Help? White fuzz on torch corals

[kyley]

Hi All,
I have 3 torch corals that appear to be doing fine (for now), one that looks near death, and another that is starting to look worrisome. The two with issues have a clear / white fuzz that appears to be irritating the flesh of the torch, causing it to withdraw. The only place I see this fuzz in my tank is on these two corals (not on the rocks, other corals, etc). I've been searching and found a couple of pics that look like what I have, but I couldn't find any consensus on what this is or what to do about it. Some said a fungus, some said bacteria. Any thoughts on what it is or how I can treat them?

Last night, I dipped the first one in Coral RX (first pic). Today it looks like it might be opened slightly more with slightly less fuzz, but I can't tell for sure (second pic). Third pic is of my other torch that's withdrawn around the edges and has some of the fuzz as well.

I might try a hydrogen peroxide dip. Also considering Furan 2 (have some of it) and Melafix (don't have, but do have Pimafix). Also heard of dosing Koran Rid Fungus (wonder if it could be used as a dip?)... Sounds like all of those can help with fungus; not sure about bacteria. Thoughts / suggestions? Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[C. Eymann]

Id go mild and do strong lugols dip/blow off build up, return to tank and ramp up flow.

Everything you listed above sounds super stressful on the coral.


Just my .02

 

[kyley]

Id go mild and do strong lugols dip/blow off build up, return to tank and ramp up flow.

Everything you listed above sounds super stressful on the coral.

Anyone else with experience with this?

I did Coral RX and Kent Lugol's (separated by a little time in the tank). I might do the Lugol's again today or wait until tomorrow.
--Kyle

 

[Drizzle36]

I have this too for maybe 8 months now can't find much info online at all. This is what I've tried so far iodine dips, melafix dips, wash me dips, revive dips, using qtip with hydrogen peroxide(this killed it back alot but not all the way) dosing tank with microbacter7, also changed salts(used Fritz before don't think it was the problem but def bad for my sps). Nothing stopped it I had 15 torches all have it on them 5 so far have died. Only thing that has worked is I glue as close to the skin as possible all the way around the head which covers the white crap and gives the head relief. They open and are happy but about a month later they grow and expose more skeleton and it comes back. I'm at a loss of how to rid this stuff permanently if anyone has an answer id love to know i hate gluing all my torches every month or two. Going to try a live bacteria product in the tank next my buddy has an idea it's bad bacteria and good maybe able to outcompete it. Also just found a hammer with it but for the most part I've not seen it on my frogspawn or hammers.

 

[Drizzle36]

Anyone else with experience with this?

I did Coral RX and Kent Lugol's (separated by a little time in the tank). I might do the Lugol's again today or wait until tomorrow.
--Kyle
Have you figured a way to kill it yet ?

 

[kyley]

This is what I've tried so far iodine dips, melafix dips, wash me dips, revive dips, using qtip with hydrogen peroxide(this killed it back alot but not all the way) dosing tank with microbacter7, also changed salts(used Fritz before don't think it was the problem but def bad for my sps). Nothing stopped it I had 15 torches all have it on them 5 so far have died. Only thing that has worked is I glue as close to the skin as possible all the way around the head which covers the white crap and gives the head relief.

Hey Drizzle,
No fun, huh? I'm still battling it, but losing the war. My 3 head torch died, my single Indo gold torch died (the two I posted pics of), and my 2 head Cristata died. :-( It didn't help that I had a week+ vacation and they got worse when I couldn't treat them for 10 days or so. I have 3 torches left, all showing some symptoms / irritation. The one that was the healthiest now looks the worst, so this isn't going well. I also have a hammer that looks like it isn't going to make it. My frogspawn has seemed a little irritated, but it's the only euphyllia that's doing well overall. I'm afraid that nothing is going to save them, but I'm still trying.

I've been doing dips with PolypLab Reef Primer (which is just potassium salts - and overpriced IMO) for 5 minutes, then Iodine + Coral RX for 10 minutes. I do them about every 4 days, going from the first dip directly to the next.

I had wondered if the lack of NO3 and PO4 (both at 0 in my tank) were an issue, so I've been trying to raise them and started dosing nitrate and phosphate (Brightwell NeoNitro and NeoPhos) as well as Brightwell amino acids and Pohl's Coral Vitalizer. Started all of them several weeks ago. No luck so far.

Did you see anything positive from the melafix? I haven't tried that yet.

Feels like I'm throwing everything at this problem (what else can you do when nobody seems to understand the issue/fix?), but nothing seems to work. :-(

BTW, all other corals (SPS, zoas and other softies, plate, scoly, acans, blasts, lots of chalices, etc) seem to be unaffected. Good luck. Keep me posted if you find something that shows some positive results and I'll do the same. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Drizzle36]

Sorry to hear that you lost those torches yeah this is really a crazy thing especially that nobody knows what it is. I don't know if it has anything to do with the phosphate or nitrates as my tank has it at 10 nitrates 0.05 phosphate and I have had both of those higher at certain points over the past eight months I've had this problem. Melafix really didn't do anything I think when I use a toothbrush it did more than what melafix did. Really the only thing that helps is gluing over the white stuff getting as close to the skin as I can. It really does help the Torches extend again and they are happy and even grow eventually the white stuff will come back and you have to glue again which sucks because you got glue all over your torches but they don't die. Also makes the white stuff harder to see you when there's glue on it so you really have to look. Very weird how this stuff only Grows by the heads and not on the rest of the coral skeleton. Good luck to you too it would be nice to figure it out.

