After almost a year of being in denial and watching the BCP plague spread throughout. most of my 200G mixed reef tank, I finally worked up the courage
to try Fenbendazole as it's the only way that i found that can eradicate this plague. BCP, or in my case, ugly brown/red clove polyps started as just a few tufts
on a rock, likely came with a frag and slowly but surely became very ugly and a threat to other corals - especially Zoa's.
I was able to get some pure Fenbendazole from a friend. For an in depth look at how to use Fenbendazole, check out the WP post by Max Draco HERE
Here's a some before and after photos.
One note, i ended up using 1 packet of Thomas Labs Fenbendazole - each packet is 250MG. Max Drago suggests 1MG per Gallon - so i was a little over the 1/2 dose with 1 packet.
It worked incredibly well within 3 days or so, but after 2 weeks, i noticed not all the BCP was gone so it hit it again with another 250MG packet just to make sure. In hindsight, i would do the full or even slighly more dose (in my case, 400MG) straight away - hit 'em hard approach that many others on this forum have advised.
Other reactions: i tried to take out all inverts - but a few hermit crabs and a snail or two were left. Incredibly, the crabs are still alive but moving pretty slowly.
Corals: My Zoa's protested for a couple of days but came back in full. No other harm was caused to softies, SPS or LPS corals and, hopefully my BCP nightmare is finally over.
Phosphates/Algae: I did have a big spike in Phos - from 0.00 to 0.16 in 2 days - due to BCP die off likely,. This triggered an already problematic algae situation but once things calm down, i'll bring back a grip of Turbo Snails, a couple of tuxedo urchins and more hermit crabs to hopefully clean things up nicely.
So for those with BCP issues, hang in there, there are a variety of Fenbendazole available, don't wait until your tank is completely overrun and when you do take this path, hit it hard 1x and wait for the magic to happen.
to try Fenbendazole as it's the only way that i found that can eradicate this plague. BCP, or in my case, ugly brown/red clove polyps started as just a few tufts
on a rock, likely came with a frag and slowly but surely became very ugly and a threat to other corals - especially Zoa's.
I was able to get some pure Fenbendazole from a friend. For an in depth look at how to use Fenbendazole, check out the WP post by Max Draco HERE
Here's a some before and after photos.
One note, i ended up using 1 packet of Thomas Labs Fenbendazole - each packet is 250MG. Max Drago suggests 1MG per Gallon - so i was a little over the 1/2 dose with 1 packet.
It worked incredibly well within 3 days or so, but after 2 weeks, i noticed not all the BCP was gone so it hit it again with another 250MG packet just to make sure. In hindsight, i would do the full or even slighly more dose (in my case, 400MG) straight away - hit 'em hard approach that many others on this forum have advised.
Other reactions: i tried to take out all inverts - but a few hermit crabs and a snail or two were left. Incredibly, the crabs are still alive but moving pretty slowly.
Corals: My Zoa's protested for a couple of days but came back in full. No other harm was caused to softies, SPS or LPS corals and, hopefully my BCP nightmare is finally over.
Phosphates/Algae: I did have a big spike in Phos - from 0.00 to 0.16 in 2 days - due to BCP die off likely,. This triggered an already problematic algae situation but once things calm down, i'll bring back a grip of Turbo Snails, a couple of tuxedo urchins and more hermit crabs to hopefully clean things up nicely.
So for those with BCP issues, hang in there, there are a variety of Fenbendazole available, don't wait until your tank is completely overrun and when you do take this path, hit it hard 1x and wait for the magic to happen.
