Fluconazole to Treat GHA

[Colin Fowler]

I have GHA beginning to overrun my tank. It is not as bad as other infestations I have seen, and I want to get ahead of it. I have tried manually removing it, but that doesn’t really work. You can’t get it all off and it just grows back. After reading about success using Fluconazole, I thought I would give it a try. I have dosed 200 mg per 10 gallons. I have turned off all reactors, UV, and removed the skimmer cup but left the skimmer on. Here are pics of Day 1. I’ll post every few days.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It’s also a good time to beef up your snail population. Turbans , astria , turbos.
For some reason the fluc makes it taste better.

 

[Colin Fowler]

Something killed off a lot of my snails a while ago. Some are left, but not too many. Challenge is getting new ones in at this point cuz I quarantine everything. Nothing goes in my DT anymore without going thru QT. I finally got Ich out of my tank after a 76 day fallow period and don’t want to deal with that again.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Following. I am fighting it as well, and also after a 76 day fallow. Fish are going in tomorrow night.

 

[Colin Fowler]

Following. I am fighting it as well, and also after a 76 day fallow. Fish are going in tomorrow night.

Good luck with getting the fish back in. I lost one Pajama Cardinal when I returned them. All-in-all not too bad I guess. So happy that I have zero Ich though. It was a long wait but it’s worth it.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

With the fluc. You’ll be algae free for quite some time. Not a bad time to qt some snails.

 

[Kelso]

I had an outbreak like is years ago, I spot treated each clump with 35% hydrogen peroxide applied either to a QTip or cotton swab, depending on area size to be treated. Works very well. I was able to lift individual rock pieces out of the tank and used compressed can air to remove excess moisture for the spot, then dab the H2O2 on, wait a few seconds and replace rock in tank. H2O2 breaks down into oxygen and water very quickly and is also affected by light, hence the dark bottles it is packaged in.

Hopefully others will chime in and give a more precise account of this technique. I do not advise using large doses due the impact on a closed system... don't just pour it in... you don't want to wipe out your beneficial bacteria.

I also used to spot treat sea horses with a QTip to treat stubborn infections including flesh rot disease and external parasites. And currently use it to sanitize the tools used in my quarantine tank. It's good stuff.

 

[Colin Fowler]

I hope so! And yes, it is a good time to get some snails in QT.

 

[Colin Fowler]

I had an outbreak like is years ago, I spot treated each clump with 35% hydrogen peroxide applied either to a QTip or cotton swab, depending on area size to be treated. Works very well. I was able to lift individual rock pieces out of the tank and used compressed can air to remove excess moisture for the spot, then dab the H2O2 on, wait a few seconds and replace rock in tank. H2O2 breaks down into oxygen and water very quickly and is also affected by light, hence the dark bottles it is packaged in.

Hopefully others will chime in and give a more precise account of this technique. I do not advise using large doses due the impact on a closed system... don't just pour it in... you don't want to wipe out your beneficial bacteria.

I also used to spot treat sea horses with a QTip to treat stubborn infections including flesh rot disease and external parasites. And currently use it to sanitize the tools used in my quarantine tank. It's good stuff.

I’ll try this if Fluconazole doesn’t work. I have to have to take apart the tank and rocks. A huge job and very disruptive to the inhabitants.

 

[Land Shark]

Fluconazole melts gha away very well and I’ve personally experienced that. If it doesn’t work for you then it’s just a matter of dosage used. It will absolutely work. I’m not recommending it’s use but it is effective if that is what you are trying to do.

The only thing I’ve seen take out gha faster are several herbivores.

 

[Colin Fowler]

I have three tangs including a yellow. At first I thought they would handle the outbreak, but they won’t touch it. They nip all around it, but won’t take a bite of the gha.

 

[lapin]

The only thing I’ve seen take out gha faster are several herbivores.

Ill bet my omnivore urchin can chow down the stuff faster.

 

[Land Shark]

I have three tangs including a yellow. At first I thought they would handle the outbreak, but they won’t touch it. They nip all around it, but won’t take a bite of the gha.

That seems odd but you are headed down the right path already with the flux. I’m not saying that yours tangs should be dive bombing after the stuff but when they go a couple of days without being fed by you, algae in the tank starts to look appetizing and disappears. That’s my experience.

@lapin, good point on the omnivore urchin. Those are relentless algae eaters for sure.

 

[Colin Fowler]

I’ve never tried to not feed them. I even feel a bit guilty when I don’t feed them at the usually daily twice daily interval. Maybe I’ll try to give it a shot, if I can control myself to not feed them. I guess I am a bit of a geek for this line of thinking.

 

[Colin Fowler]

Fluconazole melts gha away very well and I’ve personally experienced that. If it doesn’t work for you then it’s just a matter of dosage used. It will absolutely work. I’m not recommending it’s use but it is effective if that is what you are trying to do.

The only thing I’ve seen take out gha faster are several herbivores.

So Day 2 of withholding feeding, and the Tangs are chowing down on the GHA.

 

[Land Shark]

So Day 2 of withholding feeding, and the Tangs are chowing down on the GHA.

Glad to hear it. Now you can call your tangs your “workers”!

 

[Colin Fowler]

Day 6 pics. Not sure if the pics do the progress justice, but it is really working. The GHA is much thinner and it’s pale. Some patches are almost gone.

 

[Land Shark]

It worked like magic on my own gha issue last year but many folks assume it only works on bryopsys. Your posts may help others out in the future. Nice work.

 

[Colin Fowler]

I have GHA beginning to overrun my tank. It is not as bad as other infestations I have seen, and I want to get ahead of it. I have tried manually removing it, but that doesn’t really work. You can’t get it all off and it just grows back. After reading about success using Fluconazole, I thought I would give it a try. I have dosed 200 mg per 10 gallons. I have turned off all reactors, UV, and removed the skimmer cup but left the skimmer on. Here are pics of Day 1. I’ll post every few days.

Day 8 pics. Wow, this is amazing. On smaller rock pike in my tank it is all gone. On the larger rock pile it is gone in many spots and the rest is clearly in retreat!

 

[Land Shark]

Algae? What algae?