Eliminating Blue Clove Polyps with Fenbendazole

[levi83]

Are you guys ordering SAFEGUARD 4?

 

[MnFish1]

I did it....!!!!!! Cloves gone but snails are stunned? They don’t look like they’re riding but they’re just laying there sideways with half of their stuff hanging out lol. They goners? Or just leave them. Don’t want them all dying at same time..... thanks. Did anyone else experience this ?

When I dosed fembendazole (in my discus tank) it was expressly for removing/killing a bunch of snails.... it worked quite well... All gone in 2 weeks.
https://getecoqube.com/blogs/blog/15954115-medication-fenbendazole

 

[littlebigreef]

So far so good, the BCP look all but gone. This time around I went with a stronger dosage, haven't run carbon, but did do a massive water change at the one week mark. So, we'll see.

However, when it rains it pours. I'm seeing a bryopsis outbreak that needs to be checked (no other nuisance algae to report, levels are in check). I have enough Reef Flux (fluconazole) in hand to treat the system. However, its certain the fenbendazole isn't out of the system yet, and likely won't be for some time. Does anyone have experience with running fluconazole while there's still fenbendazole in the system? I've been able to keep the bryopsis somewhat in check with manual removal but I don't feel like I can wait a month or more to begin treatment.

At this point I'm going to have to suspend the second dose of fenbendazole until the bryopsis is in check. At that point I should be able to see if the BCP are coming back.

Noticed a few popping up again after 2 months so I’ve dosed again. Hoping they’re small and weak enough for this to be the coup de grace.

On a related note there were no adverse affects from treating the Bryopsis with Reef Reflux on the heels of fenbendazole.

 

[Peanut]

I used this medication at 10x the listed dose, for a 1 hour dip, followed by a good rinse and returning affected pieces to the tank. My goal was to avoid unwanted toxicity to other animals in the tank, which appears to have more or less worked (aside from GSP, but really, who cares?)

Holy crap is this stuff potent. Even after dipping and rinsing, the residual medicine still killed GSP in the tank. Didnt hurt tubipora though, in contrast to the report above. Didnt see any effects on anything else in the tank.

This stuff is magic. Really glad I used it, so glad to be BCP free after years.

not sure I would have started at 10x...maybe experiment at 1x, 2x, etc. You may have had the same results without it affecting the gsp in the tank.

glad it worked!

 

[levi83]

Tomorrow will be 7 days. I did 3 ml per gallon. The polyps are shriveled and have some white on them but they aren't totally white. How long until they are completely gone?

 

[menglish]

I can tell you, those BCP are really tough.
I was wondering if anyone has tried using fluconazole to treat their BCP?
They are both anti fungal meds. I know fluconazole is much more reef save that.
Can anyone comment on this?

 

[littlebigreef]

Noticed a few popping up again after 2 months so I’ve dosed again. Hoping they’re small and weak enough for this to be the coup de grace.

On a related note there were no adverse affects from treating the Bryopsis with Reef Reflux on the heels of fenbendazole.

Closing the loop here. I did one dose at full strength May 13. After about 8 weeks they started coming back (as expected) so I did a second dose, full strength, on July 11. I haven't seen them since. I do believe that second dose delivered the coup de grace and they were never able to reestablish.

So, this method works. I'd strongly suggest reading the thread from the beginning as I found other people's experiences to be inline with my own.

A huge thanks to the OP and everyone who's contributed to this thread over time.

I WOULD suggest a follow up treatment about 8 weeks after the first to slam the door on BCP and keep them from ever coming back.

 

[Peanut]

Closing the loop here. I did one dose at full strength May 13. After about 8 weeks they started coming back (as expected) so I did a second dose, full strength, on July 11. I haven't seen them since. I do believe that second dose delivered the coup de grace and they were never able to reestablish.

So, this method works. I'd strongly suggest reading the thread from the beginning as I found other people's experiences to be inline with my own.

A huge thanks to the OP and everyone who's contributed to this thread over time.

I WOULD suggest a follow up treatment about 8 weeks after the first to slam the door on BCP and keep them from ever coming back.

thank you for the follow up. great info.

 

[Peanut]

I can tell you, those BCP are really tough.
I was wondering if anyone has tried using fluconazole to treat their BCP?
They are both anti fungal meds. I know fluconazole is much more reef save that.
Can anyone comment on this?

no idea. if you experiment, keep us posted

 

[levi83]

I think mine might be like Menglish's. They are more purple than blue. I planned on doing a second treatment in two weeks at the 3 mg per gallon dose. My plan is to kick them when they are down. I'll post results back here in a moment the or so. They are almost gone now. 7 days after treatment. I did not lose any serpent stars. I pulled my main colony of Gorgonia out before I treated. It killed the little pieces left over.

 

[menglish]

If you have the purple ones, you many want to go even higher.
I used as high as 4mg/gal for 169 hrs (7days) and i am not sure they are gone. I can sill see signs of them in the tank.
FYI all my acros, rbts, other corals and fish were not affected.
only the usual; turbos, gorgonia, gsp,

 

[littlebigreef]

If you have the purple ones, you many want to go even higher.
I used as high as 4mg/gal for 169 hrs (7days) and i am not sure they are gone. I can sill see signs of them in the tank.
FYI all my acros, rbts, other corals and fish were not affected.
only the usual; turbos, gorgonia, gsp,

Blow 'em up with the double tap. I wouldn't necessarily wait the 8 weeks I did either. I only had that delay because I had to treat for byropsis. Three months on they are honestly truly gone... I'd been fighting those dang things for 4-5 years.

