Please help me beat this infection

[Periette]

That's an excellent article on zoa pox. Thanks for posting it - I've ordered some Furan-2 for my emergency supply kit since I've got loads of zoas so this information will really come in handy.

 

[impur]

Definately not pox. Thanks for the link though.

Nothing has gotten into the tank, i am sure of that. This is isolated to these remaining 7 frags. All other zoos and corals in the display are unaffected. I have been testing params daily since i first noticed that and params are certainly in check, all checked with salifert tests and reaffirmed by LFS.

I do have something i think might be positive. One of the polyps i thought was a certain gonner actually was partly open wednesday. I took some pics to show it, some of the other polys are opening as well. The decaying seems to have slowed and polyps in various stages of decline seem to have halted their decline. They haven't necessarily gotten better, but i haven't seen them get worse in the last 3 days. I'm going to double the dosage tonight of erythromiacin and see how that works.

Let me know what your opinion is please

 

[impur]

Another pic. Notice the brown patch on the closed zoo. This is apparently how it starts.

 

[impur]

The erythromiacin just isn't working. Its been 8 days of treatment and the infection isn't spreading as fast, but is spreading nonetheless.

So i need to try some other meds. Any ideas??? Furan-2 maybe?

 

[edwing206]

try fragging it(the uninfected part of of course)and putting it in a friends tank and see how it does from there.

 

[impur]

Yah i do plan on doing that. I have it all set up.

Any ideas on other meds to try?

 

[impur]

Ok well i tracked down some Furan-2. I used 1 packet in 1.5cups RO water and dipped for 20min, rinsed, and put back in QT after a 50% WC in the QT. I plan to do another dip tonight and a 3rd on saturday. Then i will do another 50% WC and let them sit for 3 days in QT undisturbed.

We'll see how they look tonight!

 

[Reefwifey]

Something I've done with my zoas before when they look like that: VERY gently use a soft toothbrush to clean the closed/affect polyps. I don't know what causes that brown spotting/yellow color, but it seems to toughen the outside tissue of the polyp. Sometimes a light scrub will enable the polyp to peek open.

 

[impur]

You know, i was just thinking about that last night. I had a small wild frag that started as 1 polyp. It has grown to 3 and now the first polyp is closed with the brown fungus on it. I remember about 30-40 days ago i noticed it was closed. The polyp is actually in a little hole and around it sand had settled. So i used a brush to get the sand out from around it, and since the brush was large i ended up brushing the polyp as well. It stayed closed for a few days, then opened shortly after that. It grew the 2 new polyps, and is closed again.

What the heck, i'm gonna give that a try as well. Nothing to lose. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Reefwifey]

This may be just a coincidance, but here's something I was wondering about that kind of brownish/redish coating zoas get: To me, it looks like the same color as red slime 'algae'. I know it isn't the same because it isn't slick like, but red slime isn't actually an algae, its a bacteria. I was just wondering if they were related at all, and its a bacterial infection of the zoa tissue.

 

[impur]

Could be. I don't know for sure. This fungus/bacteria certainly doesn't act like anything i've encountered before and definately behaves much different than cyano.

 

[impur]

So I thought i would update this. I think i have finally won the battle. I have not lost any more frags, the declining polyps either dissolved away or fought off the fungus and are looking good again. Most of them lost a lot of color, but that is 100% better than losing the whole coral.

I did 2 Furan-2 dips 3 days apart. The frags went into 1.5cups RO water and 1 packet of Furan-2 for 20 min both times. Now i didn't dip every frag, i wanted a couple left undipped in the QT to see what would happen to them. The ones i did not frag had not shown much fungus on the polyps, only closed polyps for quite some time.

So here are some pics from the QT tonight. You can see the largest frag that had the most problematic polyps is looking way better.

 

[Azurel]

Good to hear you have some good news finally....To bad you couldn't pinpoint what the issue was....

 

[Atomikk]

I have the same thing happening to my collection of zoas. Its slow but steady. I bought some Furan and did a 15 minute dip on some of the frags. I was going to do another dip for some other frags using a Maricyn and some Fungal antibiotic (not TC).

Impur, can you give me an update on how your zoas are doing?

 

[impur]

All of them are doing great!! I put them back into the display just last week. Since my Furan-2 treatments i haven't lost a single polyp. I've incorporated the Furan-2 dip into my acclimation procedure for all new incoming zoas since it went so well.

So there is hope! I know the feelings going thru your head, it sucks and i feel for you. I highly suggest the use of a QT tank. Just get a small tank, put a powerhead in, a small heater, and a light (if you don't have one just get one of those clamp lights and a screw in flourescent bulb). I did weekly 100% WCs with water from my display tank. Do the Furan-2 dips a few days apart. I did a total of 2 dips, YMMV, then just let them be in the QT tank for a month. But i could tell the fungus was gone just a few days after the second dip.

 

[Atomikk]

What I can do is place them in the QT/Hospital tank set up for the fish.

How long was the dip? Did you dip twice a day? I am thinking of dipping most if not all of my zoos/palys. I have too many rare or hard to find stuff, and it would be disheartening to lose them.

 

[follow3]

I have the exact same thing happening!

Where did you get the Furan 2?
What is Furan 2?

Thanks for keeping this thread running!!!
I hope this will work for me.

 

[Atomikk]

Furan 2 is an antibiotic for freshwater applications. It can be found at any fish store.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

You know, now that I think about it, I have gotten some polyps that will have this algae looking stuff grow over them and cause them to close up. When I see it, I just scrape it off with a finger nail. It can be green or brownish in color... almost like cyano but not cyano.

Does that sound like it?

:(
Laurie

 

[jessiesgrrl]

I have the exact same thing happening!

Where did you get the Furan 2?
What is Furan 2?

Thanks for keeping this thread running!!!
I hope this will work for me.

Do you have Petco or something? If not, you can find it online at the chain websites I think.
:D
Laurie