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the_zoa_fungus_cure_project


er1c_the_reefer

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er1c_the_reefer

the_zoa_fungus_cure_project

er1c_the_reefer's_experimental_qt

 

 

setting up a qt tank to cure this:

 

Fungus.jpg

 

which i believe is the cause of this:

 

IMG_2709.jpg

 

tank set up:



IMG_2797.jpg

 

equipment list:

  • 8 gallon unknown brand tank
  • tunze nano skimmer
  • maxijet 1200 (modded)
  • egg crate
  • iceprobe chiller
  • cheapy 18w pcs from home depot

pending equipment:

  • taam mini rapids canister filter (modded)

tank conditions:

  • SG: 1.022-1.027
  • temp: >85*F
  • nh4/no2/no3: 0/0/15

basically crappy (but not too crappy) conditions i'm hoping will induce stress.

 

write up to follow, but so far here are my results:

 

taken 07.04.07 prior to treatment

07-04.07.jpg

 

taken 07.25.07: 21 days later and 2 dip treatments later

07-25-07.jpg

 

short informal write up added for those that like to read:

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Are you using anything to dip with? I still can't figure out the plague that a rainbow paly colony of mine caught earlier this year... =/ And I have yet to know of anyone that had their polyps end up looking like how mine did... :(

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er1c_the_reefer

it's not really a dip. the testing i did so far was used as a dip, but it's really not meant to be one. does it look like this?

 

IMG_2706.jpg

 

if your polyps had gone to the extent of A, they're pretty much screwed. but B's are still savable.

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er1c_the_reefer

short informal write up added to original post for those that like to read.

 

remember, side effects are as of yet unknown!

 

here's what the medication looks like:

 

IMG_2791.jpg

 

it's pretty expensive, the generic comes out to $12 a pop. luckly i got these as samples from my doctor.

 

the little granules inside are not readily soluble in water, so you have to soak them in warm water and crush it up and make sure it dissolves first.

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mascencerro

What timing...

 

I was *just* getting ready to post a question about this:

badzoa.jpg

 

and how in the heck to cure it.

 

I got this frag as a freebie on an order a couple weeks ago, and when I got it, everything was happy, but over the weeks it has lost one polyp after another to this.

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Mine looked like this... =/

 

palys_bad.jpg

 

 

They close up and then this thick cyano consistancy like white mat infests itself all over them... NOTHING that I've tried saves them from death when this occurs. I've tried it all, BiFuran+ dips for 48 hours (not 48 hours straight though), SeaChem Reef Dip, and Kent's Tech-D.

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er1c_the_reefer

do you guys ever notice a brown/black "fuzz" or "slime" that grows on the zoas before they start to close up?

 

IMG_2711.jpg

 

IMG_2794.jpg

 

 

i think that the fungus itself isn't that harmful if you have proper conditions, but its when you stress the zoas that the fungus does it's damage.

 

tank is up with skimmer running. tank should be fully cycled and good to go with cured rock & water from another set up.

 

victims test subjects so far:

  • 2 domino damsels
  • several blue legged hermits
  • a few infected frags

just waiting for the water to clear up before adding meds.

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mascencerro
do you guys ever notice a brown/black "fuzz" or "slime" that grows on the zoas before they start to close up?

 

yep

 

I just went out and started my own experiment. I'm trying some Clotrimazole topical cream for athletes foot on that frag i posted the pic of. The frag is pretty much a loss as is anyway, so no further loss from a little experiment to see if the fungus will at least clear a little. I applied the cream directly to the zoas and dissolved a small amount in a cup and mixed with the tank water.

 

I have the frag by itself in a 6 gal I was going to use, had filled, but went another direction, and never drained. We'll see how it works out.

 

I plan on letting it sit for a couple hours with the cream, and then wipe most of it off and let it run overnight, then reapply in the morning for a couple hours, etc, etc, etc.

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mascencerro
Good job!