 

[menglish]

How did you treat for byropsis? Did you use Flux?
I was wondering if Flux will affect the bcp?

 

[littlebigreef]

How did you treat for byropsis? Did you use Flux?
I was wondering if Flux will affect the bcp?

I used Flux and it got the job done on the Byropsis. Its expensive to treat 350 gallons but it wiped out the algae without any harmful interaction with the Fenbendazole.

I have no reason to believe Flux is a treatment for BCP, indeed they actually started coming back until I put the second dose of Fenbendazole in.

Note, I absolutely hate treating my tank with anything so doing both over a few weeks was not ideal and done only out of necessity. I also had a longer period before I could re introduce snails so I did have some minor algae/excess nutrients in the system for awhile.

 

[menglish]

Ok, so Flux wont work.
I see that Fenbendazole is a broad spectrum benzimidazole anthelmintic drug. i was also looking into trying other drugs in the same class.
Has anyone done this?

 

[Paul J]

A few years ago, I purchased a rock that had some beautiful Space Monster zoas on it. It also had some Blue Clove Polyp on it as well. I saw the BCP, I knew it was there, I really didn't worry about it at all because I had no idea what it could become.

Fast forward....its now everywhere. Its growing all over my zoas. All over the base of sps. In my refugium. Everywhere!

I was literally about to break down my entire tank, get clean frags of what I could off my existing rock, get all new rock, and start over. It sounded like a monstrous undertaking, but the problem was so bad I didn't see any other way.

I found a few articles/posts that talked about a product called "Fluke Tabs" that seemed to be able to get rid of the BCP. I finally had some hope...but that didn't last long. I learned that at some point this product became unavailable in the US, and I don't think its even being made anymore today. I continued my search.

I then found the following article by Max Draco where he explains the process he went through to find an alternative to Fluke Tabs. I can't thank him enough for both doing all the research to find a solution (which was pure genius), and most importantly documenting it for everyone. Without this article, I would probably be very unhappy right now.

About 1 week ago, I started the process. I followed Max's example very closely. I purchased this product here. I made 50+ gallons of salt water. I removed everything that I thought would die, serpent stars, snails, leather coral, etc. and stopped skimming and using carbon. I dosed 1mg of Fenbendazole per gallon of water to be treated. I waited a little over 72 hours and started skimming again. I added back the carbon and finally I did a large water change at one week (yesterday).

Amazingly, one week after my initial dose....there is not a single Blue Clove Polyp to be found anywhere in my system. Its unbelievable, but they're gone.

Also...I miscalculated initially and I bought way too much Fenbendazole. If anyone needs a packet with enough to treat 250 gallons for only a few dollars... just send me a PM.

Hi Peanut,
I just received three packets of Fish Bendazole (each with 250mg per packet) the same as you got. Could you please verify the amount you used for each gallon you dosed your reef tank with.
I'm confused with what type Max used and the calculations he has recommended.

 

[Peanut]

Hi Peanut,
I just received three packets of Fish Bendazole (each with 250mg per packet) the same as you got. Could you please verify the amount you used for each gallon you dosed your reef tank with.
I'm confused with what type Max used and the calculations he has recommended.

I used and have been recommending a dosage of 1 mg/gal. I believe Max used a dosage of 2 mg/gal. There are people in this thread that I see have gone as high as 7 mg/gal for some pesky strains.

when I originally dosed, I used a scale and measured out the powder. Later I realized it would be much easier to mix with water and dose. If you add the packet to 1 gallon of water, then use 1oz of the mix per 2 gallons of tank water to be treated. (its actually 1oz per 1.95 gallons if you want to be exact)

 

[Paul J]

Thanks for getting back to me on this. There seems to be a trial and error approach in the amount that others have tried. I will give this a one off go. It could work out expensive in the long run trying and trying again. If it does not work all the rock well be taken out and I will start a fresh. Good luck to all those trying and those still trying. It could be months before I could say it worked.

 

[Dream54ing]

Not sure if this has been done, didn't have time to read 17 pages...
Just want to start a list of items it will affect. please copy, paste and add to anything you found effected. thanks! Here's what I've gathered..

Blue clove polyps
Leathers
Xenia
Pipe organ
Green Start polyps
Snails
Hydroids
Coco worms
Kenya tree
Blue ridge coral
grandis palys

 

[Try'nNotToKillStuff]

I've read all 17 pages of this post, and the Max Draco article (https://maxdraco.wordpress.com/). I am getting ready to pull the trigger. My biggest concern is the leathers I have in my tank. Since they are completely stuck to rocks (the same rocks covered in BCP), I think I have no choice but to cut and/or pull the leathers off the rock. Here is a pic of my tank. The leathers are all on the left and you can see the swarm of BCP under the left return (the blue **** strangling my prized colony of about 50 rasta zoas). Any other suggestions of what to do with the leathers? BTW, since that pic I've gotten rid of the palys on the right, as well as most of the star polyps.


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