Antibiotic treatment for a sick H. magnifica

[OrionN]

About a week ago I got a new Magnifica. I posted about this in this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219029

Anyway, the Magnifica is not doing well. It initially got some injury but seem healed up OK. However, it go into this spiral of death that many of us know well. Daily deflates in the afternoon and evening. It is looking worst and worst. Knowing that if I don't do anything, it will not survive.

I took it out of quarantine tank and put it in a treatment tank this afternoon. The anemone is small, only about 4-5 inches fully expanded so I decided to use a 20 g high tank as a treatment tank. I used water from my DT and quarantine tank. Added about 10 g to my 20 g tank. Placed a PH and heater in it and transfer the anemone over. I used the same salt mix and salinity and temp was the same so I did not drip him in, just transfer directly. Below you can see the bare minimum treatment tank I have for him. He was attached to a small LR so transfer was easy, no problem. I put the rock on top of a inverted coffee mug to elevate him higher thus easier for circulation and light. A heater was added and temperature set at 80 degree. Salinity 35 ppt. I put a piece of tape on the side of the tank and mark water level, so I know how much fresh water to add to replace elaborated water.

At this time I have not have a light on the treatment tank, but it is right on my east facing window so it will get full day light in AM and indirect light in the PM. I plan to do 50% water change daily with medication added to the change water. I plan to use DT tank water added med then use this to change the water. Newly mix water , mixed from the day before will be added to the DT tank so I can remove water from the DT tank.

Antibiotic choice. I choose ciprofloxacin as the antibiotic I use for this treatment course. Cipro is a floroquinone, it is wide spectrum and cover a lot of the gram neg often infected human with salt water exposure. What infect human is certainly not a base to use to chose what infected anemone but I just got to start somewhere. It is a generic, cheap ($13.00 for 40 tabs 250 mg). Human dosage is 500 mg twice a day.

I choose to use 250 mg in 10 g of salt water. This is from an educated guess on my part. It should give effective concentration for the tank thus anemone under treatment.

I will update every few days, good or bad until the anemone either doing well back in quarantine or display tank or dead. Wish me luck. I hope that this thread will be of use for some of us taken care of these beautiful and delicate creatures. Here are the pictures

10/1/2012 a few days in quarantine tank

10/3/2012 not doing too well

10/5/2012 1 hrs after transfer into treatment tank

10/3/2012 FTS of treatment tank

 

[nemoboy1]

Sad to hear good luck with treatment

 

[OrionN]

I am caoustiously optimistic about my Purple Magnifica. These are pictures yesterday. I was not able to posted them due to problem with RC having problem with loading pictures. First picture was taken before 50% water change using antibiotic added water. The concentration of antibiotic in the tank and water for water change is 25 mg/gal ciprofloxacin. The Magnifica inflated bigger that it ever had since it is under my care.

10/6/2012 Before water change

10/6/2012 after water change

 

[bradleym]

That's great!! Please keep us posted as I may need to do this in the future and so I can really use all your experiences and reults.

 

[OrionN]

I got a little more time to work on the tank and rearrange it a little this AM. Yesterday, the anemone wanted to move from the rocl=k so I put him near the wall of the tank, nest to the window and he climbed on to the aquarium wall. also I use a diffuser to divide then tank so I won't get pureed Magnifica soup or BBQ anemone foot. I also change the PW to a little more powerful.

The magnifica continue to improve. It is fully expanded at this time. I think I will try to get a 250 W MH to put on my cube and use the 150 W Aquapod for this treatment tank. I will see if I can get one online this coming week.

I welcome any input, comment or question. It seem like no one want to say anything.

10/7/2012 FTS of the treatment tank

10/7/2012 before water change

10/7/2012 after water change

 

[OrionN]

Picture this AM. He is doing a lot better, looking as good as I have ever seen him.

I am glad that I got the divider because I would have Magnifica puree soup for sure if I did not do it yesterday. The Magnifica went for a walk and climb on to the diffuser as can be seen in the picture.

 

[AndrewAP1]

Looking much better

 

[sqwat]

Keep it up I c allot of improvement the natural light doesn't hurt eather

 

[OrionN]

Top down from the surface of the water

 

[worm5406]

Nice... I thoguht you had two at first... then I saw it was a reflection.

 

[OrionN]

The anemone is doing OK. I can't feed him because there is no filter in the treatment tank. Feeding will spike ammonia. The anemone still release a little zooxanthellae. some semi solid material does come out I suction and remove it all.

I ordered on of the 150 W MH clamp on tank to give it more light. The light will arrive Friday. I got timer for it already. I hope the light will get it perk up more and stop moving around. I plan to treat him for 10 days then will not add antibiotic to water change any more. If he still continue to do wall in treatment tank without antibiotic for a week or two, then I will move him back to the quarantine tank (full reef Aquapod).

