White blotches on zoanthids

[guaba1216]

im not sure what this is but some people say is Zoa Pox but im not sure how i can fix this or get rid of it im still new at this is my first coral can any one help me?

 

[A. Grandis]

Furan-2 treatment for zoa pox:

http://www.zoaid.com/articles004.php

Good luck!

Grandis.

 

[ABlueReef]

good luck with the treatment.

 

[guaba1216]

thank you i will try it

 

[Lee_is_007]

Zoa Pox

Zoa Pox

I bought a Red Hornet frag online and it is doing well and is growing but it has zoa pox. I'm doing the Furan-2 treatment too since I heard it's the most effective. Good luck with yours!

 

[zachfishman]

Up their flow.

 

[A. Grandis]

Up their flow.

?

Grandis.

 

[zachfishman]

?

Grandis.

Morgan Mok from reefgardener.com presented at our club meeting this month. She said that white pox always materializes on her zoas when they aren't getting adequate water flow. She used to treat with Furan2, but found that moving afflicted zoa colonies to higher flow had the same results.

While we're at it, what's your setup? Tank size, powerheads, amount of LR...

 

[A. Grandis]

Morgan Mok from reefgardener.com presented at our club meeting this month. She said that white pox always materializes on her zoas when they aren't getting adequate water flow. She used to treat with Furan2, but found that moving afflicted zoa colonies to higher flow had the same results.

While we're at it, what's your setup? Tank size, powerheads, amount of LR...

Well, that's a very serious statement.

Is she sure that was zoa pox? I mean, could be something similar?

I hope she can really find some scientific evidence for that.
Not saying that is a lie, but I'm curious to hear more.

Did she actually cure the zoa pox with higher flow?
Because that is what you're suggesting.

Thanks very much for the info.
Please post more detailed information about the speech, if you can!

Grandis.

 

[zachfishman]

She said that she used to dose Furan2 to cure the fungus which causes white pox on zoas (if there's only one kind), but eventually she stopped using it because moving her frags/colonies to higher flow would cure them too.

You could use Furan2 first, and then reposition the colony to higher flow to prevent the recurrence of pox.

Considering the volume of frag culturing she does for her business, I'm inclined to trust her. :thumbsup:

 

[A. Grandis]

Oh, ok...
So by what she said the Furan2 was still used to cure the pox.
And she doesn't need to use Furan2 anymore because she is placing the zoas in higher flow.

Did she actually say that they were cured by the water flow?
To be cured it needs to manifest the disease...
She actually need to see and identify the pox prior to place them in higher flow and watch it go away without the application of any medicine or additive.

I wonder how many people had zoa pox with relatively high water flow on them.
And how high is high?

I prefer to believe that she doesn't have the pathogen present anywhere in the system.

Not to say that zoa pox could have a slightly relationship with water flow, but that the pathogen needs to be present. That said, I believe that a system with zoas without the pathogen would never manifest zoas pox, independent of the water flow. Then the medicine is what needs to be applied for sure, when infection occurs.

Again, if the pathogen is present, would the water flow have any effects on the infection?
That's a good question!

Well, I would think once you treat all of the affected zoas manifesting pox correctly with furan2 it is probably/hopefully eradicated from the system, specially when the pathogen is found only internally and it's isolated when treated to be eliminated with the medicine.
I would tend to assume that.

I do believe in water flow to be one of the most important factors of all the zoanthids' metabolism, and I do recommend aways a decent water flow for any type of zoanthids in any system.

It would be great to know more about that lecture...
Thanks again! Very interesting subject.

Grandis.

 

[zachfishman]

Did she actually say that they were cured by the water flow?
To be cured it needs to manifest the disease...
She actually need to see and identify the pox prior to place them in higher flow and watch it go away without the application of any medicine or additive.

Again, if the pathogen is present, would the water flow have any effects on the infection?
That's a good question!

She said that in the past she used Furan2 to cure pox, but that nowadays if it manifests she cures her colonies/frags by putting them in higher flow. So yes, she cures afflicted frags with good flow. I do expect that her system has excellent conditions otherwise, and that those colonies/frags are in an optimal situation.

Water flow has been shown to be influential in the mitigation of stress in corals, although this was only quantified by differences in percent coral mortality on reefs undergoing bleaching episodes. Increased water flow has also been shown to alleviate oxidative stress on the photosynthetic pathway of zooxanthellae via the efflux of oxygen from coral tissues.

Possibly more related, a recent study by a student at our university showed that in the encrusting mat zoanthid (Palythoa caribbaeorum), less bleaching occurred on the sides of colonies facing the primary direction of water flow.

I don't know if it's a reduction of stress in the coral that helps it fight off the disease, or increases in flow hinder the growth of the fungus, or both. One thing is clear though, I need to upgrade to some Tunzes in my next system! :fun4:

 

[A. Grandis]

She said that in the past she used Furan2 to cure pox, but that nowadays if it manifests she cures her colonies/frags by putting them in higher flow. So yes, she cures afflicted frags with good flow. I do expect that her system has excellent conditions otherwise, and that those colonies/frags are in an optimal situation.

I would prefer to assume that too and so we can put that out of question.
So now we do have someone that by raising the water flow actually "cures" the zoa pox.
We need more people to try that!!!

Water flow has been shown to be influential in the mitigation of stress in corals, although this was only quantified by differences in percent coral mortality on reefs undergoing bleaching episodes. Increased water flow has also been shown to alleviate oxidative stress on the photosynthetic pathway of zooxanthellae via the efflux of oxygen from coral tissues.

Yes,I know. Isn't that great? That's one of the reasons I recommend water flow for the zoanthids. Another great reason is to keep it's natural total metabolism and shape.

Possibly more related, a recent study by a student at our university showed that in the encrusting mat zoanthid (Palythoa caribbaeorum), less bleaching occurred on the sides of colonies facing the primary direction of water flow.

I didn't see that paper yet.
Would be great if you could give us the reference or link to the project.
It makes sense. Would be interesting to see how they found that out.

I don't know if it's a reduction of stress in the coral that helps it fight off the disease, or increases in flow hinder the growth of the fungus, or both. One thing is clear though, I need to upgrade to some Tunzes in my next system! :fun4:

I don't think it's related directly to stress, but to their metabolism.

I would love to have her here and to participate in this thread. Could you please call her. We would like to hear from her about all the aspects and possible changes during the trial of zoa pox elimination.
Maybe she has pictures and much more info to give.

Thanks!

Grandis.

 

[zachfishman]

I've invited her to the thread (I think).

As for the study on Palythoa, being a student thesis I don't know if it is publicly or digitally available... or published.

 

[A. Grandis]

Thanks very much!
Hope she shows up!

Grandis.