Ich?

[b_newman]

This clownfish looked good when the lights turned off, but the next morning it looked like this

Is this ich (cryptocaryon irritans)?
The color of the fish has slightly improved through the day, but the tips of its fins have lost their color. I have never seen ich in person before, and this happened in 12 hours.
There's a powder blue tang with the other fish in the tank that seems to be fine. It should get ich, not a clown.

 

[b_newman]

 

[sandwi54]

Is this a new fish, or did you add a new fish to the tank without QT?

It looks like brooklynella to me. You will need to IMMEDIATLY perform formalin dips on ALL of the fish in the tank if you want to save them. Brook is a very fast killer and I am afraid it's already too late for the clown, but you still have a chance to save the rest of the fish if you act fast.

 

[Ostara]

I can see the pictures now. How long have you had that clown? Did you quarantine it?

That is definitely not crypt. It looks like brooklynella to me. The fish need to come out immediately. If you have formalin on hand, I would pull them all tonight and give them a 30-45 minute saltwater/formalin bath before putting them into quarantine.

Edit: Sandwi54 beat me to it. If you don't have formalin, run over to Walmart and buy a bottle of QuickCure (malachite green/formalin combo) and still pull them tonight. I had a clown die looking like this in one of my tanks. I went from thriving reef to 100% fish loss within 72 hours of that death. I didn't know what it was at the time. After that experience I would not even wait a night to treat them, to be honest.

 

[b_newman]

The clownfish was the first fish in the tank and it's been there for about 5 months. It was quarantined for just a week. I haven't added anything new for at least a month either. Does brooklynella appear overnight? The fish was shiny at 8pm, then at noon it was flat colored with a dirty looking white.

thanks for the replies

 

[sandwi54]

The clownfish was the first fish in the tank and it's been there for about 5 months. It was quarantined for just a week. I haven't added anything new for at least a month either. Does brooklynella appear overnight? The fish was shiny at 8pm, then at noon it was flat colored with a dirty looking white.

thanks for the replies

Brook can sure appear overnight. Many parasites can. What was the last thing new added? Was it QTed? How long was it QT for?

 

[b_newman]

the last things added were a pair of hermit crabs and a sea urchin from liveaquaria.com a month ago. Another month before that were 3 anthias but 2 died in 3-5 days. Everything was quarantined for a few weeks only. Can these mentioned parasites be introduced in food, or on your hand even if washed first?
I can't catch any fish tonight so tomorrow will tell if brooklynella is in the tank or not. After some more reading, I'm almost sure it is. Does it infect just fish?

 

[f3honda4me]

Brook just infects fish. And yes it appears very suddenly and kills fast. I had two clowns in QT once, they looked great. Next morning they looked like that. I tried a formalin bath to no avail, and within 24 hours they were dead.

 

[b_newman]

So my only option now is to wait and see if everything dies, then after a few months I can add new fish? I don't like 2 of them anyway. Are some fish more immune than others? A powder blue tang is the only other infected fish so far.
I still don't understand where the parasite came from, and why now?

 

[sandwi54]

You aren't going to try to treat them?

 

[b_newman]

I just got back from a trip to the lfs that said it's ok to put some chemicals like "paraguard" or "no-ich" in the display tank. I still don't agree but what other choice do I have if I can't catch any other fish but the clown? The clownfish is in a bucket ready for treatment now.
What would you do? Do you have any experience with treatment products other than formalin?

 

[b_newman]

Ich?

NO-ICH worked in my reef tank! The powder blue tang died but it was a jerk :uzi:

 

[f3honda4me]

No it didn't work. That stuff didn't cure anything. There is NO "display tank" cure that works. The parasite is still there and will come back again without proper treatment.

 

[MrTuskfish]

NO-ICH worked in my reef tank! The powder blue tang died but it was a jerk :uzi:

Cured ich in two days? I guess it didn't cure the PBT. I'd sure get a HT/QT ready, you'll need it....if you want to save any fish.

 

[Andrew]

No it didn't work. That stuff didn't cure anything. There is NO "display tank" cure that works. The parasite is still there and will come back again without proper treatment.

You can not cure a parasite. You have to kill it to remove it. Adding those "reef safe" chemicals do nothing but take money from your wallet. It's been proven over and over they have no affects on killing the parasite. The OP doesn't seem to interested in taking proper care of the livestock and killing the parasite the right way so theres some reading to do:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[Ostara]

Let's not forget that the OP is dealing with brooklynella anyway, not crypt.

 

[f3honda4me]

It's possible to have brook and ich. It could also be ich or maybe ood.

 

[Ostara]

It is quite possible that he also has crypt. I meant that the original picture and issue with the clown was brooklynella and, since the tang also died quickly, this is what seems to be killing off his fish.