Is this Brooklynella...?

Spork3245

New member
Sorry to create another thread about Brooklynella guys

In regards to my previous thread... http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2452515

I just want to make 100% sure that this is brooklynella.

If you need me to try and get better pics, please tell me: (drag the photos to your browser's address bar to enlarge)

http://i58.tinypic.com/25k6ds6.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/104jlgn.jpg

It's just so odd as I've had these guys for 2 years without any sickness (besides ich which got in my DT due to bad advice on not QTing a cleaner goby approximately a year ago. I am in the process of going 100% fallow as well as TTM btw) and I haven't added any fish in nearly a year, no corals in 4-6 months (and I always dip in Coral RX prior to adding them to my DT) and no snails/inverts in over 2 months (which I purchased from reefcleaners.org who, AFAIK, uses invert-only tanks to prevent spreading diseases).
It's just incredulous to me that my clowns have kept the parasite/disease incubating without signs/symptoms for SUCH a long time :headwalls:
 
BTW - Could brooklynella cause stringy poop...? Could intestinal marine worms cause brooklynella like symptoms...? The poop is not white, but normal colored, btw.
Again, :headwally:
 
Timeline for brook is not typical but it is possible that the corals or inverts you introduced were a vector for brook. The fish could have been resistant at first but as the parasite reproduces it became overwhelming. Btw there is no dip for corals or inverts that will kill parasites/diseases such as brook, etc. That all being said these fish do look like they have brook.
 
Your pictures are not very detailed and are pretty small.


If you follow my directions they are sized to roughly 1080p; drag the photo to your browser's address bar after clicking the links provided in the OP..

I'm very confused with the timeline scenario as I made my invert purchase from reefcleaners, doesn't he use invert-only tanks which are parasite free...? The last corals I added were back in April/early-May.
Is it possible that one of my other fish had brook, held it in and then released it due to stress...? I ask as my flame angel died last week, I assumed it was due to ich (which I am currently in the process of starting a fallow period and doing TTM on my remaining fish)

The clowns unfortunately died 3-4 hours after posting this thread, my remaining fish from the same tank which I pulled the clowns from are: One Spot Foxface, Diamond Goby and a Cleaner Goby. As it stands they show no signs of brooklynella, are eating, swimming and acting normal. My foxface shows signs of the aforementioned ich (white dots) but that's it. How concerned should I be? Should I fresh water dip them before starting TTM for the ich as a precaution for the brook?

This whole ordeal has been confusing.
 
If you follow my directions they are sized to roughly 1080p; drag the photo to your browser's address bar after clicking the links provided in the OP..

I'm very confused with the timeline scenario as I made my invert purchase from reefcleaners, doesn't he use invert-only tanks which are parasite free...? The last corals I added were back in April/early-May.
Is it possible that one of my other fish had brook, held it in and then released it due to stress...? I ask as my flame angel died last week, I assumed it was due to ich (which I am currently in the process of starting a fallow period and doing TTM on my remaining fish)

The clowns unfortunately died 3-4 hours after posting this thread, my remaining fish from the same tank which I pulled the clowns from are: One Spot Foxface, Diamond Goby and a Cleaner Goby. As it stands they show no signs of brooklynella, are eating, swimming and acting normal. My foxface shows signs of the aforementioned ich (white dots) but that's it. How concerned should I be? Should I fresh water dip them before starting TTM for the ich as a precaution for the brook?

This whole ordeal has been confusing.

Thoughts? The Ich seems to get better and then worse, I want to start pulling my remaining fish in the next 24-48 hours (max) to start TTM and begin my DT's fallow period. They still show no signs of the Brook which looks to be what affected my clowns and possibly my Flame Angel (unknown as to whether it was brook or ich at this point... So friggen confusing... see above posts). What should I do in regards to the possible brooklynella...?
I have a temp 40 gallon breeder already set-up and cycled for them to stay in. I actually have two wrasses in there I purchased from Diver's Den to "test out" TTM before doing it to my fish of 1-2 years +. They've been in there, happily, for a couple of months now, I'd rather not infect the wrasses if I can help it
 
I would leave the wrasses alone. Let them finish their quarantine and don't subject them to any diseases. As far as the other fish (foxface and 2 gobies) you have options. You can either treat prophylactically or observe for disease. Based on the images I do not see ich, I see brook. I had a goby that had been exposed to brook but did not show symptoms. I set him up in a separate QT and observed for the 8 weeks fallow time. He was fine.
It's really your call.
 
This is a hard call. If the remaining fish are not taken out they could carry the parasite even if they never show signs. You will always be wondering. I would want my display to go fallow for a couple months. If me I would set up another QT You will be crushed if 2 months down the line you introduce another fish and he gets it. It is number one priority DT goes fallow. I would treat
 
I would leave the wrasses alone. Let them finish their quarantine and don't subject them to any diseases. As far as the other fish (foxface and 2 gobies) you have options. You can either treat prophylactically or observe for disease. Based on the images I do not see ich, I see brook. I had a goby that had been exposed to brook but did not show symptoms. I set him up in a separate QT and observed for the 8 weeks fallow time. He was fine.
It's really your call.

