Experimenting with in-tank antibiotic treatments for Brown Jelly Disease

[TheCoralExchange]

@AquaBiomics I found an research article here, from germany, regarding gut bacteria in humans, and it seems to state the same prevelance of this unknown acrobacter, but even more interesting is the same products we use in our tanks already such as chemiclean (erithromycin) and azithromycin, are listed as well. I wonder if there is some serious correlation here... What if its affecting the guts of the torches like it would do in humans as well? Just some though. The article took me a while to read and i'm still confused on what "bimodal distribution" mean, but hopefully this is interesting for you as well.

Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Arcobacter species in human stool samples derived from out- and inpatients: the prospective German Arcobacter prevalence study Arcopath - Gut Pathogens

Background Arcobacter species, particularly A. butzleri, but also A. cryaerophilus constitute emerging pathogens causing gastroenteritis in humans. However, isolation of Arcobacter may often fail during routine diagnostic procedures due to the lack of standard protocols. Furthermore, defined...

gutpathogens.biomedcentral.com

 

[MakerofThings]

Thought I'd just point out that I had a lovely rainbow trachy that overnight lost a large chunk of flesh and quickly developed BJD. I placed it in a 10L hospital tank with a small pump and heater, and dosed 0.2ml of the 50ml solution originally outlined.

BJD has completely stopped advancing, and the coral tissue seems to be puffier and healthier just 24 hours later. Normally with BJD that set on that quickly, I would have expected the coral to have completely died by now.

I will update over the coming days, but this treatment has absolutely done something to the BJD.

 

[New&no clue]

Man I wish I had found this article sooner, I just lost almost all my euphyllias (7 different hammers, a torch, and a cristata). I have one hammer left and was unsure what to do. I'm glad I have this article now for reference if it comes back.

 

[DropoffCorals]

Great write up. It almost seems to me that with it being in your water column, dipping individual pieces and putting them back in that same water column defeats the purpose of the dip.

I guess this is why folks don’t have a lot of success with dips.

 

[Somethingfishy22]

this is a great article I wish I found this 2 months ago, I got the same problems from buying indo torch that got bjd and wipe out almost 80 percent of my tank and most them are euphylia.

 

[Teku1998]

Hey everybody, amazing thread, OP, I’m new here and I came to ask if this product would work since I don’t have a prescription? https://www.lambertvetsupply.com/Fish-Flox-Forte-Ciprofloxacin-500mg-x-30-Tablets_p_2734.html

I’m just getting into euphyllia and want some on hand preventatively. Thanks!

 

[CoralClasher]

I’ve got a few questions about this in tank treatment with Ciprofloxacin.
1) should carbon and GFO be removed?
2) is there a maximum safe dose?
3) why not dose every 24 hours for 5-7 days?
4) is there any coral or fish foods that should be avoided during treatment?
5) would carbon dosing (vodka) be beneficial for the good bacteria during treatment?

 

[CoralClasher]

I’ve got a few questions about this in tank treatment with Ciprofloxacin.
1) should carbon and GFO be removed?
2) is there a maximum safe dose?
3) why not dose every 24 hours for 5-7 days?
4) is there any coral or fish foods that should be avoided during treatment?
5) would carbon dosing (vodka) be beneficial for the good bacteria during treatment?

I’m 30 days after treatment and nothing else has died. I was losing corals almost weekly till the Cipro treatment. I have a Seneye and did not see any ammonia spike. Thanks OP!!

 

[AquaBiomics]

I’m 30 days after treatment and nothing else has died. I was losing corals almost weekly till the Cipro treatment. I have a Seneye and did not see any ammonia spike. Thanks OP!!

That's great to hear!

Sorry I failed to get back to you on your questions. Did you end up removing your GAC / GFO during the treatment?

 

[CoralClasher]

That's great to hear!

Sorry I failed to get back to you on your questions. Did you end up removing your GAC / GFO during the treatment?

Yes I removed all filters for the week and did a 30% water change two days after last dose.

