i think it's brooks... opinions?

[KRAZE]

I think my mocha clown has brooklynella, but this is my first experience with any sick fish of my own... I have seen several cases of ich and velvet in other peoples fish and at the store i work at, and i don't think this guy has either one.

Here's a few pics:

I set him up in a 5 gal HT with a quiet flow 10, a heater and a wood air stone. So what should i treat with? If this is brook i should give him dips with formalin right? But not dose the HT, correct?

I have this one product already, its called Organi-Cure and contains 17% Formaldehyde and 1.25% copper... should i use that i double amount to equal that of the typical 37% Formaldehyde (aka formalin)?

Any suggestions would be awesome.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I think it's Brook too. I've never dealt with Brook personally, but a good friend of mine treats with Quick Cure right in the QT/HT. The nice thing about Quick Cure is you can usually find it right at Walmart. Turn your temp down and crank that wooden air stone up to compensate for the O2 deprivation from the Formalin. And read this:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm061

 

[MrTuskfish]

I think it's Brook too. I've never dealt with Brook personally, but a good friend of mine treats with Quick Cure right in the QT/HT. The nice thing about Quick Cure is you can usually find it right at Walmart. Turn your temp down and crank that wooden air stone up to compensate for the O2 deprivation from the Formalin. And read this:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm061

I agree, any med with formalin, unless you can quickly find plain formalin. You have very little time with brooklynella; often its too late when they first show symptoms. Any fish that was exposed to this fish is in trouble too.

 

[KRAZE]

yes i am keeping an eye in my other fish, which just so happen to be able to contract this from what i have read... yellow corris wrasse and domino damsel. There is also a sharknose goby and orange diamond goby, how do you think they will fare?

What should the temp be turned down to? It's at 77 right now...
The air stone is running at it's max. I pulled it out of my home made skimmer lol, so the DT will have to fare for now without one. And yes, i already got a new air stone for when i put it back in the tank, just in case.


As for finding 'formalin'... from everything i have read, '100% fromalin' is just a name for a formaldehyde/water solution that is ~40% formaldehyde... so if i have a 17% formaldehyde as stated above and i dose it double, then i have a 35% solution that also adds 1.25% copper, so i will have 2.5% copper which would not be a bad thing in case it is velvet, right? I will start with that today asap, and then go out and see what i can find for him. Going to read that link right now also.

I can't believe i work at a fish store with every med EXCEPT your run-of-the-mill Formalin! :mad2:

 

[geaux xman]

You can order Formalin MS and they are very quick with delivery.
http://www.petsolutions.com/C/External-Parasite-Ich-Fish-Medications/I/Formalin-MS.aspx

Or you can buy QuickCure from Wal-mart.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aquarium-...ozoan-Parasites-Quick-Cure-.75-fl-oz/10313376

I dont know the % formalin in QuickCure, but it should get you by for temporary use. I have seen it at my local Walmart for $3-4.

Please read the following and take the necessary precaution.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/formalinart.htm

I've personally given 45min-1hr formalin(Formalin MS) dip to 10+ angels/tangs without issue.

I would consider treating(formalin dips+copper bath) all fish and letting the DT sit fallow for 8-10 weeks.

G'luck man.

 

[KRAZE]

Thanks for that link, I bookmarked that one, will be a good reference for now and future, although I hope no need for it again lol.

I started with a dip of the stuff I had and 2 walmarts and 3 petcos later and nothing yet. Heading to exotic fish and coral here in ct now to see if I have better luck.

 

[KRAZE]

so closest thing i got is Formalite-III, gonna try with that stuff. Anyone familiar with that dosage?

I also have Organi-Cure from Aquarium Products, is that similar to quICK-Cure?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Does it list formalin on the bottle? If so, use it ASAP.

 

[KRAZE]

formalite III only list Formaldehyde and Malachite Green as its ingredients without and percentages. It's so hard to determin the correct amount to add to my baths without the percentages, ya know? If i had straight formalin i think it said 2.7mL per gallon! I just went with whatever was instructed on the bottle since no % was on the Quick Cure either.

I got quick cure from a friend on my way home last night and did a 30 minute bath in that. I used the Orgaini-cure the day before, which was 1.25% copper and 17% formaldehyde, so that's why i did a shorter bath.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Sorry to hijack, but I'm apparently missing something when it comes to Brook.

I understand the purpose of the Formalin bath to rid the fish of the parasite. However, when you put the fish back in the tank it came out of, doesn't it just keep getting reinfected? Or can you just dip the fish and then transfer it to a different/clean QT? Kind of like a "tank transfer" for Brook?

 

[KRAZE]

Yes, from what I have found the fish wold get sick again if added back to my DT. So, I have a 5gal Hospital Tank set up for him. I dip him in a bucket with a 2 gal bath for 30-45mins at a time in water taken from his HT, and then I make 2 gallons of new saltwater to replace the water removed from the HT. He will remain in this tank for 1 month after his last dip.

In the DT I am waching my fish very close. I have no signs of disease so far. I was told to keep the tank free of fish for 2 months, but I don't have the resources for that right now, so in turn I will be treating all my fish with a dip or two the week my clown is ready to be added back. I also have a reef tank safe additive that I will add to the tank 24 hours prior to introducing the clown back. I will also leave th tank free of fish for that 24 hours, in hopes to break parasite cycle.

I'll let everyone know if it works!

 

[OTOWN78]

for what its worth, My sister had a clown with Brook. we removed all fish and they are in Quarantine now. After 4 Days now I see Major improvement. The respiration's have slowed down, his fins are back up and he swimming normally.
We used Rid Ich Plus by Kordon. This is my second experience with this treatment and so far I have been pleased. It contains Formalin and Malachite Green.

