Is this Brook or Ich? How to treat with Eel?!

[ichewoncrayons]

I hope i’m posting in the right area. This was my clown. 1st pic was him Sunday (June 22). Second pic was him Tuesday morning (June 24) and tuesday night, he died. I didnt think anything of the white stuff on him because i’ve had him about two years and before this, he’s had spots like that and they’ve went away. I didn’t realize something was wrong until it was too late (severe rapid breathing etc). He was also losing color. He went from a vibrant orange to a yellow/faded orange by tuesday night.

Bf says it’s ich, everything i’ve researched points to Brook. We have a one clownfish left, a snowflake eel, and a neon velvet damsel.

For context, We moved the tank to our new house friday (june 20) night. Bf got a new halloween hermit crab Saturday (June 21). (tank and fish were fine and have been for years until Sunday (June 22)


My other clown is now having the same symptoms the first clown suffered from. Yesterday i used para guard in the tank (half dose was told because of eel and coral) and did a dip with the clown today and a bunch of the white stuff came off of him but i’m not sure if it’s too late for him or not.

Damsel has small white speckles but nothing extreme, he’s breathing fine still and eel is acting fine as well. All are eating, none are swimming erratically or abnormally except the clown. Everything i’ve read regardless of which it is takes WEEKS and since we just moved, we don’t have a QT tank.

Any advice would be lovely. I don’t know where to begin because a lot of the treatments I read are not safe for the eel Please let me know if i’m missing any information that could be helpful.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I hope i’m posting in the right area. This was my clown. 1st pic was him Sunday (June 22). Second pic was him Tuesday morning (June 24) and tuesday night, he died. I didnt think anything of the white stuff on him because i’ve had him about two years and before this, he’s had spots like that and they’ve went away. I didn’t realize something was wrong until it was too late (severe rapid breathing etc). He was also losing color. He went from a vibrant orange to a yellow/faded orange by tuesday night.

Bf says it’s ich, everything i’ve researched points to Brook. We have a one clownfish left, a snowflake eel, and a neon velvet damsel.

For context, We moved the tank to our new house friday (june 20) night. Bf got a new halloween hermit crab Saturday (June 21). (tank and fish were fine and have been for years until Sunday (June 22)


My other clown is now having the same symptoms the first clown suffered from. Yesterday i used para guard in the tank (half dose was told because of eel and coral) and did a dip with the clown today and a bunch of the white stuff came off of him but i’m not sure if it’s too late for him or not.

Damsel has small white speckles but nothing extreme, he’s breathing fine still and eel is acting fine as well. All are eating, none are swimming erratically or abnormally except the clown. Everything i’ve read regardless of which it is takes WEEKS and since we just moved, we don’t have a QT tank.

Any advice would be lovely. I don’t know where to begin because a lot of the treatments I read are not safe for the eel Please let me know if i’m missing any information that could be helpful.

Yes, this is secondary bacterial lesions associated with brook and often confused with ich . You can safely treat tank with Ruby Rally pro to address skin and brook. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I hope i’m posting in the right area. This was my clown. 1st pic was him Sunday (June 22). Second pic was him Tuesday morning (June 24) and tuesday night, he died. I didnt think anything of the white stuff on him because i’ve had him about two years and before this, he’s had spots like that and they’ve went away. I didn’t realize something was wrong until it was too late (severe rapid breathing etc). He was also losing color. He went from a vibrant orange to a yellow/faded orange by tuesday night.

Bf says it’s ich, everything i’ve researched points to Brook. We have a one clownfish left, a snowflake eel, and a neon velvet damsel.

For context, We moved the tank to our new house friday (june 20) night. Bf got a new halloween hermit crab Saturday (June 21). (tank and fish were fine and have been for years until Sunday (June 22)


My other clown is now having the same symptoms the first clown suffered from. Yesterday i used para guard in the tank (half dose was told because of eel and coral) and did a dip with the clown today and a bunch of the white stuff came off of him but i’m not sure if it’s too late for him or not.

Damsel has small white speckles but nothing extreme, he’s breathing fine still and eel is acting fine as well. All are eating, none are swimming erratically or abnormally except the clown. Everything i’ve read regardless of which it is takes WEEKS and since we just moved, we don’t have a QT tank.

Any advice would be lovely. I don’t know where to begin because a lot of the treatments I read are not safe for the eel Please let me know if i’m missing any information that could be helpful.

It does look like Brooklynella. Half dose Paraguard won't do anything for treating this, even at full strength it isn't a very good medication for marine fish (better for FW).

Ruby Reef Rally Pro may work, but in my experience, once fish start dying from Brook, the disease is pretty far advanced for it to work. Adding it to the tank and then treating the remaining clown with a high dose dip might be the best way to go. Formalin works best against Brook, but it is difficult to source and dangerous to use in a home.