 

[kml505]

Yes I removed all filters for the week and did a 30% water change two days after last dose.

How's ur tank looking Jon? I wonder if this should be a monthly routine or as needed?

 

[CoralClasher]

How's ur tank looking Jon? I wonder if this should be a monthly routine or as needed?

Tank is looking pretty good for 6 months old. I haven’t seen any reason to repeat the treatment yet. Probably only as needed.

 

[CoralClasher]

This is the last coral I lost.

 

[Roush2000]

Just to add to the discussion - I just completed the third round of treatment following @AquaBiomics protocols. Eli has been kind enough to provide microbiome testing for before/after treatment for the presence of the bacteria, and so far there have been no adverse effects on my tank. I will update when the results of the testing are complete.

I am interested in doing this on my system but worried as i have a pretty large fish population. Did you have any ammonia issues or similar??

 

[Roush2000]

Could you please help me out with the dosing rates, just ordered some Cipro 500mg tablets . Looking to dose roughly 190 gallons of water, assuming I should take rock displacement inconsideration

Did you do it already? How did it go if so? How big is you livestock population

 

[kml505]

I am interested in doing this on my system but worried as i have a pretty large fish population. Did you have any ammonia issues or similar??

I have a large bioload as well. The 3 day treatment had no ill effects on my fishes. No issues at all.

 

[JoshB94]

Fantastic article. I'm nearing my breaking point on mysterious SPS RTN and lost all my aussie torches and a few shrooms over the last 6 months. Currently have lost about 20 sps frags some a year old with great growth over the last 2 months. ICP test results were almost perfect, stable parameters trident monitored, lower nutrients, etc.. I have not found any bugs or parasites and convinced its bacterial. Heavily considering treating my tank with CIPRO before I lose all my SPS (have a out 60 frags total) my zoas, chalices, clam, softies, indo torches etc are all doing great.

 

[BighohoReef]

I'm bring this article back to the top of the forum page. I recently wrote a thread about this but feel like it deserves a good follow up considering all of the threads that get posted about BJD. I'm currently experiencing a loss one by one my euphyllia is succumbing to BJD , going on week 3 and I've lost my HG, Hellfire and DS all with multiple heads. My wife is a biologist so this thread has been really fascinating for us. My Cipro comes tomorrow so I'm going to be treating the tank but I had a couple of questions for post treatment.

1. I've read that Cipro loses it's efficacy in lighting so it's best to treat the tank when the lights go down. True / not true?
2. Immediate water change after full treatment isn't needed? True / Not True?
3. Short-term treatment has little to no impact on healthy bacteria?
4. Storaging cipro recommendations? Just refrigerated is good enough?
5. Does anyone have long-term results that they can share since the last post in 2019?

Just want to say thank you to everyone for sharing their results, I definitely know the feeling of losing some prized corals. I'll post my results with cipro once I get the treatment going.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Incredible work, I will definitely be trying an antibacterial if I ever come across bjd

 

[JoshB94]

I'm bring this article back to the top of the forum page. I recently wrote a thread about this but feel like it deserves a good follow up considering all of the threads that get posted about BJD. I'm currently experiencing a loss one by one my euphyllia is succumbing to BJD , going on week 3 and I've lost my HG, Hellfire and DS all with multiple heads. My wife is a biologist so this thread has been really fascinating for us. My Cipro comes tomorrow so I'm going to be treating the tank but I had a couple of questions for post treatment.

1. I've read that Cipro loses it's efficacy in lighting so it's best to treat the tank when the lights go down. True / not true?
2. Immediate water change after full treatment isn't needed? True / Not True?
3. Short-term treatment has little to no impact on healthy bacteria?
4. Storaging cipro recommendations? Just refrigerated is good enough?
5. Does anyone have long-term results that they can share since the last post in 2019?

Just want to say thank you to everyone for sharing their results, I definitely know the feeling of losing some prized corals. I'll post my results with cipro once I get the treatment going.

Are you dosing your display tank or a HT? What dosage are you doing? Just got my CIPRO in today.