding back your inverts.
And don't worry about snails and stars they will be just fine. Its only crabs and shrimp that will take the hit. pods and such will take a hit as well but rebound nicely.

 

[dewboy1127]

This may be a dumb question but I am curious as to why the skimmer venturi needs be undone and skimmer left running? If im not areating the water with skimmer do i need to add some air stones for oxygen?

 

[hybridazn]

As already stated you can't really overdose this stuff. When I used it on my 180 display I used a whole big pill per dose.

It will kill any type of copepod/amphipod and possibly crabs,snails and hermits. I say possibly because when I dosed I was unable to get my 3 shrimp out and they survived all 3 heavy doses.

For oxygen exchange if your tank has a overflow that will be enough while dosing. You can turnow the skimmer and put carbon back online after about 4 hours. I would do a nice water change at this time as well.

 

[dewboy1127]

Ok so come find out the other tablets he had at vet had tapeworm meds in it also and where chewable...so i got two of the 25-50 lb 11.5 mg ones ..im figuring on doing a whole tablet first and then split the last one for additional treatments or will a half of one these be sufficient per dose so i will have a dose leftover. ..i should mention these where the last two plain interceptors in this size he had .He has a few 2-10 lb ones left are these sufficient enough for a dose so maybe i should grab them while there available since he also said there phasing them out completely?

 

[jgraz]

From all that I have read and understood you need the 23Mg tabs. That's the dosage that kills. Now not sure how or if that translates to the smaller tabs with less medicine.

So in your case I would do this. Two of the small tabs equal 1 large in dose. I would split each into 3 and just use 2 pieces for each dose. By using 1 full tab for 1st dose you are going over dose, which os ok and fine to do, but it will leave you with a lower dose for each of the 2 remaining treatments. Now as I said before its the initial dose that does all the work, and the subsequent ones are just for piece of mind. So doing it as you described will probably be fine, but doing it the way I described will give you piece of mind.

As for the skimmer running with venturi out it is just to make sure that all parts of the tank that could be housing a redbug gets treated. This is why I also stated that any reactors should also be running without media of course.

 

[dewboy1127]

Whats the longest time you can leave treatment in? Could you let it go 24-48hrs?

 

[jgraz]

I've only done 12 hrs max. Not sure leaving it in longer does anything more.

 

[dewboy1127]

The longer time is so I am able to do the treatment say tonight and then do water change tomorrow night when off work which will end up being a 24 hr lapse or so....will this hurt anything?

 

[dewboy1127]

Bump ^

 

[dewboy1127]

Okay after removing the shrimp and crabs from my system I have started the Interceptor treatment with two thirds of the 11.5 milligram tablet. Started at 7:45 this morning and red bugs are still unaffected how long does treatment usually take to kick in?

 

[dewboy1127]

Bump

 

[jgraz]

how did you make out