So many pests! Help with Cloves?

[jneuringer]

Help!
I have a 65g mature community reef with a mix of LPS and soft corals and a lot of Zoas.
I am watching an explosion of Clove polyps all over the sand and lower rocks. I also have some pesky xenia and GSP. Recently I have a high number of the tiny snails to eating algae off the glass at night. I have recently treated for bryopsis (pretty successfully) . My N03 and PO4 are near 0, because I imagine so much stuff growing is consuming all of it (it's always been 0 or near 0).
My problem now is the cloves are growing and FAST! Is there ANYTHING I can do? I note that the FenBendazole will likely kill about half my tank. I have LARGE toadstools and torches and hammers. Photos to follow.

 

[jneuringer]

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I had cloves once and had to switch out all of my rocks, I tried placing rocks over them, dropping blobs of glue gel on them, I tried scraping them, nothing works, its very discouraging.

its a beautiful tank. If the cloves are not on every rock, I would pull out the infested rocks, frag/remove the coral and ditch the rock. You might also consider a full rock swap and get rid of your pesky xenia and gsp at the same time. Good luck with that

 

[jneuringer]

What if I let the cloves go? They don't seem to be killing anything else?

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

If they are blue clove polyps you can use Fenbendazole fish food flakes. Use a little pinch a day for about two weeks. I’ve done it for aefw and all my clove polyps were gone. However it lasts in your system for a bit and some of my zoas seemed upset. Use it with caution if you decide to go this route

 

[Reeferbadness]

I have been battling blue clove polyps on and off for a couple of years in 2 large tanks. I've dosed FenBendazole and honestly, it didn't kill anything other than the BCP. I did take out most invertebrates, especially all snails, but my LPS, SPS and softies were all fine. FenBendazole is a good way to get rid of BCP but, alas, it can easily come back after a few months. My current view is to dose each tank about 1x a year and deal with it this way. For a more in depth look at this journey - here's the link https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/m...polyps-bcp-using-fenbendazole-success.968986/

 

[jneuringer]

If they are blue clove polyps you can use Fenbendazole fish food flakes. Use a little pinch a day for about two weeks. I’ve done it for aefw and all my clove polyps were gone. However it lasts in your system for a bit and some of my zoas seemed upset. Use it with caution if you decide to go this route

So. Where do I buy that?
I have a LOT of zoas. And toadstools. And LPs. And leathers. I really don’t mind if the gsp and Xenia get gone. Anyone else experience with this treatment and those corals? Will they survive? I have a handful of intentional snails and 6 million of the tiny pest ones

 

[Reeferbadness]

So. Where do I buy that?
I have a LOT of zoas. And toadstools. And LPs. And leathers. I really don’t mind if the gsp and Xenia get gone. Anyone else experience with this treatment and those corals? Will they survive? I have a handful of intentional snails and 6 million of the tiny pest ones

yes. Zoas are fine. LPS fine. SPS fine. Toadstool - not sure but might be an issue. It also helped me get rid of GSP - which i added super early on and it spread all over the tank. Same with Kenya trees - both are mostly invasive IMHO. You can purchase FenBendazole on Amazon. Clear instructions for how much to use (plus the whole process of dosing FenBendazole here: https://maxdraco.wordpress.com/2013...ue-cloves-polyps-xenia-aiptasia-hydriods-etc/

 

[jneuringer]

OK, So new problem.. Take a look at my photo above. There is a MASSIVE toadstool (probably weighs in at 5 -8 pounds. and a similar amount of Green Kenya Tree. If they die as a result of this treatment, I suspect that will pollute my tank with some kind of huge bio explosion.. yes? no?

 

[jneuringer]

Will it kill serpent starfish? Hermits?

 

[BryanM]

A quick google search indicates Fenbendazole could very well kill the toadstool.

Personally I don't like adding things like this to a tank, but if you cannot remove the rock(s) that the cloves are on then you're kinda stuck.

Maybe consider setting up a small temporary tank to rehome the toadstool, and other things you're worried about, while treating the tank?

 

[jneuringer]

Good point. of course I don't have a second tank ATM.
How long is the treatment, and how much water change is "enough" to put back these sensitive items (snails, toadstool, leathers etc)

 

[Reeferbadness]

OK, So new problem.. Take a look at my photo above. There is a MASSIVE toadstool (probably weighs in at 5 -8 pounds. and a similar amount of Green Kenya Tree. If they die as a result of this treatment, I suspect that will pollute my tank with some kind of huge bio explosion.. yes? no?

Yes, death of something that large (especially all that kenya tree) would likely lead to a Phos spike. I think you need to decide: get rid of toadstool/kenya tree or get rid of BCP. IMHO kenya tree is not very desirable long term - it spreads like a virus and is difficult to kill. Toadstool you can likely trade with another reefer or check your local LFS to see if they want it. Kenya tree i'd just pull as much as possible - what little is left shouldn't be a problem

 

[jneuringer]

What about serpent star? apparently zoos and mushrooms are safe? my LPS and SPS too?

 

[Reeferbadness]

What about serpent star? apparently zoos and mushrooms are safe? my LPS and SPS too?

As i've mentioned in a earlier post, all of my zoas were fine (3 different times after dosing Fenbendazole over the last 3 years), mushrooms, LPS, SPS all fine. Hermits, urchins fine. Snails, not so much (definitely take all out as they will slowly die off and that's not good for your tank). I'd keep an eye on Phosphates as the BCP dies off - you can use something like PhosGuard if you see Phos rising above what you like for your tank.

 

[jneuringer]

Thanks for that.

 

[jneuringer]

So what is the plan? Dose 2mg/gallon after removing snails and softies to a quarantine tank. Let the magic happen for 2 weeks. Then begin large water changes 4x 25% over a week or two, then replace snails and softies?

 

[Reeferbadness]

From Max Draco's Wordpress on this:

– 1 gallon of water mixed with 1gm 22.2% powder, will treat 111 gallons (with 1g packet of dog dewormer). You can do the math from here.

Remove all snails. Softies are a case by case basis - ie. Zoa's and mushrooms are fine. Turn off UV and Skimmer for first 2 or 3 days,. Wait 7 - 8 days to start water changes. If your BCP infestation is really bad, you may want to consider double tapping - doing another dose as BCP can come back (as mine has several times). For full instructions on dosage, prep etc - go to https://maxdraco.wordpress.com/2013...ue-cloves-polyps-xenia-aiptasia-hydriods-etc/

 

[jneuringer]

Thanks man.

 

[jneuringer]

What amount of water change would you consider it safe to return snails and softies back to the display tank?