Brooklynella?.. what to do?

[Mindflux]

Is this the start of Brooklynella? It's on both my clowns in appx the same place. Vivid says to treat with Melafix, but I don't have a Hosp/QT tank set up yet.


I'm getting started with a hospital tank, but it's not gonna have any nice 'fishy' bacteria in it, obviously.. so that's another hurdle. :/

 

[BigGimp77]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2034391

My battle with Brooklynella.

It's hard to tell from your photo what that is though.

 

[Mindflux]

New pic as it's spreading. Not sure it's brooklynella now.

 

[greech]

I am not a disease expert by any stretch bt it looks a lot like brook to me and a lot like what one of my clowns went through (which I lost). If it is brook and the clown is eating, feed it with vitamin and garlic soak foods and feed it as much as it will eat. My male didn't make it and it looked similar to yours. It was only about 24 hours later and the fish was gone. My female started showing signs about a day later but I had stepped up on feeding by then and she fought it off and is still with me today 2 years later.

Another sign of brook which my clown also did was do everything it could to stay in the current of a PH. Almost facing it head on. If you have a way of enhancing the gas exchange in the tank I would suggest it along with feeding. I am not sure what meds, if any you can try but IME it happened very quick and I don't think meds would have helped in time.

I hope things work out.

 

[Mindflux]

Yeah the clown I have swirms in the current of my recirc pump seemingly non stop. I fed my entire tank 3 days worth of Mysis with KanaPlex, garlic and Selcon mixed in. I can't do anymore KanaPlex for a little while, but so far it hasn't helped.

I have a skimmer in the tank, which should be providing a good bit of gas exchange on top of my MP10 ES and surface agitation from everything going on.

 

[usnavyame]

I also battled with this. I put my clown in a qt and used Quick Cure. The clown died two days later. Hopefully you have better luck then me. Good luck.

 

[thelostrican]

Give him a fresh water dip...I use tap water and remove the chlorine with tap water conditioner...aerate the water with a powerhead and bring it to temp...

Caught your fish while he sleeping late at night...no stress...

Put him in the fresh water...for about 3 minutes the first day..5 to 8 the second day...during the dip the fish might act normally..or distress or lay on his side...don't panic...he will be okay unless he is far gone...

After the bath put him back in the display and let him be..he will be disoriented etc..next morning he should be normal...then and only then judge how good the bath was..and go for more...

You could use quick cure on the bath seems to help...

I know this works and have done it thru the years a tons of time...I have never lost a clown to it...with other fish it's a little different depending on the species...

Disclaimer:I have done this thru out the years not only in fish that I own,but on many fishes mostly clowns,angels and tangs on a friends lfs, with incredible results...use this info at your own risk...one thing is for sure that clown will die if not treated...

Good luck,
Jose

 

[MrTuskfish]

I believe the only cure for brooklynella, and your fish almost certainly has it, is Formalin treatment in a QT. (The sloughing skin is almost a sure sign of brooklynella). This is a quick acting, very deadly, very contagious disease. It could easily spread to all of your fish if they aren't treated and the tank left fish less for 6+ weeks. If you need to quickly cycle a new QT, use some filter media from your main tank, or plan on lots of WCs. BTW, how long have you had these clowns?

 

[Mindflux]

A week. Came from vivid aquariums.. They aren't even very mated/pair like in the way they act.

I cannot find formalin in town and do not have a good QT let alone a cycled qt.

 

[sugartooth]

I agree with the formalin, I've treated brook a few times in clowns with formalin baths and returned them to their QT.

First, I dropped the salinity of the QT to about 1.019-1.021. This is to free up their energy resources to fight and get through the stress.

Day 1: Formalin (about 4-5 drops) in 5 cups of freshwater from the tap, matched temp, and dechlorinated. I use Seachem Prime. The amount of freshwater to formalin is approximate, but do not go over 6-7 drops in that amount of water. Also, do not have the temp. above 80 when doing this because the formalin affects oxygen availability in water at higher temps. I use a small air pump and drop the tubing into formalin bath for the duration of the dip. Add the fish, observe for the first few minutes to make sure they don't go into shock. Leave fish for 25-30 minutes (no more). Put fish back into QT.

Day 2: rest

Day 3: Repeat day 1.

Do this for a total of 3 baths and you should see improvement. As Jose wrote, this is my method that has worked for me and there are a number of approaches that can be effective. This has worked for me for clowns, powder blue tang, and copperbands (flukes).

You must monitor the fish the whole time, if they show distress, remove them. Sometimes when the fish are first dipped, they fall over like it's the end of the world. If you give the container a little tap and snap them out of it, they should recover fine. If they look like they are struggling, take them out. I would say you have to do this when you first catch the problem, while they are eating and still strong enough to take the stress of the baths.

You need to keep the oxygenation high in the environment because of infection in the gills most likely has caused the fish to 'pant' and that's probably why it favors the front of the powerhead.

Good luck!

 

[sugartooth]

I should say that a 4th bath may be needed, use your best judgement. A couple were okay after 3, the rest of mine I treated went through 4 baths to be thorough.

