Amoo's Nem Treatments

[Amoo]

I'm going to use this thread to document any treatments I do to Nems from this point forward. I have access to a couple of different kinds of medications, some that have been used by the community and some that haven't. This thread will basically serve as a log of what I do, what I use...etc.

I'm going to apologize in advance as my wife just left for a trip to have our baby baptized, so I am only left with my camera phone for the beginning of this thread.

I currently have 2 Nems in treatment. 1 Green BTA and 1 Purple H. Mag. I'll start with the GBTA first.

I received this GBTA at the end of May, and since day 1 I have been battling the inflating/deflating. He's been back and forth from QT to DT back to QT and has been unresponsive to a 7 day coarse of 250mg Cipro. Today I have started him on Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim (SMZ & TP same as Septra DS) 400mg/80mg per 10 gal. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being least severe and 10 being almost dead, I would rate this nem between 8 and 9. He has refused to attach to anything for several days and still continues the inflation and deflation cycle. This nem is being treated in a cycled Qt with a filter pad that has been cycled in the QT itself, a power head and a heater. Lighting for this Nem is 1 Par 20 500 Lumen 5000K LED Flood Light with a dimmer.

I received the H. Mag on 6/24 and while not bleached, his mouth is hanging out pretty severely. After temperature and drip acclimation he was placed into his own QT and treatment with 250mg per 10G of Ciprofloxacin. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being least severe and 10 being almost dead, I would rate this nem between 4 and 5. This nem is being treated in an uncycled Qt with just a powerhead and heater. Lighting for this Nem is 1 Par 38 14000K Full Spectrum Dimmable Reef Light (Coral Compulsion).

 

[OrionN]

Best of luck. That Magnifica seem to improve a little.

 

[Reefahholic]

He's responding. Just keep treating and he'll make it.

 

[Amoo]

Updates from Yesterday 6/25/14

No water changes were performed due to lack of time. Ammonia badges on both tanks were still bright yellow.

GBTA

Condition continues to stay poor. He did not inflate at all yesterday, but will still respond to stimulation and try to protect his mouth. I would upgrade his condition to 9.5. 1 Tab of SMZ & TP was added yesterday.

Purple Mag:

Condition improved significantly Mouth fully closed and just slightly puckered. Responding well to light. Has not expelled any Zoos yet. Full color remains in tact, although difficult to see in photo. I would rate change his score to 2. 250mg of Cipro were added to tank yesterday.

Will update further after water changes today and once i decide on a coarse of action for this GBTA.

 

[OrionN]

That magnifica looks great. I cannot over stress the need of water change. This is not to remove ammonia but remove the pathogen and infectious agents that dump out by the anemone. When they have "bad things" in them, they dump it out. In the Ocean, the current take it away. Here in our tank, unless we do water change, they just take it back inside their body.
Think of food poison in huma, we get diarrhea and trowing up, our body are getting rid of the "bad stuff". Then just suck it all up and swallow it in again. We will not get better like that. (Nor getting medication to not throw up or stop the diarrhea) I won't prescrib prescribe these medication unless pt have a lot of N/V or diarrhea.

 

[Amoo]

No worries mihn, both tanks went about 30 hours between water changes and both have already been changed, first thing this morning. I'm going to be switching meds on the GBTA this morning, still deciding if I want to hit him with a steroid as well.

 

[Amoo]

6/26 Update:

The green BTA continues to look terrible. No inflation for 2 days, has not retracted his mouth for 2 days. When touched will still ball up the best he can so not dead yet...

Changed water, added 4ml of 2gram Cefotaxime reconstituted with 10ml of RO/DI. I would give him a severity score of 10/10 and I will be surprised if he is still alive tomorrow.

Purple Mag is still on the upswing. Still showing slight signs of stress, with mouth barely visible on occasion but not all day. Changed water, added 250mg of Cipro. I would keep his severity score at 2.

