AEFW treatment-Fluke Tab warning

[SPStoner]

Good luck

Just wondering, since you are quarantining and treating outside the display, have you considered using Levamisole, as described in several threads here? I have had much better luck with this than with the TMPCC, which seems to be just Lugols Iodine ( accoring to the MSDS sheet supplied by TM.

Jost wondering....


Tony

 

[hobogato]

ill have to look into that tony. thanks.

 

[hobogato]

ok, after some research, i decided to go with the levamisole.

it has been a long day, but all acros are removed and soaking in the dip. all bits of encrusted acro have been scraped off of rock that will remain in the display tank.

the acros soaking:

 

[hobogato]

well, after dipping, no initial casualties except the flatworms. even the bird's nests are already extending their polyps in the qt tank.

my little helper

 

[spykes]

why did you go with levamisole? what strength dosage did you use?

 

[hobogato]

i went with it because i didnt like the results when i tested the fluke tabs, and many people have had good results with the levamisole. i used the 40 ppm dose.

 

[hobogato]

well, still no coral casualties. i thought my blue hoeki was a gonner, but it is showing polyps now - just not so blue anymore. actually most of them have gone fairly brown (i guess that is better than shiney white eh).

redid my aquascaping and got all of the LPS and half of the zoas/palys back in today.
front full

front left

front right

back left

back right

i think i am pickled from having my hands in salt water so much over the last few days - now it is mostly a 6 week waiting game with a day of work a week until the acros go back in.

 

[hobogato]

update time.

since i didnt lose anything during the first dip, i thought i would document the whole process this time. i wish i could say there were still no coral casualties, but i cant. losses are still minimal, two small colonies were lost and about 6 more are showing some STN at the bottom.

first casualties:

ok, so here is the dipping process. first, i mixed up 26 gallons of new salt water yesterday. i took out 26 gallons from the quarantine system and replaced it with the new water this morning. the 26 gallons is used for the dipping containers and two rinse buckets. next, i removed all of the corals from the quarantine setup and placed them into four dipping containers (two icechests, a bucket, and a laundry tub)

empty qt tanks:

rinse buckets:

dipping containers with corals (the orange bucket is for the corals that didnt look very well to begin with - didnt want them RTNing in the main dipping containers and taking other corals with em):

 

[hobogato]

here is the levamisole hydrochloride i am using. it is packaged as a sheep dewormer. i calculated one bolus (.184 grams) would treat 1 gallon 27 ounces. this translates to 5 boluses for 6 gallons of water

dissolving in some water before putting into main dipping container

here are all the dipping containers with the levasole in them. i left the corals in the solution for 2 hours. i read that the flatworms fall off almost immediately, but some people had left corals in the solution for up to 5 hours, so i opted for 2 hours (not as hard on the corals) with vigorous shaking in solution and two separate rinse containers before replacement into the qt tanks.

 

[hobogato]

after two hours, each colony is vigorously shaken in the dipping container to dislodge any stubborn flatworms

then vigorously shaken in the first rinsing bucket

and once more in a second rinsing bucket

and finally replaced into the qt tank

here are all the corals replaced into the qt tanks about 30 minutes after finishing the process - about 80% of them have already extended their polyps and show no signs of stress.

 

[melev]

Very good documentation. That coral in your hand is a beauty. I hope you are able to keep as many as possible.

 

[hobogato]

thanks marc, it is an A. insignus i got from another local reefer. it is one of our favorites

 

[SPStoner]

Nicely done! I'll offer some advice if I may. First, in addition to the shaking of the corals, you should try to take an old toothbrush to any non living parts, such as the base on that aquacultured piece. I've found this to be effective for any egg masses that may be present and not effected by the Levamisole, plus it just makes me feel better
Second, didn't see in the pictures any circulation while dipping? If not, a small powerhead does wonders for the corals (oxyegenating a little I'm sure) and for moving the medicated solution in amongsts the branches.

Lastly, I'm sure you realize already, but Levamisole is pretty harsh stuff. I'd be carefulw tih any household pets and more importantly, your kids! (sure you already no this being a bio teacher, but I had to say it
Have you thought about a procedure for any new corals after all this is done?

best of luck. Keep us posted on your progress.

Tony

 

[hobogato]

thanks tony, i did scrub the bases of most of the corals with a small wire brush and a tooth brush before the first dip. while the corals are soaking, i repeatedly fill a bowl with water from the dipping conatainer and pour it back in about every 10 minutes - i didnt want to use a powerhead, because (as you can see) the containers are packed with corals and i didnt want to risk blowing the tissue off of any of them.

as for the safety issue, my son is banned from the room during the medication process, and i dispose of the medication into the street by flushing it with lots of water.

new corals will be dipped in levasole and then a short cold saltwater dip followed by a betadine dip and then 6.5 hours quarantine in interceptor. this just means i will be VERY picky about new corals now

 

[hobogato]

half way there!

finished the third treatment today. two more casualties, a small milli and a small prostrata. a few more are looking pretty stressed, but 90% of the
original 160 or so corals are looking fine and even getting a little color back. some are even continuing to grow. one thing is for sure, this has shown
me that i will never have a bare bottom system - too much work syphoning and cleaning

 

[SPStoner]

Sounds Great!! Are you still finding any flatworms during the treatment?

 

[hobogato]

not now. i really only had four large colonies that were heavily infested, and i got rid of the flatworms from those colonies while i was testing out the different treatments. i found eggs on one colony, so i am treating every 5 days for 25 days. i read somewhere that the flatworms can possibly lay eggs when they are as young as 5 days old, so i am trying to prevent the laying of any eggs from worms that might be hatching out over the course of the treatment. the eggs should all be hatched by now, but i am going an extra two weeks just to make sure.

 

[hobogato]

ok. four treatments down and two to go. it seems to be taking its toll on some of the acros.

THE GOOD:
i counted 130 or so that continue to show no signs
or minimal signs of stress - mainly browning and less PE than they had in the display. these include my largest and most colorful colonies.

THE BAD:
there are about 20 small colonies and frags that are showing varying degrees of stress from no PE to bleaching or STN

THE UGLY:
the casualty total is now 20 small colonies and frags - the most disturbing so far, the blue hoeksemai, and a nice
red with purple tip possible chesterfieldensis (sp?)

two more treatments/ten days until they go back into the display.

 

[hansnfrans]

Since levamisole seems to start really taking its toll on the acros as you do more and more consecutve treatments, do you think that it may be better to do a dip/QT schedule such as this:

Day 1: Dip in levamisole
Day 7: Dip in levamisole
Day 18: Dip in levamisole
Day 29: Dip in levamisole
Day 43: Dip in levamisole
Day 57: Dip in levamisole

It just seems that once you get into the 3rd dip, that beginning to lengthen the time between dips may help to reduce some stress that may be causing these casualties.

BTW: Thank you for documenting this process here. You have a beautiful tank and I hope your acros take the next 2 dips with minimal losses.

 

[hobogato]

i chose the 5 days, because i read that the flatworms reach egg laying size at that age. my goal was to dip for as short a period of time as possible to minimize the time in qt - no matter how good the qt setup is, it is never as good as the main setup. my thinking was that if there were eggs that i missed, i didnt want any newly hatched flatworms to reach egg laying age.