Should I be worried?

[mrcoffee2]

Hey guys,

At first I thought my clown was acting weird and trying to host my anemone. I ended up taking some photos of him and in one of the pictures something really caught my eye... Could this be ich?

I have had this clown for around 2 months now. He has been fine until probably 2 day ago. He wont eat today and is acting very strange like laying on his side.

The only difference I have done is added an anemone which he seems to be poking a with his head and a very small zoa frag.

If this is ich will I lose him? For the past 2 months I have been using the water from that tank to thaw the frozen foods and then dose into my other tank.

 

[cdness]

Look up brooklynella... Could be ich too but it looks a little more fuzzy to me from the pic.

 

[mrcoffee2]

Brooklynella really sounds like it could be it... Has anyone ever fought this before?

Here are some more pictures of my poor fish.

 

[mrcoffee2]

Hes probably going to die tonight. Hes starting to just lay on his side... Man I dont know what happened. yesterday he was happy and eating. Today he is practically just floating around. What could have caused this?

 

[vlangel]

Ah, so sorry about your Lil' guy.

 

[Naiad]

That sounds like brooklynella. It is a fast killer. I would get prepared to treat any other fish that could have been exposed. Man that sucks.

 

[mrcoffee2]

So do you guys know what causes it? I have had him for 2 months and hes been fine. Does this thing lay dormant?

 

[Naiad]

No it is a parasite that acts fast on hosts. You could have brought it in if you let a single drop of the water from wherever the nem or zoa came from into your tank.

 

[Naiad]

This is one of the reasons some people qt everything. I am not one of those people but I understand that logic.

 

[Naiad]

Here is a good overview: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html

 

[mrcoffee2]

Yeah it is possible some of the water went in with them.

Should I expect my damsel in the same tank to also fall ill?

 

[Naiad]

Very good chance. Once the clownfish is gone they will look for a new host

 

[Reefing Madness]

That, looks like ICH to me.

 

[mrcoffee2]

I wonder how even a QT tank would have saved me in this case... I dont think there is any way I would have known if nothing was in the QT tank besides the nem and the zoa colony...

Regardless I def am going to invest into a QT tank.

 

[Naiad]

It could be but to go from fine to almost dead in two days is rare for ich.

 

[mrcoffee2]

That, looks like ICH to me.

I have had the clown for 2 months now. The only thing I have added is a few snails here and there. Until recently I put a nem and zoa colony in. What ever this is acted fast. If my damsel catches it after my clown goes then its confirmed. I have some thera a garlic food coming perhaps it will help.

How long will the virus stay in the tank after it has wiped everything it can host out?

 

[Naiad]

You wouldn't have known it just would have killed the parasite not having a host for a month. Those kind of qt strategies only work if you stick to the time table religiously. That is why I can't do it lol. Inverts go right into the tank.

 

[Naiad]

They say a month but I would go six weeks at least to be safe.

 

[mrcoffee2]

He died last night. Within 28hrs of me noticing him swim funny he died. He was nice and healthy looking too as far as I could tell.

I guess I will watch what happens to the damsel in the same tank. If all looks good i'll try another clown in 6 weeks.

 

[mrcoffee2]

Looks like the Damsel has caught it. It has a white mucus on its face, breathes heavily, and moved to the same spot the clown did on the sand. - This is very sad

So 4-6 weeks is the safe time to wait for this to go away. Should I do anything else during that time?

Can I add corals? LPS?

Should I remove and put the damsel out of his misery? Will that help isolate the disease?

Thanks