 

How did you decide to try that med?

 

Those zoa problems are the biggest PITA of the easiest corals to keep!!

 

And just when I thought I was the only one that had the problem, and it was something I was doing wrong, along comes more people with the same problem, and unsure solutions. :)

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er1c_the_reefer

clotrimazole should work; i know they use it for nasal aspergillosis in dogs. i actually tried that before i used itraconazole just to make sure that these would work in saltwater. i dissolved a pea-sized amount in a cup of water and did similar dips, but didn't like all the proprietary compounds, fragrances, binders, etc. that they put in it. make sure you do this in a qt tank though; i'm still unsure as to what the side effects are on other corals.

 

let me know if applying it directly helps...

 

How did you decide to try that med?

 

well, i was reading about how African dust is contaminating Caribbean reefs with Aspergillus... which is related to the black molds you find in your house. then you have the rising cases of aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients in hospitals... and this is a secondary medication they use to treat it, so i thought i'd give it a shot. looks promising if you catch it early

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mascencerro
clotrimazole should work; i know they use it for nasal aspergillosis in dogs. i actually tried that before i used itraconazole just to make sure that these would work in saltwater. i dissolved a pea-sized amount in a cup of water and did similar dips, but didn't like all the proprietary compounds, fragrances, binders, etc. that they put in it. make sure you do this in a qt tank though; i'm still unsure as to what the side effects are on other corals.

 

let me know if applying it directly helps...

 

its in a QT tank. Actually a tank I used for a while back when and kept having issues with the light blowing bulbs, so I ditched it and it just sat on my desk filled but not alive.

 

I'm using the Equate brand stuff, doesnt appear to have any smell to it, but there are a couple extra additives in the med. But, like I said earlier, this is on a frag that will otherwise be trash anyway, but at least I'll be able to see if the med clears the fungus any hopefully.

 

Doh, that reminds me, time for your medicine little sick zoas...

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er1c_the_reefer

ok here's an update as to how the treatment is going so far.

 

08.03.07

080307.jpg

 

08.06.07

080607.jpg

 

08.10.07

081007.jpg

 

groupings 1 and 3 have made good come backs. grouping 2 is on its way. grouping 4 is still struggling but you can see one of the polyps starting to make it.

 

also note that above i said A's probably weren't savable. they seem to be making a good come back, however.

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its in a QT tank. Actually a tank I used for a while back when and kept having issues with the light blowing bulbs, so I ditched it and it just sat on my desk filled but not alive.

 

I'm using the Equate brand stuff, doesnt appear to have any smell to it, but there are a couple extra additives in the med. But, like I said earlier, this is on a frag that will otherwise be trash anyway, but at least I'll be able to see if the med clears the fungus any hopefully.

 

Doh, that reminds me, time for your medicine little sick zoas...

 

Any updates on how the zoas are doing using the equate clortrimazole?

 

I have a few tubes of that stuff laying around here and I was JUST about to start a Maroxy dip with my frags... but since I have no information on maroxy working, I'd like to see how the clortrimazole worked for you... either of you actually, Eric. How'd it work for you?

 

Unfortunatly I couldn't find Furan2 around here and don't really have time to wait 3-5 business days for a shipment. Maroxy was all I could find that seemed safe enough to use... there was triple sulfa, but something about it just didn't seem right... I think the fact that it was made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals... and I HATE that little Dr. Fish guy.

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er1c_the_reefer

i remember reading posts about how furan2 actually accelerated the decline of zoas with fungus. if what i'm guessing is correct, its because furan2 kills off bacteria that compete with fungus on the zoas. you know, kind of like how people on antibiotics for a while can get candidiasis. same with triple sulfa; i believe its an antibacterial.

