Paly Infection / Necrosis?

[johnsonlee42]

So I have had some green palys (green implosions) for over a year that have done just fine in the tank - they're not the most spectacular corals, but they've been consistent. A few weeks ago I had a minor rockslide catastrophe - nothing was critically injured (other than my mood for the day), but one or two of the polyps were slightly damaged. These guys have always been super resilient and gotten through the worst of times, so I honestly didn't really think much of it.

Anyway, just a few days ago I have noticed that a few (more than the one or two that were damaged by rocks) are no longer opening, and one of the polyps has started to bleach. This seems to be spreading - the latest polyp that is no longer opening seems to have a brownish film over where the small opening would be (when closed). I have taken a careful look through all hours of the day and haven't found anything to suggest that there is another macro organism that is causing distress (e.g. flatworms, aiptasis growing between the polyps, etc.).

I believe that this issue is due to necrosis of some kind caused by the initial damage that has started to spread. I haven't done anything yet to counter this, but tomorrow I'm planning to take the colony out and lightly brush the diseased polyps to get rid of any suspicious areas. Should I be taking more drastic measures, e.g. cutting off all the polyps that seem to have this issue? This colony is far away from all my other corals - though I am not sure if this is a communicable problem, none of the other corals in my tank seem to be experiencing anything similar.

Any advice would be appreciated! I don't have pictures unfortunately - all I would be able to take are blurry pictures (to the extent that you wouldn't be able to tell open polyps from closed).

Johnson

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

What you have mentioned would suffice... dip, watch for a few days, then cut away if ness if it continues to spread. Could develop into a fungus type disease or infection(just as we do if a wound is not treated). Coralpedia has a remedy for Zoapox, and I believe this remedy may help in your situation aswell.

1. Use one capsule for every 10 gallons of aquarium water
2. Wait 24 hours and repeat dose
3. Wait another 24 hours and make a 25% water change
4. Repeat this treatment for a second time for a total of 4 doses of Furan-2
5. Make a final 25% water change and add fresh activated carbon
6. Repeat if necessary

Ingredients:
Each capsule of Furan-2 contains:

• 60mg Nitrofurazone
• 25mg Furazolidone
• 2mg Methylene Blue Trihydrate

Additional requirements for treatment:

• 1 cup of RO new saltwater (Update 2009.03.30: For the sake of clarity, we have edited this article to reflect that a cup of new saltwater, non-tank water but new saltwater of appropriate salinity, is needed. This reference change has been made several times in this article, but is only commented on here.)
• 1 capsule of Furan
• 1 extra cup of Aquarium Water (this is used to wash the Zoanthids after the treatment and before they are put back into your Aquarium; I do this because I don't want to risk Furan killing any of my fish or other corals).*

*Note: Through my experiment I found out that even if you don't wash your Zoanthid before putting it back into the main tank, it will not hurt any live stock or corals, (I have tested this on my own). But I'm washing it anyway just to be on the safe side. (ZoaID.com notes: t is always a good idea to target treat infected animals vs. a global tank treatment when possible!)

PH, Temp, and Salinity Level:
Make sure you match the temp, pH, and salinity level of your RO new saltwater to your current tank before the treatment.

Procedure:

• place 1 capsule into the RO new saltwater cup and mix it good until the RO new saltwater water turns green. Put the zoa in the Furan mix and leave it for xxx minutes. I recommend at least 15 min but not more than 30 min.
• After the treatment, wash the zoas in your tank water on the other cup you had put aside. Then put the zoas back in the tank where there is a stronger flow.

*Note: Your zoa will have a green dye to its body but it is fine. The green dye should fade away in a day or two.

Do 3 treatments in a row then let it rest for 4-7 days; depending on the condition of your Zoanthids. If the ZoaPox is still on the Zoanthids then continue with another three treatments. But make sure you let it rest 4-7 days after every 3 treatments.

Temp:
Keep in mind; during the treatment I slowly increase my temp from 78 to 81-82. Furan works best in higher heat. But I would not go over 82. In freshwater I bump it up to 84-86 for Furan treatment against fungus.

Water Changes:
I also increase my water changes from 5 gal per week to 10 gal every 3 days. (This is in a 75G tank.)

*Note: I did another test on the effectiveness of water change. With water changes my Zoanthids seem to recover quicker. On the other hand, Zoanthids that receive no water changes still recover, but it just takes longer.

Recommended Instructions for long-term treatment of ZoaPox:

1st WEEK

• Day 1: 1st treatment started with 20 min dip
• Day 2: 2nd treatment started with 20 min dip
• Day 3: 3rd treatment started with 20 min dip

Let the colony rest for 1 week

*Note: If your Zoanthid has recovered and you still want to do another dip, please reduce the amount of dipping time when you do so. Also, you don't have to do another treatment if your Zoanthid is completely healed. I'm doing another treatment on mine just to make sure the ZoaPox is completely eradicated.

2nd WEEK

• Day 1: 4th treatment started with 10 min dip
• Day 2: 5th treatment started with 10 min dip
• Day 3: 6th treatment started with 10 min dip

 

[johnsonlee42]

Haha wow - thanks for the thoughtful response! I'm going to try a few things out and let you know how it goes.

 

[rookie07]

I have a similar thing happening to some palys, except I have more of a black slime (very similar to cyno, just blackish in color)....Furan-2 dip will not help-or at least it did not help my palys. I only have this slime on 1 type of paly, despite several palys being on the same rock. I have tried revive, and furan-2, neither has worked properly.

Good luck, and let me know if you find a cure