Newbie Quarantine Questions

[bpatterson617]

Hey everyone, I have just lost a newly purchased false perc clown to what I believe to be Brooklynella. It was not moving much for the last day or so, was rapidly breathing particularly the last day, it would not eat, and it had a thick layer of mucus all over its body. The mucus was so heavy that it was streaming off behind the fish when it swam and it could not raise its dorsal fin. I did not quarantine like I should have because I only have a 10g tank and have no extra tanks to set up a quarantine. The fish was infected in my main tank.

I have tried to research this topic but have not been able to find a very definitive answer so I'm hoping that the expertise and experience on this site might be able to help.

So my dilemma...I still have one clown fish that is swimming and eating like normal and is showing no signs of infection. I did give him a five minute freshwater dip to hopefully delay any outbreaks. I have just received a 20g that I was planning on setting up by purchasing new sand, seeding with some existing live sand from my current tank, and transferring over my 12-15lbs of live rock so I could hopefully avoid a bad cycle. The problem is I do not want to transfer the disease to the new tank. Any suggestions or advice?

I was thinking about setting up the new tank as described but leaving only the potentially infected clown fish in the 10g tank and quarantining the clown for 4-6 weeks to hopefully allow any of the parasites to die off. I was considering treating in the 10g with hyposalinity. Thoughts?

Will the disease be transferred in the rock also?

Also has anyone had much success with treating Brooklynella with any chemicals? If so what? Will the use of such chemicals make it so the tank can only be used as a hospital tank indefinitely?

Sorry there are so many questions in this post but I'm just feeling a little frustrated at the moment. Thank you in advance for any insight y'all can offer.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Well, it does sound like your clownfish had Brooklynella, and I wouldn't be surprised if the other clown started showing the same symptoms soon. It's important you understand that Brooklynella is a parasite and generally, a fast killing one. Being it's a parasite, it can be on a fish (the fish being the parasite's host/food source) and/or free swimming in the aquarium water itself looking for another host to feed on. So, I think it's a safe assumption that your aquarium water is infected with Brooklynella parasites.

So, what can you do? It's a two-step process really. To kill the Brooklynella that's probably on the other clown you need to QT him in a separate tank and treat with Formalin. Most people use a medication called "Quick Cure" for this. However, I wouldn't use "Quick Cure" in your DT with the LR and all. For the DT, you will need to leave it fallow (fishless) for 9 weeks to starve out any remaining Brooklynella parasites. No fish = no host/food source = parasite starves to death.

If I were you, I'd go ahead and transfer everything over into the 20 (except the fish). Leave it fallow for 9 weeks and treat the remaining clownfish in the 10.

 

[bpatterson617]

ok thanks for the quick reply! Do you know if "Quick Cure" can be found in stores or do I need to order it online?

 

[bpatterson617]

and also, once I use Quick Cure, can I ever use the tank for anything other than a hospital tank?

 

[b0bab0ey]

Quick Cure can be found in most stores, even PetCo, PetSmart, etc. You can reuse the tank afterwards, but clean it thoroughly, including a thorough wipe down with vinegar.

 

[bpatterson617]

Alright, thanks again for your help! =)

 

[b0bab0ey]

Alright, thanks again for your help! =)

No problem. If you can't find Quick Cure for some reason, look for something that says it treats external parasites and lists Formalin as an active ingredient. Formalin is the key to beating Brook.