My Wrasses completed their QT period months ago (I've had them since June 12th). They are in a temp holding I set-up for all of my fish for the fallow-period for my DT (a cycled 40 gallon breeder with LR and sand). I know the clowns did not show signs of ich, just brooklynella, however, ich is in my DT as well, it's why I set-up the 40 gallon breeder to fallow my 90 gallon DT in the first place. :)

I've been slow with starting the fallow period as I haven't seen any signs of the ich since May, however a break-out started again just a few weeks ago and then brook reared its ugly head and took my clowns and possibly my Flame Angel. My aforementioned Flame Angel has had "stringy poop" since I bought her, I treated with prazi-pro and the poop was always normal-colored (never white) so I figured it was just intestinal issues and not a parasite/worm, now I'm wondering if she had brook all this time but simply never "released" it...? Is that even possible? Again, my clownfish were about two years old (heck my FA was over a year old) and were my very first fishes, so it's unlikely they brought it in. All of my corals and inverts get a thorough rinsing and are from trusted sources so it's equally unlikely that any of them brought the parasite in unless reefcleaners.org suddenly has infected tanks (unlikely).

Unfortunately, I don't know if I'd be able to keep all 3 fish in a separate QT, I simply do not have the space available. I could keep the two gobies together or the Foxface and the Cleaner Goby together in a 10 gallon QT for 8 weeks. I don't want to put the Foxface and Diamond Goby together in such a small space as the Foxface will more than likely stab and kill the Diamond Goby due to "freaking out" in such a small space... Believe it or not (most don't :p ) my Foxface harasses my Diamond Goby and chases him around the DT... I don't know if he's trying to swim with him (as it's a slow chase) or what but my DG does not seem to appreciate it :hmm5: . I had actually planned on keeping my Foxface in a cycled (seeded via my clean 40 gallon) 10 gallon QT during the DT's fallow period to avoid him "stabbing" any of the other fishes in the 40 gallon.

So... Given my situation, would a couple precautionary formalin dips during the TTM make sense? Treating 3-5 days with a long-term (low-ppm) formalin solution during the TTM? A simple fresh-water dip prior to starting the TTM for the ich? (Would these fish even be okay in a 10 minute freshwater dip? I know clowns can take it because they are ridiculously hardy)

This is a hard call. If the remaining fish are not taken out they could carry the parasite even if they never show signs. You will always be wondering. I would want my display to go fallow for a couple months. If me I would set up another QT You will be crushed if 2 months down the line you introduce another fish and he gets it. It is number one priority DT goes fallow. I would treat

I was actually prepping for a 12 week fallow period due to the aforementioned ich in my tank prior to the appearance of brook, so no worries there. My main concern is what I mentioned above in regards to the possibility of one or more of my fish now ALSO carrying brook in addition to the ich :(
 
Last edited:
You could do prophylactic formalin dips. I don't like to needless expose fish to meds but that's just me. FW dips for ich are useless. They are good for flukes and to give a brook infested fish relief.
 
You could do prophylactic formalin dips. I don't like to needless expose fish to meds but that's just me. FW dips for ich are useless. They are good for flukes and to give a brook infested fish relief.

The FW dips are not for the ich, it's for the possible brook.
Again, my concern is now the brook and what to do and the chances of my other DT fishes having it even though they are not showing any signs. I know that they have ich and I know how to handle ich, it is not my concern, the much more deadly and threatening brooklynella is.

Am I not being clear? I'm honestly asking and not being condescending (hope it doesn't come off that way!).

Several months back (nearly a year), I added a Cleaner Goby to my tank after my first passed away due to age (short lived species), I was given bad advice and did not QT him (I was told that they do not get ich as they "eat" it, obviously that was wrong), 3-4 months later he showed "ich spots", it quickly spread to my other fish and then slowly went away (well, not "away", they just no longer showed signs as they built an immunity). During this time, knowing that I'd need to go fallow but not having any experience with treating Ich, I purchased a 40 gallon breeder during a Petco $1/gal sale as well as a filter and some other stuff including some dry rock and live sand, set the tank up and allowed it to cycle in preparation for it to hold my DT fish during my 90 gallon's "fallow period". I purchased two diver's den wrasses I wanted anyway to "practice" TTM, I was successful and surprised how easy it was, after the TTM I QT'd them for an additional 6 weeks then placed them into the 40 gallon along with a small clean up crew purchased from reefcleaners.org, this was back in June.

About a week ago the ich began to rear it's head again showing signs on my Foxface and Flame Angel and I immediately began to prepare to do the TTM I've been holding off on. However, my Flame Angel looked incredibly pale and was swimming funny, she died within two days (which is why I now believe it to have been Brooklynella and not ich on my Flame Angel), a few days later my clowns began showing white splotches and swimming a bit funny, so I pulled them out and posted these threads. Again, I have no idea how I got Brooklynella in my tank and have the above written theory of my Flame Angel having it since the time I purchased her as the only realistic explanation.

Now, both my clowns have unfortunately died, however, none of my other fish are showing signs of the brooklynella, just the ich which they already had. So, as I prepare to do TTM on my remaining three DT fish I am concerned that they are now carriers of brooklynella and have no idea what to do. Whether to go ahead with the TTM and do 1-3 formalin dips between transfers, whether to just do a fresh water dip and then start TTM, whether to do the long-term 5-day formalin solution during the TTM, whether to not worry about it since they show no signs, or what. It's a very bad and hard spot I am in and am looking for as clear of advice as possible. :(
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Back
Top