raythepilot
Member
Small tank Cipro Treatment
Small tank Cipro Treatment
When I first saw this post on treating nem decline with Cipro I knew right away that this was a breakthrough. My personal experience with BTA indicated that the anemone were being attacked by a bacteria that eventually killed them.
Since then I have been able to move the disease from tank to tank and cure it at will. While the equipment and techniques I describe here may be beyond what the average hobbyist has available, I'll describe them and maybe someone can modify them. This method is specifically designed for a small tank environment of about 10 gal.
The anemone are treated in a small holding tank that fits into a 10 gal tank (see picture in link). Putting the holding tank in the larger tank isolates the anemone, while maintaining thermal stability. The bubbler is adjusted to keep the water circulating but not regulated so high that the anemone is carried away.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9316&pictureid=64535
The measured volume of the holding tank is 1.7 L. A typical 500 mg Cipro tablet weighs 770 mg with a label strength of 500 mg.
The required final concentration is: 250 mg Cipro/10 gal.
The amount of Cipro tablet to add to the holding tank is:
250 mg/10 gal * 1 gal/3.79L *1.7 L * 770mg/500mg = 17 mg
So for every liter of holding tank volume, you need 10 mg of Cipro tablet.
I have an analytical balance; so, measuring small amounts like this is easy but I'm not sure how you can do this without an accurate balance. You can try grinding up a whole 500 mg tablet and suspending it in 500 ml of water. This will have a concentration of 1 mg/ml so you would use 1.0 ml for each liter of holding tank. You should store this in your refrigerator. I do not know what the stability of Cipro is in water; so, this may not work. Maybe someone can comment on this.
Next you need good accurately made sea water at the right temperature. I have access to some lab equipment; so, I can make synthetic water to a salinity of 35.0 ppt +/- 0.1 ppt. My target SG is 1.02635. You can get around this by making up enough water in advance that is equivalent to 10x the volume of your holding tank. Make up this amount of water and adjust it to as close to 1.0260 (or whatever your target SG is) as you can with your equipment. So if your holding tank is 1.7 L. Make at least 10x or 17L (approx. 5 gal). of water adjusted to a SG of 1.0260.
Now you need a digital thermometer that can read to 0.1 deg. C. I use an Omega HH74K. I don't think you can get around having an accurate thermometer if you are going to follow this method.
Check the temperature in the nem tank and your newly made synthetic water. Adjust the new water to +/- 0.2 C. of the anemone water. For example, if the anemone is in water with a temperature of 26.0 deg C the new water must be between 25.8 "“ 26.2 C. I usually heat the new water in a clean stainless steel pot on my stove or in a clean polypropylene container in the microwave oven.
When the temperature of the new water is OK, I fill the holding tank, add the correct amount of Cipro and put the anemone in the holding tank. I put the holding tank into the primary tank to maintain the correct temperature and adjust the bubbler.
Just before lights out, I add a second dose of Cipro. This is to maintain the Cipro level overnight.
The following morning, I adjust the temperature of my new water to agree with the water temperature of the holding tank and when it is correct, I dump the water out of the holding tank, rinse the tank twice with a small amount of new water and the refill it to the correct level and add a fresh dose of Cipro. At lights off I again add a second dose.
I continue this process for 7 days.
This method always keeps the anemone in good water and allows for the natural decay of Cipro. In addition, the overall dose is never greater than 2x the required dose.
As I've said, I have had 100% success rate using this method. The only down side is that the anemone will bleach slightly because of the toxicity of Cipro for the natural algae found in the anemone. The animals usually recover to full color after about a month.
Small tank Cipro Treatment
When I first saw this post on treating nem decline with Cipro I knew right away that this was a breakthrough. My personal experience with BTA indicated that the anemone were being attacked by a bacteria that eventually killed them.
Since then I have been able to move the disease from tank to tank and cure it at will. While the equipment and techniques I describe here may be beyond what the average hobbyist has available, I'll describe them and maybe someone can modify them. This method is specifically designed for a small tank environment of about 10 gal.
The anemone are treated in a small holding tank that fits into a 10 gal tank (see picture in link). Putting the holding tank in the larger tank isolates the anemone, while maintaining thermal stability. The bubbler is adjusted to keep the water circulating but not regulated so high that the anemone is carried away.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9316&pictureid=64535
The measured volume of the holding tank is 1.7 L. A typical 500 mg Cipro tablet weighs 770 mg with a label strength of 500 mg.
The required final concentration is: 250 mg Cipro/10 gal.
The amount of Cipro tablet to add to the holding tank is:
250 mg/10 gal * 1 gal/3.79L *1.7 L * 770mg/500mg = 17 mg
So for every liter of holding tank volume, you need 10 mg of Cipro tablet.
I have an analytical balance; so, measuring small amounts like this is easy but I'm not sure how you can do this without an accurate balance. You can try grinding up a whole 500 mg tablet and suspending it in 500 ml of water. This will have a concentration of 1 mg/ml so you would use 1.0 ml for each liter of holding tank. You should store this in your refrigerator. I do not know what the stability of Cipro is in water; so, this may not work. Maybe someone can comment on this.
Next you need good accurately made sea water at the right temperature. I have access to some lab equipment; so, I can make synthetic water to a salinity of 35.0 ppt +/- 0.1 ppt. My target SG is 1.02635. You can get around this by making up enough water in advance that is equivalent to 10x the volume of your holding tank. Make up this amount of water and adjust it to as close to 1.0260 (or whatever your target SG is) as you can with your equipment. So if your holding tank is 1.7 L. Make at least 10x or 17L (approx. 5 gal). of water adjusted to a SG of 1.0260.
Now you need a digital thermometer that can read to 0.1 deg. C. I use an Omega HH74K. I don't think you can get around having an accurate thermometer if you are going to follow this method.
Check the temperature in the nem tank and your newly made synthetic water. Adjust the new water to +/- 0.2 C. of the anemone water. For example, if the anemone is in water with a temperature of 26.0 deg C the new water must be between 25.8 "“ 26.2 C. I usually heat the new water in a clean stainless steel pot on my stove or in a clean polypropylene container in the microwave oven.
When the temperature of the new water is OK, I fill the holding tank, add the correct amount of Cipro and put the anemone in the holding tank. I put the holding tank into the primary tank to maintain the correct temperature and adjust the bubbler.
Just before lights out, I add a second dose of Cipro. This is to maintain the Cipro level overnight.
The following morning, I adjust the temperature of my new water to agree with the water temperature of the holding tank and when it is correct, I dump the water out of the holding tank, rinse the tank twice with a small amount of new water and the refill it to the correct level and add a fresh dose of Cipro. At lights off I again add a second dose.
I continue this process for 7 days.
This method always keeps the anemone in good water and allows for the natural decay of Cipro. In addition, the overall dose is never greater than 2x the required dose.
As I've said, I have had 100% success rate using this method. The only down side is that the anemone will bleach slightly because of the toxicity of Cipro for the natural algae found in the anemone. The animals usually recover to full color after about a month.
