ichish looking clowns. Can anyone ID this illness (pic).

dangros · May 9, 2015

My tank was doing great till I did 2 things: 1) introduced a Kole Tang into the DT w/o quarantine and 2) put on the newly stained doors on my stand. About 2 weeks later, mr Kole was dead. Note to the new guys: QT your fish!!!! A couple days later, the yellow tang which was which was ruling the tank, was also dead. He had white spots on his fins. Another day or 2 later, and one of my 4 clowns was stuck up against the overflow intake - dead. Now one of my larger clowns looks spotted. Is this marine ich or is there no way to know? I got a 10g QT tank a few min ago but I'll wait to see what the word is on meds or lowering salinity or both.
This SUCKS!

Reefing Madness · May 9, 2015

Yea, looks like Marine Ich there.

dangros · May 9, 2015

I smelled the stain (Varathane - from home depot) on the doors, even though I let it dry for a day. Do you think it could be that or was it more likely the Kole tang that brought in this hell?!

Reefing Madness · May 9, 2015

Im guessing the Kole messed up the works.

4FordFamily · May 9, 2015

Tough to tell, hopefully someone else can give a more definitive id.

haleyf1024 · May 9, 2015

Hope you can get some help, I can't see the photo well on my phone. Humblefish is the person to go to for disease questions though!!

Humblefish · May 9, 2015

It looks like ich, but based on timeline and number of recent deaths, I'm betting it's actually marine velvet. Copper (ex. Cupramine) treats both ich & velvet, so that's gonna be your best bet to use in the 10 gal QT. ALL remaining fish need to be treated, and I advise you to go fallow in the DT for 72 days.

Reefing Madness · May 9, 2015

If its Velvet, and being as you see visible signs, its already to late to treat the fish.
In order to give the fish a chance, you gotta give them a Formalin bath, this will remove the parasite, but not kill it. You then remove the fish and put into a QT using Copper, the copper treatment is the only 100% killer of Marine Velvet.

Humblefish · May 9, 2015

Reefing Madness said:
If its Velvet, and being as you see visible signs, its already to late to treat the fish.
In order to give the fish a chance, you gotta give them a Formalin bath, this will remove the parasite, but not kill it. You then remove the fish and put into a QT using Copper, the copper treatment is the only 100% killer of Marine Velvet.

I agree about the formalin bath. However, if the OP does not have immediate access to formalin (tomorrow is Sunday - a lot of LFS will be closed), I highly recommend getting all remaining fish into QT (and copper) ASAP. A FW dip will sometimes buy you more time until formalin can be obtained. Also, I have been encountering numerous threads lately involving velvet where all fish perish except the clowns. Clownfish have incredibly thick mucous coats, so they are sometimes able to withstand harsh parasitic infestations (such as velvet) that all other fish succumb to. With just copper or CP treatment.

Reefing Madness · May 10, 2015

I agree, gotta get them to QT ASAP, then if possible the Formalin bath.

Mattiejay6 · May 10, 2015

Honestly it looks more like marine flukes to me.

GrizFyrFyter · May 10, 2015

Humblefish said:
It looks like ich, but based on timeline and number of recent deaths, I'm betting it's actually marine velvet. Copper (ex. Cupramine) treats both ich & velvet, so that's gonna be your best bet to use in the 10 gal QT. ALL remaining fish need to be treated, and I advise you to go fallow in the DT for 72 days.

72 days for sure. Left my display fallow for just over 8 weeks (brooklynella) and ich popped up right after fish went back in.

4FordFamily · May 10, 2015

Does not look like flukes at all... I was thinking velvet or brook as well but was not sure. My maroon clown was unaffected by velvet for about one month. He's disappeared since treatment but because I found my banana wrasse and chevron tang in the dump yesterday, there's a chance he did the same and got stuck to a pump perhaps. Or he's hiding well. Easy to do in his tank.

4FordFamily · May 10, 2015

Also my wrasses were completely unaffected. My angels and tangs showed no outward signs of velvet at all for my strain... It just killed angels in 3-5 days very suddenly. Happy and eating day 2, day 3 hiding, day 4 dead. Every time could not id it until my chevron tang showed classic velvet symptoms. RIP

Humblefish · May 10, 2015

Fish with thick mucous coats (both clowns & wrasses fit the bill - as do mandarins) are going to be better protected from attacking parasites. This only applies to the skin however - they will still have to contend with trophonts/dinospores inside their gills. Fish with thin mucous coats (tangs - especially Acanthurus) are afforded very little protection and are basically sitting ducks. Tangs are true "parasite magnets" in the sense that their skin offers parasites the path of least resistance.

Just in case this is somehow brook, doing formalin baths every other day becomes that much more important.

dangros · May 23, 2015

For some reason, I wasnt notified of these responses! In any regard, I'm sorry to report that after getting the QT tank setup, both clowns were lost within 2 days. The CP literally came hours after the 2nd death - probably would have been too late. I noticed the temp at only 72F in the QT after the 2nd death - I'm thinking that was the main culprit due to the fish's already weakened and stressed condition. I REALLY liked these clowns and am totally bummed. They seemed way better off in the DT. I should have kept them there till the meds arrived.
I was going to check the temp more after putting them in but I fell asleep. I RAN downstairs when I woke up the next am but it was too late. I feel terrible.
I now have only 2 fish left and they seem unaffected by the ich: ruby red dragonet and a Lawnmower Blenny which is impossible to catch!
I dont think they would be able to make it in the QT - what should I do?
ALSO, thanks for all of your input. It's really cool when a community can get form with a common goal. This was so much harder 20 years ago - before you could just google the info!

Humblefish · May 23, 2015

Sorry to hear about the miscommunication and fish losses.

Whatever wiped out all your fish (ich, velvet, or even brook) is still present in the DT water. Your dragonet & blenny are afforded some protection from it due to their thick mucous coats. However, they can still be carriers and infect other fish.

Looking at that pic you posted again, I think it's likely your clownfish had Brooklynella. It's a tricky disease; the life cycle of brook is not fully understood. I personally would QT/treat your two remaining fish, and go fallow in the DT. Just so you can put this all behind you once & for all.

dangros · May 25, 2015

ugh. dont know how on earth I can catch those 2 guys.
Problem is, I have 4 anemones ( 3 bubble and 1 LTA ) attache to large rocks. And some other frags 0therwise, I would treat the DT.

GrizFyrFyter said:
72 days for sure. Left my display fallow for just over 8 weeks (brooklynella) and ich popped up right after fish went back in.

GrizFyrFyter - how did you resolve your brook/ich issues?

Humblefish · May 25, 2015

dangros said:
ugh. dont know how on earth I can catch those 2 guys.

I would try a bottle trap. Bait it with pods and whatever the blenny's favorite food is. Maybe you have some chaeto with pods you can use as bait?

dangros · May 25, 2015

I have a huge ball of cheato in the fuge - full of pods. I dont know if it would eat it but worth a shot!
If I do catch it and the ruby red dragonette, what about the 4 anemones and various small corals (mostly frag size)? Some, I could fit in the 10g QT and use on of the kessils but it's unlikely that it would be very difficult to maintain!