Escapades With Brown Jelly

[RIP Sebastian]

Hi, friends!

 

Before I get in to everything, here I my params:

 

pH: 7.8

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite:0

Nitrate: >2

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 10 (high, but I've been working on getting it down)

Calcium: 440 (high, but I'm working on it)

Mag: 1600

 

Background:

 

My favorite corals, by far, are Euphyllias. As such, I've had a ton of them in my tank. However, ever since I brought home a wall hammer, I have been constantly plagued by brown jelly. First, the wall hammer. Then, a torch. Then, my beloved neon green hammer. Now, I'm having to treat my favorite purple snakeskin torch for it, and it's not looking all that great. After every instance, I've done 100% water changes, siphoned out all of my chambers and the sand, and wiped almost everything down with vinegar in an effort to eradicate the protozoan that causes brown jelly. But, it evidently doesn't work.

 

Current Situation:

 

My Euphs and other LPS do fine for about six months each and then they contract brown jelly. What am I doing wrong? it's very frustrating. I love LPS, but I can't just hope they do well. I hate to never get LPS again. Please help!

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

 

[RIP Sebastian]

UPDATE:

 

I lost the torch today. I was disappointed when I lost the other ones, but I am really broken over this one. Are there any ideas as to how to eradicate it? Thanks.

[Weetabix7]

What are you dipping with when you get the corals in, and what are you doing to eradicate it now other than the 100% WC?

[Mariaface]

My duncans must have been scratched at some point, and a few heads began to recede, turn brown, and melt . The skin on the skeleton would also recede and was starting to reach the rest of them.

 

Just like the previous times I've been brown jelly in any of my tanks, I increased flow and dosed a lot of Microbacter, Microbacter Clean, and any other beneficial bacteria I could find, while limiting phosphates (they seem to be my main issue, do you know what yours are?). Phosphate-E (brightwell) was my go to on a daily basis, but I also added two or three of their small GFO-doped bio cubes.

 

After this particular bout, I still have 90% of my duncans by volume/size (I'm not sure on the head count), but one or two small heads did melt in the corner. Another two managed to stay alive in their skeleton even though I could see the brown jelly in there before. They were receding almost completely, but at this point they come out during the day just like the rest of the healthy heads do, and there's no sign of brown jelly at all.

[RIP Sebastian]

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

What are you dipping with when you get the corals in, and what are you doing to eradicate it now other than the 100% WC?

I dip in Coral RX. To eradicate it, I remove dead skeletons and remove the coral from the tank when I suck up the dead parts. That's the issue, though, I don't know what else to do!

 

2 hours ago, Mariaface said:

My duncans must have been scratched at some point, and a few heads began to recede, turn brown, and melt . The skin on the skeleton would also recede and was starting to reach the rest of them.

 

Just like the previous times I've been brown jelly in any of my tanks, I increased flow and dosed a lot of Microbacter, Microbacter Clean, and any other beneficial bacteria I could find, while limiting phosphates (they seem to be my main issue, do you know what yours are?). Phosphate-E (brightwell) was my go to on a daily basis, but I also added two or three of their small GFO-doped bio cubes.

 

After this particular bout, I still have 90% of my duncans by volume/size (I'm not sure on the head count), but one or two small heads did melt in the corner. Another two managed to stay alive in their skeleton even though I could see the brown jelly in there before. They were receding almost completely, but at this point they come out during the day just like the rest of the healthy heads do, and there's no sign of brown jelly at all.

I'm glad to hear you were successful in your crusade against the disease. Microbacter is made by Brightwell, right? I know it's beneficial bacteria, but does that fight off the jelly? Could you define a lot, please? I don't have a phosphate test kit, but I will look in to getting one (I've been meaning to, anyway). By bio cubes, do you mean those Marine Pure blocks? How do you dope them up with GFO? Sorry for my questions.

 

 

Thanks to the both of you!

[Mariaface]

Ooh, looks like I've got lots of explaining to do! Get ready; I like to type...

 

Okay! I don't know what it is about brown jelly disease that.. causes it. Basically yes, there's a protozoan that exists in the mass, but it's a 'chicken or egg' scenario where you don't know if it caused the issue, or if it's just taking advantage of the free meal. By keeping the tank clean and making sure bacteria are using up the phosphates/nitrates as they come up, you limit the risk of pathogens taking advantage of the extra nutrients. I'm still not clear on whether BJD is a specific thing, or if it's the LPS version of STN/RTNing. Especially since people see it triggered by the same things that trigger STN/RTN in SPS - alk swings, high phosphates, any other paramater/light shock, etc. 

