Brown Jelly Disease :(

[Shep]

Woke up this morning to find one of my acans covered in the stuff, not having time to really treat it because I had to go to work I took it out removed as much of the jelly as I could and then put it in my fish only tank. I hope it does not spread to the other corals, if it does whats the best way to treat it? Also what can cause it?

 

[FL_Reefer]

Revive maybe, once it's sets in it's hard to stop unfortunately.

 

[Shep]

Yea I figured that the one it was covering was a goner but I am just worried that it could spread to the others. All I really have are LPS (99% acans), I am going to do a 25% water change today and keep an eye on it.

 

[FL_Reefer]

Ya just keep an eye on the rest, I had it wipe out my torches in 2 days

 

[Shep]

if all of my acans die, I will probably be out of the hobby to be honest.

 

[HaWrasser]

thats not good! i hope it doesnt spread keep an eye on them and dip them all if need be. did you have anything out of the ordinary with your tank that could have caused the acan with BJ to decline? im not really sure what causes it. if dipping in revive doesnt work maybe try iodine ive read that it isnt that effective but its worth a shot if it comes to a last resort.

 

[Shep]

I have been having some temp issues but that's about it.The one with BJD is already a goner based on what I have read, would Bayer dipping do anything?

 

[reeffirstaid]

Brown jelly disease isn't actually a disease, but a symptom that can have a host of causes. Sometimes it's a bacterial infection, sometimes it's severe stress, sometimes an injury has caused infection - the list goes on. What you are witnessing is rapid tissue narcosis and in the absence of any real diagnosis, (such as placing a tissue scrap under a microscope and identifying a pathogen) I would err on the side of bacterial infection. Dips aid in these scenarios, but the best course of action is frag off any area that shows narcosis, followed up by a coral dip. If you can QT the specimen until its condition improves, all the better, as bacterial pathogens often spread to other colonies as tissue from a sick colony sloughs off and is spread around the tank. I would frag it, dip it and keep it by itself.

 

[reeffirstaid]

BTW coral revive is simply a cleaner. It removes debris and other accumulations from coral tissue. It has no properties that kill bacteria or pathogens.

 

[Cment]

Sorry to hear this. I had something similar happen, started on one of my acan colonies after being in my tank for almost a year. I dipped it in seachems reef dip (iodine) which helped for a little. Unfortunately, it got most of my acans and they did not make it. May want to up you water changes. I have heard from a local reefer that running a UV stopped his outbreak but cannot confirm that statement. Gd luck!

 

[Shep]

Sorry to hear this. I had something similar happen, started on one of my acan colonies after being in my tank for almost a year. I dipped it in seachems reef dip (iodine) which helped for a little. Unfortunately, it got most of my acans and they did not make it. May want to up you water changes. I have heard from a local reefer that running a UV stopped his outbreak but cannot confirm that statement. Gd luck!

Going to start doing bi-weekly water changes and a UV would help because it could kill any of the pathogens that are suspended in the water column. I might look for a cheap one

 

[reeffirstaid]

Sadly a UV won't do much for brown jelly disease. In fact, I would argue that it would do anything. A UV may kill bacteria suspended in the water column, but even this is determined by flow rate and other factors. If bacteria has infected your coral tissues, that's where it's at and a UV can do nothing about it. If slime from your infected acan were to slough off, get sucked into the uv and passed through, there is a chance it would kill some bacteria but that's a long shot. Bi-weekly water changes won't do anything either. Again, they may remove some bacteria in the water column but will also stress corals due to water chemistry fluctuations. Again, the only way to have any effect is by fragging off dying pieces of corals and dipping the colony. Like I said before, keeping the colony isolated can help contain spreading. Dips alone are of marginal value, and much better at aiding a fragged coral in healing and remaining bacteria free, than being a cure for a bad infection. If over 90% of the coral is compromised, I would consider discarding the specimen so it doesn't infect others. You can sometimes get one or two polyp frags off infected colonies which will eventually grow into small colonies.

 

[afamousjohnson]

Anytime I have had this prob it was usually due to an unseen stress are warfare sting. Didnt end up spreading either. I hope the same goes for you. Sorry bout your acan - always sucks.

 

[camelcruiser]

I have done iodine dips for brown jelly and it works really well. I don't have a specific amount I use I just put some in until the water is brown mix it up and let the coral sit for 5 minutes give or take. I actually stopped it from spreading on an infected torch and saved heads on the same coral without fragging it. I was kinda in the same boat as you with with all euphyllia. Good luck hopefully it works out for you.

 

[WetWhistle]

If you have to take any more corals out with brown jelly make sure to shut your water flow off. You want as little as possible of that brown jelly blowing around. That stuff can spread like wild fire to other corals. I normally shut the water flow off, suction off as much as I can and then take the coral out. You probably should frag it if it is a rare one or you don't want to lose it all. That is what I normally do.

If you put it in increased water flow it allows for greater respiration for the coral so it can get more O2, release a build up of CO2 and get more nutrients. It also helps stop stagnant spots on the coral and the build up of the brown jelly from forming. I have also saved corals doing this. Set it up in a separate tank for this so you can control the environment better.

 

[MrDJeep123]

if all of my acans die, I will probably be out of the hobby to be honest.

Don't you dare say that!

 

[evolved]

Iodine dips

 

[Shep]

Don't you dare say that!

Lol I just would not have the motivation to start back up

Iodine dips

What kind do you use?

 

[saltyphish]

I use lugols for it. Unfortunately, I don't have any successful stories to share. I thin I saved my torch with it but then lost the torch because of a alk swing.

 

[evolved]

lugol's is fine