Seriously, I figured out how to beat Brown Jelly disease
 

I posted this before, but I suppose the moderators thought I was a crank. I swear, hand on heart, that I figured out a protocol to fight Brown Jelly once it has hit a piece of your coral. I most recently saved my favorite pink goniapora when the brown jelly began to melt it, and others as well. It took me a lot of research, trial and error, more research and finally using the power of logical deduction and critical thought to tie all the pieces together - I was successful.

1) I have stared at brown jelly. I have really given it a good hard look. I mean, sat in the chair for an hour at a time and observed it turning my coral to mush. What is it? I have read it might be a protozoa infection. Honestly, what it looks to me from my studies in Microbiology and A&P is the degradation of the fleshy cellular wall with the insides spilled out, turned to jelly if you would. What is causing it though? Well, whether it is bacterial or protozoan there is one sure fire way to eliminate it. We learn in Microbiology the power of anything considered a "Cide" to be full proof. Think Germicide, Genocide, Spermicide (lol). Cides will kill any micro-organism including Mycobacteria and viruses. Antibiotics on the other hand are iffy because there are gram positive and gram negative bacteria. That is why not every antibiotic will work. There simply hasn't been enough research on brown jelly to tell what is causing it and if it were bacteria, whether it is gram negative or positive. btw... the (+) & (-) has to do with the presence or absence of an outside cellular wall or shell on bacteria. This is how antibiotics work - against the cellular wall. But why does it spread? Well, when gram positive bacteria are alive, they release toxins - which is why you feel like crap when you have a bacterial infection. Gram negative bacteria release toxins as they are dying, which is why you feel like crap when you take antibiotics to kill a Gram negative infection. This may be why the brown jelly spreads, because whatever toxin is being released by whatever it is, is breaking down the coral fleshy cellular wall and the insides spill out creating brown jelly. It is only a hypothesis.

2) HOW TO FIGHT IT
a) First, set up a small isolation tank with CLEAN saltwater and a small recirculating filter.

b) When you lift your diseased coral out of the tank, that brown jelly stuff will float off and land wherever. You don't want that to happen because it could spread to other coral. My recommendation is to take a plastic ziplock bag, put it down in the water and ease your sad coral into it. Zip it up and then take it out. Don't put it in the isolation tank yet!

c) Next go to your kitchen sink. Turn the water on cold with more than a drip but less than a forceful spray. Find a small, natural bristle paint brush or a basting brush. Rinse the coral under the faucet while lightly brushing away the diseased brown jelly down the drain. This shouldn't take long and don't become OCD with it.

d) Put the coral into the isolation tank. Go in your bathroom and find the Povidone Iodine 10% or the Betadine Iodine. They are the same thing. Add 8 drops per liter or quart to your water. This would be 32 drops per gallon. Don't just squirt it in! Be precise. Let the coral sit in this for about 30 minutes. Iodine is essentially a "Cide". It will kill any bacteria or protozoa on the coral. It is an antiseptic, but it is safe at limited exposures to the flesh.

e) Grab a container with tall edges and a lid. It needs to be big enough to fit your coral easily and the edges tall enough for your to swirl liquid around the coral without it spilling all over the place. A big Tupperware water pitcher works for me. This is where you will now need some specialty products from your fish store or online if you live in the boonies.

f) API Melafix Marine & ReVive Coral Cleaner by Two Little Fishies. Fill your swishing container with CLEAN saltwater. Add 1 cap of ReVive Coral Cleaner and 1 cap of API Melafix to 1 quart of water. Put your piece of coral in face up so you don't damage it. Now, put the lid on if you have one and swirl it around for about 3 minutes.

g) Go back to the sink. Take the coral out and turn it upside down. Now we are going to wash it off the same way a nurse will wash her hands to establish a clean field before surgery. Using light flow, rinse the coral upside down starting from the bottom, rinsing the sides and finally the top. You want all residue to rinse off and any remaining bacteria with it.

h) put your coral back into your main tank. Put it on the bottom in a kind of shady spot, but still getting some light. The reason for this is because coral is protected from the sun by a beneficial bacteria called Zooxanthellea. It is an SPF Suncreen so to speak. It is what allows your coral to be colorful and bright rather than dull and brown or bleached out. All the anti-bacterial treatment has now wiped out all the Zooxanthellea on the coral, and it needs time to replenish.

i) watch for any new brown jelly. If you see it, follow the protocol again however, most likely you will not see it again if you have followed the steps properly.

j) your coral will be ****ed and licking it's wounds for about a week, then it will start to peek it's little polyps out - glad to be alive. Within 2 weeks it will be back reaching for the sun and over time it will overgrow the areas that brown jelly left a skeleton. I promise.