 

Microbacter7 is a blend of beneficial bacteria - kind of like a starter pack of cycling bacteria, plus some enzymes they need in order to work. Microbacter Clean is another bacterial product, this one more specifically aimed at an intense reduction in nutrients. It doesn't fight off the BJD directly (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but it cleans up the tank a bit in order to limit the variables. And in my observation, these products will 'outcompete' anything else feeding on the same things so long as you keep adding them (at least until the Bad Thing goes away, like my freaky bacteria). 

 

Phosphate test kit is a good plan - get a low resolution one, especially if your nitrates also run low. If nitrates are around 1-5ppm, your best bet is to keep phosphates around .03, and this will help you maintain a Redfield Ratio. This is the 'sweet spot' for nutrient reduction when you're using beneficial bacteria. As soon as things get out of whack, you start seeing issues. And when phosphates are really high, it becomes really easy for pest microorganisms to take hold. That's in addition to sensitive corals browning, STN, etc.

 

The GFO-doped cubes that I'm talking about are Xport-PO4, also a Brightwell product. They're these cute little GFO-colored nuggets, and it's basically a super porous biomedia that's covered in GFO. You rinse it in RO/DI to get rid of excess powder, then put it somewhere after your mechanical filtration. You can let it bring your phosphates down, and then either remove it or leave it in there as biomedia (more or less live rubble). Bacterial film is going to turn this into biomedia after about 1-2 weeks anyway, just like regular carbon/gfo and other chemical media. The reason I like this specifically is that I can aim low when adding it to the tank: I won't strip phosphates out completely, which is bad. And if I don't quite hit my goal, I'll still have a porous bacterial media that slowly brings phosphates down (assuming I have nitrates and carbon to feed said bacteria).

[RIP Sebastian]

47 minutes ago, Mariaface said:

Ooh, looks like I've got lots of explaining to do! Get ready; I like to type...

 

Okay! I don't know what it is about brown jelly disease that.. causes it. Basically yes, there's a protozoan that exists in the mass, but it's a 'chicken or egg' scenario where you don't know if it caused the issue, or if it's just taking advantage of the free meal. By keeping the tank clean and making sure bacteria are using up the phosphates/nitrates as they come up, you limit the risk of pathogens taking advantage of the extra nutrients. I'm still not clear on whether BJD is a specific thing, or if it's the LPS version of STN/RTNing. Especially since people see it triggered by the same things that trigger STN/RTN in SPS - alk swings, high phosphates, any other paramater/light shock, etc. 

 

Microbacter7 is a blend of beneficial bacteria - kind of like a starter pack of cycling bacteria, plus some enzymes they need in order to work. Microbacter Clean is another bacterial product, this one more specifically aimed at an intense reduction in nutrients. It doesn't fight off the BJD directly (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but it cleans up the tank a bit in order to limit the variables. And in my observation, these products will 'outcompete' anything else feeding on the same things so long as you keep adding them (at least until the Bad Thing goes away, like my freaky bacteria). 

 

Phosphate test kit is a good plan - get a low resolution one, especially if your nitrates also run low. If nitrates are around 1-5ppm, your best bet is to keep phosphates around .03, and this will help you maintain a Redfield Ratio. This is the 'sweet spot' for nutrient reduction when you're using beneficial bacteria. As soon as things get out of whack, you start seeing issues. And when phosphates are really high, it becomes really easy for pest microorganisms to take hold. That's in addition to sensitive corals browning, STN, etc.

 

The GFO-doped cubes that I'm talking about are Xport-PO4, also a Brightwell product. They're these cute little GFO-colored nuggets, and it's basically a super porous biomedia that's covered in GFO. You rinse it in RO/DI to get rid of excess powder, then put it somewhere after your mechanical filtration. You can let it bring your phosphates down, and then either remove it or leave it in there as biomedia (more or less live rubble). Bacterial film is going to turn this into biomedia after about 1-2 weeks anyway, just like regular carbon/gfo and other chemical media. The reason I like this specifically is that I can aim low when adding it to the tank: I won't strip phosphates out completely, which is bad. And if I don't quite hit my goal, I'll still have a porous bacterial media that slowly brings phosphates down (assuming I have nitrates and carbon to feed said bacteria).

Thank you so much! You've always been such a wonderful help.

[Mariaface]

Just now, RIP Sebastian said:

Thank you so much! You've always been such a wonderful help.

 

I try, I try! Let me know if there's anything else I should elaborate on  

[RIP Sebastian]

3 minutes ago, Mariaface said:

 

I try, I try! Let me know if there's anything else I should elaborate on  

Will do!

 

Do you think that peroxide dosing would do the same thing as Microbacter? I know it's not bacteria, but it commonly does the same thing, right? Lowers phosphates and nitrates, etc? Do you think I could just add extra GFO instead of the X-port? I'm kind of on a budget.