 

[Amoo]

6/27 Update:

As expected the Green BTA did not make it. Not much to say here, BTA are supposed to be super hardy, this one didn't ship well, bleached, blew through Cipro and Septra and continued to deteriorate. RIP

Purple Mag is still doing well. He has moved up the side wall of the tank. Still expelling little bits of gunk here and there but no mass Zoo expel yet. Mouth still slightly opened, but not very worrying. WC completed and 250mg of Cipro added. I would still rate this as a 2/10.

 

[Amoo]

6/28 update:

He's continued to move himself up the side of the tank. I expanded some of the holes in the tank divider which increased flow and seems to have made him a little happier. Few more pieces of gunk in the tank today, still no mass zoo expel. WC complated, 250mg of Cipro added. I would change his severity rating to 1/10. Also to be noted he has not deflated once yet.

 

[asudavew]

The mag looks great. Nice work!

 

[Reefahholic]

Looking good.

Increase your flow.

 

[Amoo]

6/29 Update:

Mag is doing better. This will be his last water change and Cipro treatment before moving him to a cycled QT. His mouth will randomly open slightly, but he closes it pretty quickly. I don't know if this behavior is normal or not as this is my first Mag, but this seems to be normal for him. Condition downgraded to 1/10.

 

[Amoo]

I've had a bunch going on so haven't had a ton of time to keep this updated, but I have kept up with pictures/notes. 6/30 he was transferred into a different tank. I put him in a cycled QT with a "smooth" piece of LR, which he attached to pretty quickly. The tank has the LR, a HOB Filter Running Carbon, a cycled bio-wheel and Purigen, a Powerhead and a tank divider.

He was observed for a day and the two small clowns were added on 7/1. They of coarse are dumb and haven't figured out what they are supposed to do with it yet. They spend most of their time hiding on the opposite end of the tank since they can swim through the divider.

7/2 he was fed his first meal, a 3/4" piece of shrimp. He latched onto it immediately and it took him about 5 minutes to get it into his mouth and about another 30 minutes to get it completely down. It might have been about a 1/4" too large, but he didn't regurgitate any and hasn't deflated to who knows.

7/3 About 10 minutes ago I scared the two clowns onto his side of the tank. They're hanging out in the corner behind it at the moment. They still haven't figured out exactly what to do with it yet. The older Black Ice has run into it a few times and seems to be showing some interest. The smaller picasso is pretty aloof and is just riding the wave in that high flow area of the tank. Here's a picture before I scared the clowns over. I'm sitting here watching them try to figure this thing out so if they dive in I'll grab the Canon, now that the wife is home, and snag a few shots.

 

[OrionN]

I am sure they will go into him at night. Three days at the most. Looking great

 

[Amoo]

Fish are stupid

I swear for about 24 hours the Black Ice has been inching closer and closer to the mag, swimming out and about the tank. Meanwhile the Picasso has been in the far left corner of the tank without a care in the world. I knew it was getting close and the Black Ice would be in my Mag any day now. You can imagine my surprise when I got in from our 4th of July celebration to find this:

 

[Butchhe]

Congrats Amoo. You did great bringing that mag back to life!

 

[asudavew]

That's a pretty nem. And the clowns moved in. Great work!
It didn't look very good a weeks ago.

 

[Reefahholic]

He is looking great. Very heathy now. You should move him to DT and let him settle in. If this is your only one, you should not have any problems.

Good luck!

 

[Amoo]

Thanks guys. This QT is actually his temporary forever home until my 125G is ready for him and his two clowns (Skimmer and return pump get here this week!!!). I work from home so I get to top off water myself twice a day. The only thing separating this tank from a true nano I guess would be the presence of a skimmer.

Since the clown moved in his mouth has been shut solid and he just ate two 1/2" pieces of frozen shrimp yesterday. Overall I would call this a success and hope my next adventure turns out the same.

 

[Reefahholic]

If you don't have an established tank to keep him in with good filtration, you will definetly run into big problems.

If I were you, I would get some good TBS LR and LS. I would also use marine pure bio balls in my sump from the get go. Good luck!