Help! Brown Jelly on Duncan?

swsm · 12/15/2012, 08:03 PM

Recently I noticed one of the heads on my duncan has retracted a lot. I just did a Coral Revive dip on the duncan that was covered in a brown film (I'm assuming it's brown jelly). I haven't had any new additions to the tank and the coral has not moved or fallen so I'm not quite sure how it got the disease. I have a picture (below - as you can see, it's the top left head). I tried sucking the brown jelly through a turkey baster and its whiskers broke off.

My question is: is this in fact Brown Jelly? If it is, how can I keep it from spreading? And what should I do?

Tank params are all good.

Image:

http://s14.postimage.org/pne6zfi1d/photo_8.jpg

staindsoul · 12/15/2012, 11:09 PM

It looks like it is on the right head also. You need to remove the affected heads and try to make sure no flesh falls off and spreads to other coral. You may be able to quarintine the affected heads, cleaning the jelly off and dipping, but you should want to isolate them from your system.

What are your tank parameters? Saying all good doesn't help much.

swsm · 12/16/2012, 12:24 AM

Thanks for the response! Yeah, I had noticed the right head was closed a few days ago but it was opening up a little today before I did the dip. How do I clean the jelly off? I unfortunately don't have another system to put them in since all I have is the biocube. And when you say "remove the affected heads" does that mean fragging it? It seems like the head at the top is connected to the others....

My tank parameters are the following: Mg: 1500, Alk 9.8, Ca: 500, Phos: 0, Nitrates: 0, Temp: 78

Dolmo5000 · 12/16/2012, 01:12 AM

I had a 60+ polyp duncan (our crown jewel) that got brown jelly from a hammer head that fell behind some rock work and went un noticed. I tried and tried and tried to save it but ended up loosing the whole thing. The disease is usually only seen in corals that are stressed to some degree. With VERY stable water params and some luck it is possible to save a coral usually by fragging the affected areas off, although, that is inherently stressful in itself. Having gone through weeks and weeks of stress trying to save my wife and I's favorite coral, my suggestion is to just bite the bullet and chunk the whole thing before it shows up on another coral. As staindsoul said, be very careful not to allow any of the jelly to fall off and float away. Better safe than sorry with reefing. Good luck.

tektite · 12/18/2012, 11:30 AM

Frag off the mostly dead head and toss it. Like others said be careful the brown stuff doesn't go floating around the aquarium. Revive or iodine based coral dips won't do anything for it. Best thing to try is an insecticide actually. Bayer advanced complete insect killer, you can get it at Home Depot. Make a solution of 10 ml Bayer per 1 cup water. Dip the coral in that for 5 min, use a baster to gently blow off any dead tissue. Rinse the coral extremely well in clean saltwater before returning to the aquarium, the Bayer is deadly to any inverts. You need to make sure no Bayer at all gets into the aquarium. Use gloves when putting the coral in the dip too, as a basic precaution. That's your best bet to stop the brown jelly. The dip will not harm the coral at all.

swsm · 12/19/2012, 02:55 AM

Thanks for all of the responses! I haven't ever heard of using Bayer before! I will keep you guys up to date. I brought the coral back to the LFS and they fragged off all of the brown jelly. The duncan is still open, which is great. I will keep an eye on it and will try Bayer if I notice any decline.

12/15/2012, 08:03 PM	#1
swsm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 21	Help! Brown Jelly on Duncan? Recently I noticed one of the heads on my duncan has retracted a lot. I just did a Coral Revive dip on the duncan that was covered in a brown film (I'm assuming it's brown jelly). I haven't had any new additions to the tank and the coral has not moved or fallen so I'm not quite sure how it got the disease. I have a picture (below - as you can see, it's the top left head). I tried sucking the brown jelly through a turkey baster and its whiskers broke off. My question is: is this in fact Brown Jelly? If it is, how can I keep it from spreading? And what should I do? Tank params are all good. Image: http://s14.postimage.org/pne6zfi1d/photo_8.jpg

12/15/2012, 11:09 PM	#2
staindsoul Calvin for President Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: R'VA Posts: 509	It looks like it is on the right head also. You need to remove the affected heads and try to make sure no flesh falls off and spreads to other coral. You may be able to quarintine the affected heads, cleaning the jelly off and dipping, but you should want to isolate them from your system. What are your tank parameters? Saying all good doesn't help much. __________________ Mitchell-60g, 2-A150W 10ks, 2-Hydor 425s, 1-240, 20gL sump/refugium “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill

12/16/2012, 01:12 AM	#4
Dolmo5000 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma Posts: 166	I had a 60+ polyp duncan (our crown jewel) that got brown jelly from a hammer head that fell behind some rock work and went un noticed. I tried and tried and tried to save it but ended up loosing the whole thing. The disease is usually only seen in corals that are stressed to some degree. With VERY stable water params and some luck it is possible to save a coral usually by fragging the affected areas off, although, that is inherently stressful in itself. Having gone through weeks and weeks of stress trying to save my wife and I's favorite coral, my suggestion is to just bite the bullet and chunk the whole thing before it shows up on another coral. As staindsoul said, be very careful not to allow any of the jelly to fall off and float away. Better safe than sorry with reefing. Good luck. __________________ Richard M.S. PhD student at OSU Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Current Tank Info: Current Tank Info: Tank Info: 120g short w/ beananimal overflow, mixed sps/lps, 55g sump, aquamaxx coneS co-2, aquaticlife 6b T5, phosban 150, WP40, Apex lite, and super duper DIY wood stand!!!

12/18/2012, 11:30 AM	#5
tektite I never finish anyth Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,120	Frag off the mostly dead head and toss it. Like others said be careful the brown stuff doesn't go floating around the aquarium. Revive or iodine based coral dips won't do anything for it. Best thing to try is an insecticide actually. Bayer advanced complete insect killer, you can get it at Home Depot. Make a solution of 10 ml Bayer per 1 cup water. Dip the coral in that for 5 min, use a baster to gently blow off any dead tissue. Rinse the coral extremely well in clean saltwater before returning to the aquarium, the Bayer is deadly to any inverts. You need to make sure no Bayer at all gets into the aquarium. Use gloves when putting the coral in the dip too, as a basic precaution. That's your best bet to stop the brown jelly. The dip will not harm the coral at all. __________________ No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

12/16/2012, 12:24 AM	#3
swsm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 21	Thanks for the response! Yeah, I had noticed the right head was closed a few days ago but it was opening up a little today before I did the dip. How do I clean the jelly off? I unfortunately don't have another system to put them in since all I have is the biocube. And when you say "remove the affected heads" does that mean fragging it? It seems like the head at the top is connected to the others.... My tank parameters are the following: Mg: 1500, Alk 9.8, Ca: 500, Phos: 0, Nitrates: 0, Temp: 78

12/19/2012, 02:55 AM	#6
swsm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 21	Thanks for all of the responses! I haven't ever heard of using Bayer before! I will keep you guys up to date. I brought the coral back to the LFS and they fragged off all of the brown jelly. The duncan is still open, which is great. I will keep an eye on it and will try Bayer if I notice any decline.