 

[KRAZE]

for what its worth, My sister had a clown with Brook. we removed all fish and they are in Quarantine now. After 4 Days now I see Major improvement. The respiration's have slowed down, his fins are back up and he swimming normally.
We used Rid Ich Plus by Kordon. This is my second experience with this treatment and so far I have been pleased. It contains Formalin and Malachite Green.

So wait, just want to make sure I understand your actions... You put all fish in QT and treat all of them at once, or give individual bathes to those who showed symtoms of disease? My clown looks great in his HT, as do the fish in my DT who I have yet to treat.

 

[tmz]

A few things for clarification:

It certainly looks like brooklynella hostilis.

Formalin is fromaldeyhyde in water. Typically, a formalin solution is 37% formaldehyde by wieght. Some commercial meds are formalin.: eg Hikari ICH X , Kordon Formalin 3, each of these contain only 3% formaldehyde. I like the extra dilution since it's easier to dose without overdosing.

Brooklynella is a motile ciliate protozoan. It can swim from fish to fish. An infected tank needs a fishless period of 4 plus weeks.

Brooklynella does not have staged life cylce like cytocaryon. It mulitplies by binary fission ,right on the fish and kills quickly. Formalin baths offer significant immediate relief .

I do not consider formalin treatments reef safe and administer them in a qt tank .

 

[MrTuskfish]

Sorry to hijack, but I'm apparently missing something when it comes to Brook.

I understand the purpose of the Formalin bath to rid the fish of the parasite. However, when you put the fish back in the tank it came out of, doesn't it just keep getting reinfected? Or can you just dip the fish and then transfer it to a different/clean QT? Kind of like a "tank transfer" for Brook?

Its been a while since I treated brook and have't done any real reading lately on the stuff. I do check occasionally to make sure nothing has passed formalin as the med of choice. Katrina got all of my notes; so everything is based on an aging (but sound) memory. I did successfully treat Brook several times for my own fish and for a friends LFS using nothing but a formalin bath lasting about a week. I also lost a few fish. I know lots of sources call for formalin baths along daily dips, with formalin at a higher dosage. I remember some material that suggested the "bath" tanks be kept at hypo levels; but everything I know says Brook doesn't respond to hypo. Personally, I think most (not all) fish with brook are doomed by the time the parasite is identified and the fish finally gets help. For other fish that have been exposed, I think chances are better than 50-50; if caught in time.

 

[tmz]

A formalin bath followed by formalin treatment can save fish ;not always,ime. Most of the time the response is positive and almost immediate.

The bath is for 40minutes . A bucket with a small power head and 1 gallon of tank water with 10ml of a 3% formalin is used, or 0.8ml of 37% formalin . Treatment is at a lower dose per the specific product manufacturer's recommendation.

 

[KRAZE]

A few things for clarification:

It certainly looks like brooklynella hostilis.

Formalin is fromaldeyhyde in water. Typically, a formalin solution is 37% formaldehyde by wieght. Some commercial meds are formalin.: eg Hikari ICH X , Kordon Formalin 3, each of these contain only 3% formaldehyde. I like the extra dilution since it's easier to dose without overdosing.

Brooklynella is a motile ciliate protozoan. It can swim from fish to fish. An infected tank needs a fishless period of 4 plus weeks.

Brooklynella does not have staged life cylce like cytocaryon. It mulitplies by binary fission ,right on the fish and kills quickly. Formalin baths offer significant immediate relief .

I do not consider formalin treatments reef safe and administer them in a qt tank .

Thanks for the response, but it would have been more useful last week lol everything here is pretty much a repeat, however it does give me some assurence that what I had initally thought was correct and that I'm good in what I am doing currently.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks for the response, but it would have been more useful last week lol everything here is pretty much a repeat, however it does give me some assurence that what I had initally thought was correct and that I'm good in what I am doing currently.

Glad you managed to save what you could. Now would be a good time to make sure you have basic meds and everything to quickly cycle & set up a QT/HT.

There isn't much time after brook shows up. If a hobbyist sees brook; then must research a cure, shop for meds, set up a QT/HT, etc.----chances are, its going to be too late. Same is often true with velvet, which (IMO&IME) is often mistaken for ich.

 

[KRAZE]

Glad you managed to save what you could. Now would be a good time to make sure you have basic meds and everything to quickly cycle & set up a QT/HT.

There isn't much time after brook shows up. If a hobbyist sees brook; then must research a cure, shop for meds, set up a QT/HT, etc.----chances are, its going to be too late. Same is often true with velvet, which (IMO&IME) is often mistaken for ich.

Oh yes for sure.... The HT was set up that very day. The meds were started that night also (well i started with Organi-Cure before i got the other stuff) And i gave 4 more bathes after that, heres what i did for his meds:

15min Organi-Cure bath 6/13 (just to get a jump start before getting the other meds)
30min Quick-Cure dip on 6/14 (since i had done 15mins the night before)
15min Formalite bath 6/15
45min Quick-Cure bath 6/17
45min Quick-Cure bath 6/19

Parasite was no longer visually seen on 6/16, and i would tell from the first 3 bathes that it was less and less every time.

Began feeding again on 6/17 (mysis cubes), however was remaining at the bottom of the water column.

Began to act 'normal' again on 6/18, ate floating flake food from the top of the water.

Last night he ate flake that i held pinched between my fingers under water, so he is back to his normal self, not acting all shy.

He will stay in this HT until 7/16, and i will be doing 2 gal water changes every monday untill then.

I wish i had the room to set up a QT for the other fish and then to put the clown in when he is ready, but unfortunatly in my current position i dont have the space (i also have 44 reptiles and 7 tarantulas so space is tight haha), so it will have to be what it is, and i'll just keep my fingers crossed that no issues arise after he heads back to the DT!