 

[MrTuskfish]

^^^^Good info in the above two posts..^^^^

its been a long time since I heard: "First, I dropped the salinity of the QT to about 1.019-1.021. This is to free up their energy resources to fight and get through the stress."
This is very true (IMO&IME). I can remember, before reef tanks, when fish were commonly kept at around 1.017 and seemed to thrive and be more energetic at this SG. I still keep my FOWLR tanks at a significantly lower SG than most. Not 1.017, but lower than I'm willing to post; don't want to start a war.

 

[MrTuskfish]

A week. Came from vivid aquariums.. They aren't even very mated/pair like in the way they act.

I cannot find formalin in town and do not have a good QT let alone a cycled qt.

I don't know why Formalin is so hard to get lately. I even think some states have banned it. there are a few products that contain fomeldahyde, the ingredient in Formalin, but there is still the QT issue. I hope these fish don't give brooklynella to all your fish. They are probably tank-bred; so much for the myth that tank-bred clowns are immune to brook. When you recover from this, please QT EVERYTHING wet and you'll never go through this again.
If you want to keep a small QT/HT set up; here's a copy of how I instantly cycle mine.

"In regards to Qt cycling; I've done this for years. Get a HOB filter; I really like Aqua-Clear, they have a big sponge and last forever. Don't use the carbon or ceramic noodles that come with the filter. Also, have some extra sponges on hand, they're cheap. Keep a sponge in the flow somewhere in your DT. When you need a QT or HT, just use the sponge that has been in your main system in your QT filter---the QT will be instantly cycled. When done, toss the sponge and keep a new one ready in your main system.
BTW, Cupramine copper, used in a QT,will not destroy a bio-filter."

 

[Mindflux]

I don't know why Formalin is so hard to get lately. I even think some states have banned it. there are a few products that contain fomeldahyde, the ingredient in Formalin, but there is still the QT issue. I hope these fish don't give brooklynella to all your fish. They are probably tank-bred; so much for the myth that tank-bred clowns are immune to brook. When you recover from this, please QT EVERYTHING wet and you'll never go through this again.
If you want to keep a small QT/HT set up; here's a copy of how I instantly cycle mine.

"In regards to Qt cycling; I've done this for years. Get a HOB filter; I really like Aqua-Clear, they have a big sponge and last forever. Don't use the carbon or ceramic noodles that come with the filter. Also, have some extra sponges on hand, they're cheap. Keep a sponge in the flow somewhere in your DT. When you need a QT or HT, just use the sponge that has been in your main system in your QT filter---the QT will be instantly cycled. When done, toss the sponge and keep a new one ready in your main system.
BTW, Cupramine copper, used in a QT,will not destroy a bio-filter."

So will something like QuICK Cure work in replacement for Formalin? I'm sure it's not 37% formaldehide but I've got to use _SOMETHING_ obviously.

I have a 10 gallon I could set up as a QT but obviously it's not cycled and full of the 'good stuff fish need'.


Can I treat the QT water, or is best to treat the fish outside the QT and put them back in QT after the fact?

 

[MrTuskfish]

So will something like QuICK Cure work in replacement for Formalin? I'm sure it's not 37% formaldehide but I've got to use _SOMETHING_ obviously.

I have a 10 gallon I could set up as a QT but obviously it's not cycled and full of the 'good stuff fish need'.


Can I treat the QT water, or is best to treat the fish outside the QT and put them back in QT after the fact?

Quick cure has about the same % of formaldehyde as Formalin and just adds malachite green, if I remember right. It should work, treat in the QT. Treatment must be constant for about 3 weeks. Watch ammonia and do WCs as needed; making your best guess to keep med level constant. Although Brooklynella is called 'clownfish disease, any fish can get the parasite. I'd have a plan to treat all your fish and let your DT go fishless---that's almost always the only way to completely cure this nasty stuff. Good luck!

 

[Mindflux]

Ok got me some QuICK cure... we'll go from there. I'm not sure that I can treat all of my fish (5) in a 10 gallon QT for 6 weeks. That's just not enough room.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Ok got me some QuICK cure... we'll go from there. I'm not sure that I can treat all of my fish (5) in a 10 gallon QT for 6 weeks. That's just not enough room.

If they are small, like the fish in the photos, it will do. Be sure to give them some hiding places, PVC pieces are great. Maybe not the ideal accommodations, but if you're convinced that this is brooklynella and you have no other options, it beats the alternative. If this is brook, I'd move ASAP--brooklynella is a very quick spreading and killing parasite.

 

[Mindflux]

They are small.

What else could it be other than brook? The clowns are the only ones to exhibit it.

 

[MrTuskfish]

They are small.

What else could it be other than brook? The clowns are the only ones to exhibit it.

Brook would be my only guess; and it is just that---an educated (somewhat) guess. Clowns seem to get this parasite easier than other fish and they probably introduced it; but the dormant phase of the parasite may (or may not) emerge soon. I'd Google this and learn as much as you can about brooklynella, it will help all my drivel make some sense and help you decide if that is your enemy or not.

 

[Mindflux]

One clown is dead.... Left to go to park with daughter. Came home to dead fish with Nass eating at it.