 

[GtiKyle]

I lost a hammer a few months back to something mysterious. The rest of the tank was thriving, but the hammer was receding and eventually shrunk up and died.

This just popped up again in my tank, which sadly was going to be a Euphyllia focused tank. I lost a $100 hammer coral, and it looks like 2 frogspawn frags and my prize large wall hammer now have it. I'm not sure what to do but about ready to toss in the towel in frustration. Does anyone have any ideas? I took some scrapings and put it under a microscope but couldn't determine much from that.

 

[Drizzle36]

So just an update a 50 peroxide 50 water dip for 2 mins kills the stuff but it comes back within a week. Lost all kinds of LPs from the white fuzz disease. Scoly, acans, hydno, pectina, chalices, frogspawn, hammers, and torches. Just about 5 hammers left with receding flesh and 4 torches with receding flesh. Keeping the dips up but still losing them, after all LPs dies hoping the fuzz will die off and I'll stay without lps for 5-6 months till I try one again. Anyone else have updates?

 

[kyley]

So just an update a 50 peroxide 50 water dip for 2 mins kills the stuff but it comes back within a week. Lost all kinds of LPs from the white fuzz disease. Scoly, acans, hydno, pectina, chalices, frogspawn, hammers, and torches. Just about 5 hammers left with receding flesh and 4 torches with receding flesh. Keeping the dips up but still losing them, after all LPs dies hoping the fuzz will die off and I'll stay without lps for 5-6 months till I try one again. Anyone else have updates?

Sorry for the delay. I pretty much lost all my torches. I did move one to a different tank that actually has been hanging on to this day. I also got some new torches that are doing great in the main tank so far (a couple months in now, I think). I also had 0 nitrate and phosphate at the time. I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it... Good luck with yours! I know it feels like a losing battle. A change of tanks / parameters could help (as it did with mine on the last torch I had left). Cheers,
--Kyle

 

[Drizzle36]

Sorry for the delay. I pretty much lost all my torches. I did move one to a different tank that actually has been hanging on to this day. I also got some new torches that are doing great in the main tank so far (a couple months in now, I think). I also had 0 nitrate and phosphate at the time. I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it... Good luck with yours! I know it feels like a losing battle. A change of tanks / parameters could help (as it did with mine on the last torch I had left). Cheers,
--Kyle

Glad to hear your having some luck now. How long did you wait to try the torches after there lay one died in the main?

 

[Drizzle36]

Glad to hear your having some luck now. How long did you wait to try the torches after the last one died in the main?

 

[kyley]

Glad to hear your having some luck now. How long did you wait to try the torches after there lay one died in the main?

I think it was probably a good 6 weeks, maybe 2 months.

 

[EmperorVtec]

I just noticed this on my hammer, suddenly it's not opening as plump as the other. It's not totally retracted into its skeleton and I am thinking of just waiting it out a bit. But if anyone has suggestions or ideas, please update. This is so odd and sad to see.

All else in tank doing fine.

 

[Drizzle36]

I just noticed this on my hammer, suddenly it's not opening as plump as the other. It's not totally retracted into its skeleton and I am thinking of just waiting it out a bit. But if anyone has suggestions or ideas, please update. This is so odd and sad to see.

All else in tank doing fine.

I found that this is working peroxide dips 280ml to 1 liter of water for torches and hammer's do this once every two weeks, it comes back by then. Also dosing tank with peroxide to see if it helps so far hasn't, slowly rasing the amoung I dose to the main tank. Up to 4ml per 90 gallon. Peroxide dips do kill it but it will come back if its still in the tank.

 

[kyley]

I found that this is working peroxide dips 280ml to 1 liter of water for torches and hammer's do this once every two weeks, it comes back by then. Also dosing tank with peroxide to see if it helps so far hasn't, slowly rasing the amoung I dose to the main tank. Up to 4ml per 90 gallon. Peroxide dips do kill it but it will come back if its still in the tank.

I started this thread awhile back now. My current batch of torches are doing well after going torchless for awhile. Recently I had a chalice with some die off along one edge. I'm afraid it may have been the same thing (but not sure). But I did a peroxide dip (50% for a couple of minutes) and I've had no receding tissue since.

 

[jordan9095]

i know this thread is old but i am having some success with just supergluing the base where the white fuzz is growing. my infected euphyllia are slowly recovering now rather than declining

 

[Drizzle36]

i know this thread is old but i am having some success with just supergluing the base where the white fuzz is growing. my infected euphyllia are slowly recovering now rather than declining

Thanks for sharing I also super glued at one point just watch out because I've seen it grow fuzz over the super glue and also makes it harder to see it.

What has work for me is using a peroxide dip 200ml to 1 liter of water for 5 mins works great kills the fuzz it grew back but does take awhile

Also I attacked the fuzz other places in the tank with a syringe turned off all flow used a 1ml a night . Sprayed it on the fuzz on the rocks and it was gone by next day. After I did both of these things, only twice in a month on the dips, and syringe about 8 -10 times. I have not seen the fuzz in about a month and corals are healthy.

 

[Cell]

Just noticed this on a recently purchased hammer that wasnt fully extending. I basted it with H202 carefully avoiding coral flesh, gave it a quick iodine dip and it's looking much better already. We will see if it comes back, but I nuked it pretty good I think.

 

[jordan9095]

Just noticed this on a recently purchased hammer that wasnt fully extending. I basted it with H202 carefully avoiding coral flesh, gave it a quick iodine dip and it's looking much better already. We will see if it comes back, but I nuked it pretty good I think.

i would move the hammer to a QT tank or separate system if you have other euphyllia. it has spread in my tank very slowly