Clown w/Brooklynella

[SteveCon89]

So I have a clown who i thought was just run down from being picked on by a newer clown...upon further investigation, it appears that the fish has brook.

I am trying to find the proper meds but all the lfs's are closed. pet supermarket and petco are open though, what's best to use? I doubt they'll have the quality stuff and I'll be stuck with something more generic for parasites, but i gotta try.

also, should i treat both clowns? no other fish in the tank...

 

[ironwill723]

Walmart should have QuikCure which is Formalin/Malachite Green. Treat both.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

For Brooklynella Formalin is the only treatment.

 

[SteveCon89]

Thank you for the quick responses. Really hope this girl pulls through.

 

[SteveCon89]

Okay, three days with quickcure and the fish looks a little more black but is still very lathargic. I honestly don't know how it's still alive...i feel bad.

it was really bright in the room yesterday and i could see straight through the fish, no color to her..and she's usually jet black. i put a little food in the tank and she got a little energy but didnt eat anything.

The package of QuickCure says to treat for three days....well it's been three days, now what do i do? Im thinking a quick dip in some freshwater and then some melafix for a while?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Melafix does nothing. Brook is really hard to beat and many fish die; even when caught &treated early. If this is brook, a pic would help. I know QuickCure has formalin; but I don't know if the dosage they recommend has enough formalin to kill brook. You may need to find the suggested dosage of pure formalin and do some math. I haven't treated brook in years and don't know the dosage.

Brook is very contagious, are your other fish, especially the clown, showing any symptoms? What convinced you that the clown has brook? Is his skin sloughing or peeling off? I think your other fish should be your primary concern now, the clowns outlook isn't good.

 

[SteveCon89]

I dont have any pics right now and since she's in a fish bowl i can't get a decent pic...the other fish is not showing any symptons of of yet but i am going to start treating tonight. can't seem to find much about formalin as far as where to buy.

oh, and what convinced me was that its skin looked like it had been scraped off and he was just very weak.

 

[SteveCon89]

Well, she put up a good fight but I lost her.

I stopped by my LFS and bought some prawn roe, and she popped right up and went crazy...i thought it was a miracle...within 3 mins she was dead. Poor fish. I have a pic now though, maybe someone can ID this so tha I know exactly what i'm looking at if i ever see it again?

 

[MrTuskfish]

My first guess is brooklynella. Hard to tell in the shape he's in. If skin was sloughing or peeling and the fish was obviously in distress, it was brook. A fish with brook looks and acts like something is really wrong; unlike early stages of ich. Brook is so prevalent with wild-caught clowns that its also known as clownfish disease. Your other fish are very vulnerable, as mentioned earlier.

 

[HumbleFish]

Quick Cure will usually buy you some time and sometimes will even knock Brook out. So, it's better than nothing. But I don't think it contains enough formalin to work consistently. Using a product that contains 37% formaldehyde (i.e. Formalin-MS) gives you the best chance possible.

 

[SteveCon89]

This all happened so fast...there were no white spots like Ich, just started acting very lathargic and then breathing heavy, within hours the white slough appeared. poor fish!!

 

[ironwill723]

If I remember correctly QuikCure is 37% formalin and some malachite green. Brook and Velvet are hard to beat once you can see it on the fish. Most don't pull through at that stage. I have had more luck dipping fish with 37% formalin mixed in seawater for 45 minutes every three days than treating the whole hospital tank with formalin. Formalin is rough on most fish. You have to aerate extremely well also.