frogspawn emergency

[mandown123]

just got back from a gig and noticed the one head of the 4 headed frogspawn i got that was retracted has i believe brown jelly disease advancing on it (i researched and realized this). the head was retraqcted i believe as of yesterday and i thought no big deal at first, now i got home and noticed an advancing brown and the flesh of the head looked in distress closest to the mass.

I blew it with a turkey baster till it was loose and sucked the brown jelly off ans spit it out of the tank. I blew into the wound it must have opened up (the head is almost like peeling off the skeleton in this part) to try to clean it out. Directed powerhead to deliver slightly more turbulant and stronger flow there.

Aside from this.... AHH HELP!!!

Other 3 heads kicking butt. Don't want to lose them.


thanks

 

[ccCapt]

Nothing you can really do now. Just watch so it doesn't spread to the other heads.

 

[melosu58]

If you see it starting to disentigrate immediately break the head off and discard. Just make sure you are not blasting it with flow. medium flow is desired.

 

[mandown123]

its not blasting with flow. this is horrendous. theres nothing to do? How fast can this take down an entire colony? If the head starts to really look bad I will break it off as the other 3 look really 100% fine.

I take it this is one of the more misunderstood coral diseases?

The head i sprayed down with the baster looked actually extended a lot more than it was last night when i did my bootleg treatments. It also looked like it gained color back somewhat (i quickly looked at it this morning before i ran out to work) Is it possible it will recover or pretty much I am just watching for the signs of the inevitable?

 

[cmor1701d]

It a bacterial infection usually caused by an injury. Think of it like gangrene in a human.

"If the disease has just started and the infection is small, the best treatment is high water flow and at least daily cleaning of the infected area (usually done with a turkey baster). If the disease is severe, the infected part of the coral may need to be cut ("fragged") off of the colony. The choice to quarantine is up to you, but brown jelly is not usually contagious (unless you have other injured corals in the tank). If your other corals are healthy, they will likely resist infection even in the presence of an infected coral."

Another site reccomends:
Treatment For Brown Jelly
a) GENTLY Siphon as much as the Jelly Mass as Possible
b) Remove infected coral and treat with an Iodine Solution like Lugols Solution.
c) make sure that your corals have adequate flow. Not laminar, but multi-directional and random
d) Skim, Poly pads, Activated Carbon are recommended
e) 25% water change.
f) check parameters

 

[mandown123]

hmm.... should i run the carbon? I never used carbon and not really sure of the uses of it. I never saw the coral get injured so thats weird, but maybe a hermit couldve accidently sliced it a lil? What is lugols? Should I try it if it still looks bad later tonight or tomorrow?

Will do water change as soon as my RO/DI comes which should be today/tomorrow

carbon seems the easiest thing i could implement - good idea?

 

[melosu58]

Just keep in mind that you`ll need to break that head off if it`s coming apart. It almost sounds like it`s getting better. It might not be brown Jelly disease. Do you have a pic of it by any chance.

 

[Innovator]

The last thing you ever want to do is use a turkey baster to blow it clean. Not only does this damage tissue and cause further stress, but it also releases the infection into the water column. I highly disagree that it is not contagious. If the head is not completely engrossed you have several options: Either carefully siphon the "jelly" and perform extra water changes while using carbon aggressively, remove the colony and treat with an iodine dip, or break the branch and treat individually if tissue remains. Iodine can be a harsh treatment so it is a judgement call based on how far long you think the coral is and should be used outside of the main display.

 

[mandown123]

I was careful not to blow any of the brown mass into the water column and instead loosened it with the baster and then slurped it up and spit it out of the tank. I am a newb, I did what I thought would slow the spread of the disease or whatever it may be by removing a good percentage of the growth. I agree though, even as i was careful to suck the big pieces obviously some got loose in the water column. I dont know man, i shudder to think of what it will look like when i get home from work.

I'll make a judgement call and post pics then.

 

[Innovator]

I forgot to mention that you can apply several drops of Lugol's directly to the skeletal margins and allow it to soak in after you have cleaned the infected tissue. Of course, outside of the main display Soooooo, you change anything in the system lately (poking for stress factors)?

 

[mandown123]

No I haven't. However, I was dosing the recommended dosage of 2 part little fishes C balance. Doubt this would affect it though. The frogspawn itself is really new, within the last week/week and a half.

Where do I get lugols? or do you make it. nevermind ill google it.


edit - i added a protein skimmer but that can only be a good thing i think.

 

[Innovator]

Lugol's can be purchased at lfs' or any online retailer. Depending on what and how you dosed, too much of a concentration can stress corals greatly.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...However, I was dosing the recommended dosage of 2 part little fishes C balance. ...

Have you tested your alkalinity and calcium levels? I don't think this has anything to do with your coral, but it's good to test for whatever you're adding.

Just going by the bottle recommendations on additives can sometimes lead you down a wrong path. Depending on your tank parameters, and where you want your ca/alk levels to be, you may need to dose more or less. And the only way to know that is to test.

If you have a QT setup, I'd break that head off the main group and put it in there. Either way, I'd get it out of the tank because, well... it's just so easy to do with those.

 

[mandown123]

yes i tested it was low, i added at first just calcium and then the 2 part to hold the balance. i stopped dosing and am doing water change as it was up sufficiently enough. i dont have QT, even though i know i should.

how low below the polyps should i cut the head. i am really scared to do it honestly, and i dont even have a dremel tool.

 

[Innovator]

You can use large shears or simply snap (usually not very thick) the skeletal midway or by the base. Snapping the skeletal does not affect the tissue.

 

[melosu58]

I did just as James said and snapped it off by hand. It was not hard.

 

[mandown123]

okay ill examine when i get home and see what happened. If it looks better, this does not mean that it will not come back, correct?

thanks for being my support group lol. seriously i appreciate it

 

[melosu58]

No problem. We are here to help each other. Here are some pics of my torch coral when it had it and what it looks like now. I had to break off two heads.

 

[mandown123]

wow that was some bad slime on there. it makes the problem with mine look paltry. looks beautiful now though, so i feel alot better. im sure you all know that sick feeling you get when something is amiss in your tanks. ill keep yall posted on what i find when i get home

 

[melosu58]

Please do