Because I plan to keep him in the hospital tank for so long, I really need bright light for it.

 

[LeLutinBanni]

Nice improvement...Your nem and you are lucky !

 

[illcssd]

I'm following this very closely, Minh. As I've wanted to try it for a long time and never been sure of what antibiotics to use. Managing a lfs, I see a lot of anemones and generally only hand pick them, but wish we had a way to cure the infection so many Mag's and Gig's come in with. If you're successful it could be a big break in the hobby.

 

[OrionN]

Austin,
There is a thread here that I cannot find but a curator for one of the aquarium brought Magnifica in for the aquarium. He was 0/?8 without treatment. He decided to empirically treat the Magnifica with doxycycline at 100 mg/g for 24 hrs on arrival. He was 100% success with this empiric treatment.

I am not sure how my is going to do. I hope he will do well. I upload all the pictures on to Reefcentral so the threat will not loose these pictures in the future. I welcome any comment, discussion and will try to answer any question regarding this treatment experiment or anemone treatment in general.

Hope it will be a great learning experiences for everybody.

 

[OrionN]

The anemone looks great this AM. since the light setup does not arrive until Friday, I put a spot light on him. I use one of the daylight florescence screw-in bulb, 75W equivalent daylight color. No deflation since I put him in treatment tank. He slight deflates at times but none of this completely deflate episode other than when I first put him in the treatment tank.

 

[OrionN]

Teh Magnifica is currently under treatment with Cipro for the last 7 days today. It is doing really well, no deflation. It is doing much better since I put a florescent 15 W bulb daylight color on it and also today I put a 20W LED 14000K flood light on it at the same time (both LED from the side and florescent on top. I have high hope that it will survive this episode. For sure the antibiotic ciprofloxaxin does not have detrimental effect on the anemone or the zooxanthellae population at the concentration of 25 mg/gal. At least for 1 week so far. I do a 50% water change daily and add 125 mg Cipro after 5 g change each day. I just rub toe 1/2 tablet between my two fingers right in front of the PH until it all dissolved

Here is a picture of my Magnifica today. It is on the side of a coffee mug I have in the tank.

 

[OrionN]

FTS of the hospital tank with full morning Sun in the background and the two lights on the anemone. Heater and PH in the compartment on the R separate by a divider.

 

[SomeDude12]

I think you've done an excellent and thorough job, however, from "picture 1" only, I can't diagnose it as being an unhealthy anemone. I have 3 Ritteri's in my 125. Just as any anemone, the usual symptoms of an unhealthy anemone are:
1. Sloughing of tissue
2. Lack of stickiness to the tentacles & foot
3. Gaping mouth exposing its internals

Anyway, it's definitely looking good! I have one that is very similar in color. =)

 

[Reefvette]

Orion

Orion

Prolonged exposure will is what i have found is the killer.

You killing all of the bacteria inside the anemone but it needs some of it to survive.

You should see more inflation and deflation at first as it tries to clear out it body of the dead bacteria, kinda like when you poop on antibiotics.

As the treatment goes on you should see less inflating.

Some can handle it and some can not. Also alot of things i ready said to do daily water changes, use ammonia detectors because of the effects of the antibiotic on the dead bacteria can cause some crazy spikes.

No dip should last longer then a three to four days past that your really weakening the animal.

 

[OrionN]

.....from "picture 1" only, I can't diagnose it as being an unhealthy anemone. ....

Hind sight, I should take picture of the anemone whenit fully deflated. Keeping Magnifica for a very long time, I do know when they are sick. I should document it more. The second picture is the anemone at it best in AM right before I started treatment. It completely deflated the afternoon before. I should take the picture then but did not. I was busy trying to gather equipment to start treatment.

Prolonged exposure will is what i have found is the killer.

You killing all of the bacteria inside the anemone but it needs some of it to survive.

You should see more inflation and deflation at first as it tries to clear out it body of the dead bacteria, kinda like when you poop on antibiotics.

As the treatment goes on you should see less inflating.

Some can handle it and some can not. Also alot of things i ready said to do daily water changes, use ammonia detectors because of the effects of the antibiotic on the dead bacteria can cause some crazy spikes.

No dip should last longer then a three to four days past that your really weakening the animal.

you assume that there are good bacterial inside Magnifica. I do not think that this is the case. We have bacterial in out but this is "out side of your bodY".
Do you have any evidence that led you to believe that there are bacterial inside Magnifica normally? Zooxanthellae species are not bacterial, rather they are members of the phylum Dinoflagellata. They are not affect by ciprofloxacin.