Magnificent anemone help

[Fish Styx]

Ooh interesting. I wonder if it was luck or science that hobbyists decided to use cipro for anemones.


What did I get wrong? I don't want to spread misinformation!

Science. Cipro is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is highly effective against most gram-negative bacteria and a lot of gram-positive, as-well. It is one of the go-to treatments for V. Vulnificus, which colonizes H. Magnifica. H. Magnifica produces anti fouling compounds that protect it against vibrio. However, stress can lead to a break down in its defenses and cause it to autoinnoculate.

 

[D-Nak]

im wondering if the same is true for gigs. and if we can pre-treat the nems for vibrio, with a focus on the foot, before we ship it to improve survival rates.

Not gonna happen, unfortunately. Most exporters won't hold for any extended period of time, especially for treatment purposes since the goal is to export ASAP (they don't make any money sitting on inventory, especially inventory that can die in the process). Even if they did, it's safe to assume the protocol won't be correct. Proper protocol would require each anemone to be treated separately. Lastly, without some sort of proof, most buyers won't pay extra money for a "pre-treated" anemone. We have cost/pricing issues with quarantined fish here in the US -- most customers refuse to pay extra -- so many LFS don't bother.

 

[D-Nak]

Science. Cipro is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is highly effective against most gram-negative bacteria and a lot of gram-positive, as-well. It is one of the go-to treatments for V. Vulnificus, which colonizes H. Magnifica. H. Magnifica produces anti fouling compounds that protect it against vibrio. However, stress can lead to a break down in its defenses and cause it to autoinnoculate.

Agreed. The person who "invented" the Cipro protocol is a doctor of internal medicine, and the use of Cipro wasn't a guess. It was based not only its ability to fight gram-negative bacteria, but also cost and easy accessibility.

 

[Fish Styx]

Agreed. The person who "invented" the Cipro protocol is a doctor of internal medicine, and the use of Cipro wasn't a guess. It was based not only its ability to fight gram-negative bacteria, but also cost and easy accessibility.

If you can't find Cipro, a combo of Doxycyline and Neomycin will do the trick, too.

 

[D-Nak]

@Babayaga -- I suspect with a tank as small as the one, parameters are fluctuating quite a bit. Even salinity will be affected, unless you have a ATO designed for smaller tanks. You'll definitely want to check your phosphate levels. My mags actually like a HIGHER amount of PO4 than what we normally associate with normal for a SPS dominant tank. Aside from it being upside down, it actually looks healthy.

I've never had one that was upside down for an extended period, so I understand your concern. Do you have another tank (preferably a larger, established one) that you can move it into temporarily, to see if it starts to act more like a normal mag?

 

[Babayaga]

@Babayaga -- I suspect with a tank as small as the one, parameters are fluctuating quite a bit. Even salinity will be affected, unless you have a ATO designed for smaller tanks. You'll definitely want to check your phosphate levels. My mags actually like a HIGHER amount of PO4 than what we normally associate with normal for a SPS dominant tank. Aside from it being upside down, it actually looks healthy.

I've never had one that was upside down for an extended period, so I understand your concern. Do you have another tank (preferably a larger, established one) that you can move it into temporarily, to see if it starts to act more like a normal mag?

@D-Nak that actually makes perfect sense. I currently am not using an ATO at the moment and have been manually topping off the tank so yes salinity swings could definitely be a possibility. I’m actually waiting on my Reef Breeders Prizm ATO to arrive any day now. Also I recently moved a few months ago so my larger tank (120g) is still cycling and not ready for livestock at the moment. A lot of the nems in my pics I posted were sold off as well as the tanks and corals due to me having to move so I’m kinda starting over from scratch again. Update on the mag , it’s no longer upside down but now attached to the rock sideways lol. I definitely leaning towards salinity swings now that you have mentioned it and I actually feel dumb that I didn’t think of the obvious lol. I’m a big fan of yours btw (I lurke more than post) and I appreciate the input.