Like I said, this is what I do and it works for me.

in the sink with chlorinated fresh water?

Nothing is full, or fool proof. We see the development of resistance to cides all the time. Always be careful when speaking in absolutes.

Or.. or!!! Instead of trying to sound cool, you say hey thanks man this might help us in the hobby.


OP, thanks!


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My point is that this, and a few other statements in the post, is enough for me to suspect the veracity of the method beyond luck/coincidence. So I personally would not expose my stock to such stress.

I'm guessing that this may be why moderators removed before. Folks with a more limited background in the natural sciences may jump on stuff like this and do unnecessary harm.

While you are correct, 9/10 times when you get brown jelly you will lose the piece. I personally would prefer someone try this on their coral if it came down to it rather than it just die. After all, these are animals that we are pulling from nature for our amusement. I think it is everyone's intention to try to keep them as healthy as possible.


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When losing a piece is the clear and obvious choice, there's good to be gained in trying something. If you win---you can help other corals not die. And spread the knowledge. Coral is much more resilient than commonly believed, and certain species can come back from amazing damage. I've had popped heads regrow base, and I've seen mangled coral recover.
It's worth a try if you've got a piece in that condition and the wherewithal to try it. As with any claim in science, step two is replication of the procedure with the same result.

I just had half my frag tank wiped out by brown jelly, only went for SPS left everything else alone

You mean this one?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2632166

It's literally 7 posts below this one.

And I still would think that washing a coral in chlorinated tap water would not be a good thing.

I'm with JWClark on this one. One successful experiment doesn't make this method an absolute. Not sure why he received a hostile comment, that was unwarranted. It is exciting to hear about a possible cure, but would be better to see many successful examples before saying things like "I promise." Here's to hoping we see more success in the future :bum:

Acronymform

You have 3 posts to your name and you also just joined this forum as well. You should except a certain amount of skepticism with your limited reputation.

You've posted this exact same post three times. Twice in the advanced topics forum.

We haven't deleted anything because you're crank. All of your posts are still out there.

However, I will ask that you please stop reposting the exact same enormous post multiple times in multiple forums or we will start deleting them.

To those responding to this thread, as always we ask you to be respectful to everyone. There's a difference between skepticism and disrespect.

See if you can get some of this if you can't find anything similiar - reads like snake oil but i think it stopped my 4 month problem of what i think was Vibrio - I was having hard & soft coral randomly taken out
https://www.seawayaqua.co.uk/arem-v

Has anyone else tried this yet?

seriously, this does not beat brown jelly disease lol

Not sure if this method works for brown jelly but I have rinsed coral in lukewarm tap water dozens of times throughout my 15 or so years in the hobby with no ill effects. This was done while removing nuisances (bubble algae, green star polyps, etc) from a desirable coral piece.

Who has looked at brown jelly under a microscope? I imagine several people have. Is it identifiable? I would think a person would be able to determine exactly what it is under a scope (protozoan/bacterial/something else?). Anyone have input on this?

double post

salty waffles and brown jelly is making me hungry!

" ... a beneficial bacteria called Zooxanthellea."

Uh, no. Zooxanthellea is an algae. It is not a 'bacteria'.

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There is a process in determining causative agents in any disease. Koch’s postulate outlines the accepted method (Google it). It is not as easy as looking through a microscope, first step perhaps. I am certain that brown jelly is probably not that simple or perhaps not that complex it just has not been studied well enough yet. Ron

I just experienced brown jelly taking out my torch. Didn't know what it was. By the time I figured it out, it was too late. So this morning I removed the entire coral. However, rookie mistake. The pumps were on and when I broke it lose particles went everywhere. I assume that's the jelly/bacteria. Really should have thought that through. Any suggestions on tank
"Prevention" at this point? Or am I in a wait and see mode? Preparing water change as we speak but don't see that making much impact on this particular scenario.

I just recently encountered brown jelly in my tank, and took a look under my microscope. In this video you will see the ciliates called Helicostoma nonatum that burrow into the coral and eat the flesh from below. It is described in this article: http://aquariumcoraldiseases.weebly....sease-brb.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlZUBcxYXs

Now that's pretty cool. What magnification did you have to use to get that image? Those little demon spawn critters can slap devour a torch coral in record time!

As a follow up to a lot of discussion on this thread...I have not seen any more symptoms of brown jelly in my tank since they destroyed my torch. I was worried because when I removed my torch after being consumed there were a lot of particles that drifted off and around the tank. I read where this was very contagious so I was worried others would catch it. Fortunately, looks like my inhabitants made it through the worst of it.

In the video, I started at 200x, then moved to 800x and 2000x. But they can easily be seen even at 80x.

This is really cool! Any idea what the small things that seem to be moving around them are?