 

i never tried clotrimazole directly on polyps before, but i've mixed it into water and dipped zoas in it. it does work, but its seems stressful. the way i dipped was for an hour every day until it was gone. antifungals work best when its in the system and not with dips though, and since clotrimazole mostly comes in creamy form, i'm not sure how you'd work that out. you can always experiment and apply it to the frag and put it in a qt tank. risky though

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i remember reading posts about how furan2 actually accelerated the decline of zoas with fungus. if what i'm guessing is correct, its because furan2 kills off bacteria that compete with fungus on the zoas. you know, kind of like how people on antibiotics for a while can get candidiasis. same with triple sulfa; i believe its an antibacterial.

 

i never tried clotrimazole directly on polyps before, but i've mixed it into water and dipped zoas in it. it does work, but its seems stressful. the way i dipped was for an hour every day until it was gone. antifungals work best when its in the system and not with dips though, and since clotrimazole mostly comes in creamy form, i'm not sure how you'd work that out. you can always experiment and apply it to the frag and put it in a qt tank. risky though

 

Yeah, that method (applying directly) seems a little drastic and I really don't want to loose any of my zoas because the ones I have are the rare ones that the store gets it... they're not really anything too special, but several of them are amazing looking (IMO) and a few of them don't have a common name according to zoaid.com, I know my tanks under PCs, but the the store's tanks are under MH and I'm going off of the color from the store. I have 2 175w MH lights laying around here now, so I might just wire one up and put it over the 10 to see how it goes... and that's really off topic and I started to ramble. ANYWHO, the point is I REALLY don't want to lose any of my zoas since I only have 1 colony of each. In some cases (like with what I'm calling the zoa I'm calling Husky Eyes) I only have 1 polyp... so, yeah... little nervous about hurting them. Fortunantly, it doesn't have fungus... unfortunantly, the purples and reds that I have (1 polyp of each) do.. so... yeah, like I said... just really nervous.

 

Any opinions on Maroxy as a dip, then?

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You should throw in some cheap acro's, monti's, or other sps in there to see if the treatment affects them. It would be nice to know if this is reef safe for the people who have it and don't have a QT.

 

Keep up the good work! :D

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er1c_the_reefer

although i haven't really tested maroxy yet, bought a bottle just so i could do dips with it and its not all that effective. i'd try to stay away from dips all together, because of the way eukaryotic metabolism works.

 

i have a feeling that if you follow the instructions on the bottle, it should be more effective. it recommends a qt tank, 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons once a day for 5 days.

 

You should throw in some cheap acro's, monti's, or other sps in there to see if the treatment affects them. It would be nice to know if this is reef safe for the people who have it and don't have a QT.

 

Keep up the good work! :D

 

i'm planning to when chiller comes in. the qt tank is running at 86 right now, which i think would kill sps outright. i want to try it directly into my prop system, but not while ez's clams are in there. :mellow:

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although i haven't really tested maroxy yet, bought a bottle just so i could do dips with it and its not all that effective. i'd try to stay away from dips all together, because of the way eukaryotic metabolism works.

 

i have a feeling that if you follow the instructions on the bottle, it should be more effective. it recommends a qt tank, 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons once a day for 5 days.

i'm planning to when chiller comes in. the qt tank is running at 86 right now, which i think would kill sps outright. i want to try it directly into my prop system, but not while ez's clams are in there. :mellow:

 

Unfortunantly, no QT tank... I have another 10gal in the garage, no good lights or filter though. But for 5 days, I guess a HOB filter and 4 NO fluorescents will have to do. For 5 days, I'd be amazed if a dozen or so zoas could put off enough waste to fowl the water. I guess I'll just have to try it and see how it works... someone's got to, right? I've book marked this thread so I can post a follow up when I'm done with... crap, actually don't even have enough salt to do a 10gal mix right now... shoot. I have enough for maybe 2 gals... I'll just cut a milk jug and do 1 gal mix and put an airstone in there for some flow... wish me luck, I guess.

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Wow.. if you download the file, and highlight the 2 pics, it takes an x-ray, and you can see where the fungus is :lol: Try it! Eric is a Genius!

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