Clownfish emergency

[Bpultz]

Emergency. This is the second time this has happened to me. Shortly after my tank finished cycling I got a pair of clownfish. Within a week they got white spots(which I identified as ich or brooklynella). They died within 3 days of me noticing the White spots. I couldn't get them to eat and they wound up starving/succumbing to the parasites Ive had my new pair for 3 weeks now and today I noticed that they've got it again. Nothing else in my tank does. (Or my shrimp has been keeping them clean since everyone but the clowns get cleaned). I don't have the ability to set up a hospital tank and as such im really worried that these aren't going to make it. These ones are still eating for now but I'm not happy about this. Especially since they're one of my favourite fish and I spent $40 on them.

 

[Mike J.]

I'm sorry, but, you know what you have to do. You have to treat those fish in order to save them. Can you submit a pic of them so we can identify what ails them? I don't want to be an accessory to managing a disease and not treating it, but have you considered a freshwater dip for at least temporary relief?

 

[Humblefish]

+1 to what Mike J. said. If the first pair died within 3 days, you are likely dealing with brook or velvet. A FW dip or formalin bath will provide some temporary relief, but they will just keep getting reinfected every time you put them back in the DT. You will need to treat the clownish in a QT, and then let the DT go fallow before adding them (or any other fish) back: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-disease-treatment-diagnosis/190324-fallow-periods.html

 

[Bpultz]

It's hard to get a pic since I've only got my iPhone and they don't like anyone close to the glass. But I did a freshwater dip and their food contains garlic already. Again I don't have the ability to qt them. I'm a college student on a very limited budget(ironically ultimately going for marine biology (and culinary arts before that to pay for classes for marine biology)

 

[Bpultz]

I also worry that the stress of taking everyone out and chasing them to catch them could just make the situation worse (or stress other fish to the point of getting sick too or stressing my corals).

 

[Humblefish]

If this were ich, then managing the disease in the DT would be very possible. But it sounds like something much more serious. You should be noticing what looks like the skin peeling or sloughing off if this is brook. And excess mucous building up all over the fish.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you spent $40 on these fish then you can afford a QT for this situation. Being it's just a pair of clownfish (light bioload) even a bucket will work for QT. You would also just need a heater and a small pump for circulation (or an air pump/stone would suffice).

 

[Bpultz]

Since the freshwater dip they look better. No more white dots. And they're swimming around. No longer rubbing against things.

 

[Bpultz]

Quite honestly the thought of a bucket as a qt escaped me. If I see any other signs I will use my water change bucket and I can borrow my heater from my betta and ive got extra hob filters since I upgraded my cichlid tank. Should i transfer live Rock into the bucket too or just rely on water changes

 

[Humblefish]

Should i transfer live Rock into the bucket too or just rely on water changes

No LR, because you will be needing to treat with formalin in the bucket. Or doing an alternative treatment, as outlined below:

Brooklynella:

Symptoms – This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s).

Treatment options - Formalin bath, followed by additional formalin baths (as needed - but give the fish a day to recuperate in-between baths). You can use formalin in a QT (at a much lower concentration than the bath), but great care must be taken to provide plenty of gas exchange as formalin will quickly deplete the water of oxygen. For this reason, doing baths is the safer option as the fish can be pulled from the formalin if showing signs of distress. Formalin-MS is preferred, as that contains 37% formaldehyde. However, in a bind, any medication containing formalin (ex. Quick Cure) is better than nothing. Alternative treatments for brook include metronidazole (ex. Seachem Metronidazole) and acriflavine (ex. Acriflavine-MS). A freshwater dip may provide temporary relief if you are unable to locate any of the aforementioned medications right away.

 

[Bpultz]

As of yet no one else is infected and the clowns are back to their normal colouration with no white specks. But I will pick up formalin from the store tomorrow. If they go back to looking sick(or acting odd) I will transfer all my fish over to 5gallon buckets and treat them Is there any chance my uv steriliser will kill off the stuff in my water (it's a basically brand new addition and why (along with my protein skimmer) I'm broke right now

 

[Humblefish]

I was unaware there were other fish in this tank. List them all please. For comparison purposes, I found this pic of Brook on WWM:

It's important to be sure you are, in fact, dealing with brook here. Diseases such as ich or velvet require different treatment.

 

[Bpultz]

The tank also has a green spotted puffer a royal gramma a strawberry dottyback and a yellowtail damsel. All of those are healthy (minus a chunk of the grammas tail from a scuffle with the dottyback that is healing). The clownfish are the only ones who looked sick. It was around a dozen tiny(grain of salt) White dots that have now cleared up The fish are all perfectly healthy looking again other than the said gramma but that's all.

 

[Bpultz]

I realise I'm overstocked for a tank my size. But my levels are all fine (I can't vouch for phosphate haven't tested. But I have only a tiny bit of algae ). There hasn't been a ton of stress other than the installation of a new powerhead a protein skimmer and a uv steriliser. And the fish are still eating just fine

 

[saltyphish]

Sometimes the truth is not easy to accept but you will continue to have these problems until you remove all fish from the DT and treat the sick fish. The DT will need to remain fishless for a minimum of 5 weeks. Garlic is not the cure many people think. It will not solve your problem. First remove the fish buy a Rubbermaid tote or a 5 gallon bucket like someone else suggested and treat the sick fish. Good luck.

It's hard to get a pic since I've only got my iPhone and they don't like anyone close to the glass. But I did a freshwater dip and their food contains garlic already. Again I don't have the ability to qt them. I'm a college student on a very limited budget(ironically ultimately going for marine biology (and culinary arts before that to pay for classes for marine biology)

 

[Humblefish]

Brooklynella is a very unpredictable disease. I think sometimes that it's pathology is not fully understood. I've seen cases where it wipes out an entire tank (like velvet), clownfish as well as other fish. I've also seen cases where it only afflicts clownfish, and none of the other fish seem to be affected. Or it seemingly lays "dormant" for awhile and then strikes at a later date (like Uronema).

In any case, as @saltyphish suggested, this is not going away until you deal with the problem. This requires removing & treating ALL of your fish and then going fallow in the DT for 6 weeks. Unfortunately, a 5 gallon bucket is going to cut it with all those fish for 6 weeks. But a 30 gallon sterilite container is only like $10. If you decide not to treat and the clownfish die, please do not buy any more or this will just continue to happen.

Btw, another good read on Brook: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html