Furan 2 for zoa pox worked better in quarintine tank than dipping tank

[LouisianaReefer]

I have tried the Furan 2 dip exactly as recommended by prior posts yes with lots of aggrivation and not-so-great results. Last week I started treating the entire 10 gallon quarintine tank with with all my zoas using the Furan 2 per the directions from API. I have noticed much better results. More polyps are opening up. Some zoas that looked rather bad are now recovering quite well. Also, this method is much easier. I figure the fungus that causes the problem settles in the rock and in the gravel, etc. Treating the entire tank deals with that I suppose. Does anyone have similar reports?

BTW, sorry that i messed up on the title of this new thread- "tank" at the end was not intended. I cannot modify it.

 

[A. Grandis]

Thanks for sharing that!!!!

Well, I would say that the Furan2 is probably taking care of something present in your quarantine system that it wouldn't do much if you only dip the zoas and return them to it.

What type of problem are you talking about? "White fungus"? Are they new zoas?

Grandis.

 

[LouisianaReefer]

Thanks so much Grandis! There was not visible fungus on rocks. I noticed funky stuff on the zoas that closed up. All I now is that this method is working much better than the dipping. Easier too! It is a good use for a quarintine tank. Almost all of the zoas are opening now yet some have moderate color loss yet it is better than letting them close up and melt away. I would never try Furan 2 in a display tank with other corals. It will bleach some of them out badly.

All my zoas are over one year old and were fine until I put a coral frag in that seemed to start the zoas closing up. My only concern is that once the zoas are recovered, putting them back in the display may cause them to get the pox again. I am not willing to try until Jan. If the display has whatever caused the pox to begin with, I am concerned it could re-infect them. I assumed some sort of fungus causes the pox. Does anyone know what exactly causes it?

 

[A. Grandis]

Furan2 has Nitrofurazone and Furazolidone. It was made to kill gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. I believe that the filter system (live rocks and sand bed included) has mostly gram-positive bacteria in it. So Furan2 will possibly have an affect on the biological filtration. Just keep that in mind. The quarantine tank became a hospital tank when you added Furan2, since it is now a system with a probably low biological filtration in action.
Some people say that Furan2 won't have any negative effect on the biological filtration system, but any antibacterial medicine will have it's possible intervention on the biological filtration, as we know.
I believe that zoa pox is caused by bacteria, not fungus. By the way, no zoa disease that has a pathogen involved are actually cause by fungus IMO. They could very truly all be bacterial infections.

I aways heard that people dipped their zoas with zoa pox with Furan2 and returned them to the original system without further problems, after the disease was cured. Normally they need to be dipped 2 or more times before the cure.

Hopefully we will hear more reports from others, to find out more about zoa pox's reinfection abilities.

It is so hard to deal with bacterial diseases without using an affective medicine for it!
It's just too bad that we can't add products like Furan2 in a reef tank!!

Every time I've had bacterial infections in my systems there was something going on that twisted the stability of the tank somehow. That's why I aways recommend stable parameters and maintenance schedule to keep the system "protected" from any ups and downs. Normally the immunization system of the zoas is affected by changes that we wouldn't even care much, but they do!! Just remember: our systems are very different then the ocean in many ways.

I would treat the zoas and leave them healthy first, but I don't know if zoa pox can be dormant in the system.
Good luck and keep us posted!

Grandis.

 

[LouisianaReefer]

Grandis, You must be one of the most helpful people I have ever met on Reef Central! Thanks so much! I hope I did not kill the bio filter in this tank. If I did, shouldn't I see a rise in nitrates and even have a tank crash? API claims it will not harm the bio filter.

I have finished with the Furan 2 quarintine tank treatment days ago. I did a 25 percent water change 24 hrs after the last dose and starting running carbon both as API recommended on the box of Furan 2. The water has started to clear up and is now less yellow. All the zoas are open most of the day except for 2 small frags which open intermittently. Perhaps I should consider doing another water change. Still, I may let the carbon do its job for now and see how it goes.

BTW, I did not try the Fish Flex for the dips as I desired prior. It is too expensive and the Furan 2 was already in the mail when I discovered this alternate antibiotic dip.

 

[A. Grandis]

You're very welcome. My pleasure!
I Think I've heard before that indeed API does claim no harm to the biofilter and that's why I think it kinda plays with it, but doesn't really eradicate all the bacteria (?). Unfortunately we really can't tell that for sure. Yes, one of the best ways to check that out and follow the biofiltration in your system is to check for ammonia and nitrites. You could check for nitrates too.
I've treated planted tanks in the past with antibacterial medications by API and saw little or no harm to the biofiltration, so yes, some of the medicines could be pretty safe, depending on the situation.
That's a good report! I'm glad you're sharing. Perhaps the time exposure to the Furan2 is the most important lesson from this thread!
Yes, I would continue with the small partial water changes. Your carbon will need to be changed some time too, but I think for now the partial water changes alone will be very helpful.
Please keep us posted!

Grandis.

 

[sixliner22]

Thanks so much Grandis! There was not visible fungus on rocks. I noticed funky stuff on the zoas that closed up. All I now is that this method is working much better than the dipping. Easier too! It is a good use for a quarintine tank. Almost all of the zoas are opening now yet some have moderate color loss yet it is better than letting them close up and melt away. I would never try Furan 2 in a display tank with other corals. It will bleach some of them out badly.

All my zoas are over one year old and were fine until I put a coral frag in that seemed to start the zoas closing up. My only concern is that once the zoas are recovered, putting them back in the display may cause them to get the pox again. I am not willing to try until Jan. If the display has whatever caused the pox to begin with, I am concerned it could re-infect them. I assumed some sort of fungus causes the pox. Does anyone know what exactly causes it?

There is a correlation between Spikes in High Salinity and Low Salinity and Zoa Pox. Also, try running a UV sterilizer. worked wonders for me and my zoas. Also, for fungus infections i've used 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) and 2 parts water with a drop of lugols for 20 min. Has worked great! High flow also helps ..

 

[A. Grandis]

There is a correlation between Spikes in High Salinity and Low Salinity and Zoa Pox. Also, try running a UV sterilizer. worked wonders for me and my zoas. Also, for fungus infections i've used 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) and 2 parts water with a drop of lugols for 20 min. Has worked great! High flow also helps ..

Please let us know more about the relationship between the high/low salinity spikes and zoa pox. Did you read that somewhere? Is that your own experience? Please give us more details, would you? Tanks very much!

I would say a UV would be a great addition a zoa system. Please tell us more about what the UV did for your system.

I would like to hear more about the mixing of hydrogen peroxide and Lugol's for your dips. What did you find out with that? Please give us all the details of the info with your help.
Thanks in advance.

Grandis.

 

[denissepr]

furan 2 bleached my corals!!!

furan 2 bleached my corals!!!

Hello guys. I had a sick fish have a 180 gallon tank. Well it saved My fish. But ALL my coral is faded. I mean in a big way. Have a big red brain coral its almost white. I mean hundreds of dollars in coral destroyed. I dont know if someone has gone through this. Please help!