powdery dust on fish

[Patti7dc]

So today I noticed that my clowns look like they got caught in a baby powder cloud and they're covered in dust.....

I assume this means Marine Velvet and I will wake up to two dead clown fish tomorrow.

 

[AmherstReef]

Are these clowns in your DT or in the same QT tank where you just lost the other two fish ?

How long have you had them ?

 

[tmz]

Could be velvet(amyloodinium) or brooklynella . They both kill. Might be something more benign. I hope they are in quarantine. A picture would help.

 

[Patti7dc]

They are in the DT - they were the first fish I got and have survived the transfer from the 29 to the 90. I've had them for 3 or 4 months.

They have been active and eating well and acting just like they usually do - they are just covered in a powder. The good news is that they are still fine, just not sure what I can do for them.

It's hard to get a pic since they move so fast.

 

[Patti7dc]

Best pics I could get
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/51237545@N04/8869490266/" title="Untitled by Patti7dc, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3717/8869490266_16b83ff713_z.jpg" width="465" height="640" alt="Untitled"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/51237545@N04/8868872185/" title="Untitled by Patti7dc, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5464/8868872185_7acd846385.jpg" width="470" height="300" alt="Untitled"></a>

VIDEO -
http://youtu.be/yfxyVCX30LM

 

[tmz]

I don't know what that is, sorry. Is there new sand in the new tank? How long have they been in the new tank?

 

[Patti7dc]

They've been in the new tank for a month I wanna say. Yesterday I went in and blew off the rock and vac'd all the sand and ****ed off all the corals and the fish too prob. I fed them a pellet or two each every couple hours today - to keep food in their bellies and keep them happy and active. As of just now when the lights went off - they are actually looking a bit better.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Patti7dc]

so yesterday afternoon my purple firefish layed down on the sand and stopped breathing and today one of the clownfish did.... The other clown is still breathing and slightly paddling but is staying very close to the substrate when he usually swims around the top...

Murder tank strikes again...

 

[lcs]

I'm so, so sorry you're having so much trouble! You must feel terrible.

It sounds like you introduced something and, unfortunately, it's moved on to your other fish. Have you posted in the fish diseased thread? They should be able to give you a diagnosis and help you to decided how to go from here.

I'm no expert by far, but here's my suggestion - should you lose your remaining fish, let the tank go fallow for a couple of months or maybe longer (? - double check this with others) so the parasite(s) can go through their cycle and die off completely. After that be sure to continue to QT as you have been. Did you QT your first few fish?

Please don't beat yourself up too much! You made some mistakes sure, but learn from them and move on. This hobby is absolutely worth it!!

 

[akitareefer]

I lost nearly a whole tank of fish last year. One fish gets stressed and comes down with something and it spreads and wipes out everything. I'm sure we've all done it once. Now you've got the QT setup and you can take your time and start again. Maybe focus on corals for the time being, I find them just as fun as fish. GL and don't feel to down on yourself

 

[Patti7dc]

Thanks for the kind words fellow reefers. I have been to the reef shoppe several times this week and we are just trying to keep the fish eating and hope that some of them can fight it off naturally. I just really feel like catching them and moving them to a QT at this point would be worse or equally bad. I know that crap happens but heck yeah it's really frustrating. My poor fishies. :-(

 

[tmz]

If they survive it ,they may develop a partial immunity ,particularly if it's cryptocaryon irritans. However, it will persists in the tank for years and new disease free specimens will be susceptible new meat for these parasites. , Any stress event even a minor one may set off an infestation again now that it's in your tank.. The tank can be taken down and dried along with all equipment or left fishless for 72 days to sanitize it. That will free it of ich. If that's the problem or part of it. Hard to tell from the photo what it is. At this point it may be more than one disease and/infection.

This thread may be of intererest going forward:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2185929&highlight=fish+acclimation+and

Sorry for the losses.

 

[Patti7dc]

Other clown and a chromis dead this morning. I feel like at this point I should rescue the other fish from murder tank....

I know most of these parasites, like velvet or ich, need fish hosts to survive. So will leaving the tank without fish for a couple months get rid of all the baddies? Because Tom brings up a good point that I was thinking about the other day. Even if these current fish survive this - any new additions would be at risk. I don't want to dry it all out because I'd have to move all the rock and the corals and that would be a huge PITA. Assuming I can catch what's left and move them to a QT for some treatment - Can I leave the corals and snails/crabs in the DT while I try to let whatever is in there die off? Will that work?

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Assuming I can catch what's left and move them to a QT for some treatment - Can I leave the corals and snails/crabs in the DT while I try to let whatever is in there die off? Will that work?

Yup!

Good luck, and try to keep your chin up. It sucks, I know.

 

[RoscoPColtrane]

It looks like brooklynella on the clowns. I have successfully treated this in the past with a formalin based treatment. I would probably try to treat the remaining fish in another tank rather than doing nothing. If I remember correctly brooklynella is fatal if not treated. I am not familiar with marine velvet. There should be a wealth of info on both diseases and treatment options.

 

[tmz]

Both velvet and brooklynella will respond to a formalin treatment ,ich too for that matter. Currentlly the easiest one to find is called Hikari Ich X. It's a3% formailn solution. I'd probably give that clown a 40 minute bath at 10ml of 3% solution per gallon of water for 40 minutes and then move it to a treatment tak with the normal dosage. Tank transfer may help velvet sometimes but the life cycle for that dinoflagellate is different . It won't help brooklynella

Yes, leaving the tank fishless for 72 days should clear it up. Didn't know you had live rock,etc. As it is ,the live rock would likely have cysts on it anyway if it was crypto.

You are correct. If it is cryocaryon , it will swarm new specimens that are not partially immune. Often the boost it gets leads to it overwhelming even partially immune fish.

 

[Patti7dc]

Thanks Tom - that clown is dead, they are both dead. I'm down to one blenny, one chromis, and one wrasse. I'll be moving them to a QT and treat with something that would cover all of the possibilities - probably something with the formalin.

I'll leave the LR, inverts, and corals in the DT and keep it fishless for at least the 72 days.

That should reset everything, right?

 

[tmz]

It should . Nothng is 100% certain but this will be close.