Clownfish help please - is this internal parasite?

[ReefGirlSara]

Hello! I’ve been away from the hobby about 7 years and have just set up a 32g bio cube for my 7 year old daughter (and for me).

Set up the tank at the end of November.
Used live rock and sand that’s been in circulating saltwater, with no food, no livestock for several years. Not dry rock but not super “alive”.

Tank went through a small cycle and parameters were testing really well. Very small amount of nitrate by December 21.

January 2nd we bought 2 small black and white ocellaris clownfish (aquacultured) and 1 emerald crab, 1 scarlet hermit, 2 bumble snails from WorldWide Corals in Orlando.

I am extremely rusty in the hobby, I feel like I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew, but at one time I had several beautiful reef tanks and very happy fish and never had a problem with clown fish. But now I need some help.

I did a 20% water change Monday night. Added a small amount of PhosGuard in a media bag in the back of the tank, and changed the little koralia power head pump that just died with a new koralia. Parameters were all good but I had (probably) some diatoms and vacuumed the sand bed a bit and tried to suck out some of the brown algae. Tuesday morning the water was cloudy, I think from stirring up the sand. The smaller clownfish was struggling to swim against the current, and they were both huddled together near the overflow. I turned off the new koralia (the flow is stronger than the older one).

The larger fish ate a little of the frozen mysis and pellet food but the smaller one ate nothing. He had a stringy light colored poop hanging out of his anus. Long story short he struggled all day, never ate anything and died late that same night.

Now I’m seeing same symptoms with the larger fish. I am trying to get some metroplex and focus today, but I don’t know if that’s the really the right treatment. I don’t have a QT set up, I was hoping to keep things extremely simple this time around with an easy tank and easy inhabitants.

What would you suggest to save the larger fish?

Do I need to set up a QT or should I give her the metroplex and focus right in the DT?

Is this the wrong treatment entirely?

Do I need to leave the DT tank without fish for 8 weeks?

I don’t want to save 1 fish only to later infect others we bring in.

Fish diseases, at one time, I knew quite a bit but I don’t remember any of it, so I really appreciate the help and advice.

 

[leebca]

Hello! I’ve been away from the hobby about 7 years and have just set up a 32g bio cube for my 7 year old daughter (and for me).

Set up the tank at the end of November.
Used live rock and sand that’s been in circulating saltwater, with no food, no livestock for several years. Not dry rock but not super “alive”.

Tank went through a small cycle and parameters were testing really well. Very small amount of nitrate by December 21.

January 2nd we bought 2 small black and white ocellaris clownfish (aquacultured) and 1 emerald crab, 1 scarlet hermit, 2 bumble snails from WorldWide Corals in Orlando.

I am extremely rusty in the hobby, I feel like I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew, but at one time I had several beautiful reef tanks and very happy fish and never had a problem with clown fish. But now I need some help.

I did a 20% water change Monday night. Added a small amount of PhosGuard in a media bag in the back of the tank, and changed the little koralia power head pump that just died with a new koralia. Parameters were all good but I had (probably) some diatoms and vacuumed the sand bed a bit and tried to suck out some of the brown algae. Tuesday morning the water was cloudy, I think from stirring up the sand. The smaller clownfish was struggling to swim against the current, and they were both huddled together near the overflow. I turned off the new koralia (the flow is stronger than the older one).

The larger fish ate a little of the frozen mysis and pellet food but the smaller one ate nothing. He had a stringy light colored poop hanging out of his anus. Long story short he struggled all day, never ate anything and died late that same night.

Now I’m seeing same symptoms with the larger fish. I am trying to get some metroplex and focus today, but I don’t know if that’s the really the right treatment. I don’t have a QT set up, I was hoping to keep things extremely simple this time around with an easy tank and easy inhabitants.

What would you suggest to save the larger fish?

Do I need to set up a QT or should I give her the metroplex and focus right in the DT?

Is this the wrong treatment entirely?

Do I need to leave the DT tank without fish for 8 weeks?

I don’t want to save 1 fish only to later infect others we bring in.

Fish diseases, at one time, I knew quite a bit but I don’t remember any of it, so I really appreciate the help and advice.View attachment 32395145

Sorry to hear of the problems.

First, before answering your questions, know that aquacultured fish are not necessarily disease/parasite-free. Unfortunately the breeders of today are not very careful in keeping tank-bred fish free of diseases and parasites.

Second, I'm concerned about the cycling. Unless you added bacteria, how did the tank cycle so quickly? The 'semi-live' rock would probably not have cooperated much in the cycling.

Third, the presence of diatoms indicates a water quality problem.

Now to the medications:
Focus by Seachem is for ingestion. Antibacterial polymer for internal infections of fish indicating: Bloating, abnormal stools, loss of appetite, and weight loss are all signs of a potential internal infection. Also useful for binding other medications.
Metroplex is 70% metronidazole. Metronidazole kills mostly surface parasites (like Brooklynella). Metronidazole (controls common bacterial infections in fish. This exerts a bactericidal action on gram positive and some gram negative bacteria) works best when dosed properly in food (at 0.50% by weight in food). Use Focus or Agar to bind it. From Brine Shrimp Direct: Medicated Brine Shrimp Flake with 2% Metronidazole from Brine Shrimp Direct. Concentrated bath treatment: 25ppm concentration for 24 hours. Internal eating treatment for 3 weeks. QT treatment: Dosage is 25 mg/gal every 48 hours (or every 24 hours for severe problems) with a 25% water change before each treatment. Treat for 10-14 days.

The fish concerns:
I don't see what I need to see in the fish. A video longer than one minute under white light up close to the fish, showing both sides of the fish would be helpful. You can upload the video to YouTube then post the link to it here.

If the fish is showing signs of excess mucous sluffing off the fish, then it is likely Brooklynella hostilis (Brook). If there is only stringy poop, it could mean an internal/intestinal worms/flukes. The best treatment for this would be the use of Praziquantel. Praziquantel in PraziPro is an anthelmintic (deworming) medication. If you choose to use PraziPro beware: A ‘one then done’ treatment. Add it to water being exchanged (if you will be doing a water change during treatment). PraziPro is considered reef safe. The glycol solvent in Prazipro is a carbon source and bacterial growth scavenges oxygen when it is dosed. So when using this med, you much aerate the water with an airstone. Follow directions on the packaging.

There are different kinds of flukes. Getting at them all is a challenge, but PraziPro seems to do the job.

I'd like to see/know how fast the fish is breathing. Count breaths in 15 sec, multiply by 4. If the number is 140 or bigger, there might be other issues. Hence the reason I want to see a video.

If it is an internal fluke, then a fish fallow time is needed to get rid of worms and worm eggs in the system.

If I haven't answered your questions, or if you have more, please don't hesitate to ask.