Sanity check on current QT process

[Jay Hemdal]

Prazi bath is complete. all fish are eating and acting normal.

My remaining ghost blenny had a long sting of brownish white feces I was able to capture and review. Nothing was moving but I found these images interesting, almost looks like hatched and unhatched eggs?

Those could be eggs from internal parasites, HOWEVER, they can also be eggs from brine shrimp if the fish had been fed that (think people eating whole corn!).
Jay

 

[Orion9]

Frozen gut loaded brine is part of their diet, thanks for the corn analogy. I'll continue searching for poop to examine.

 

[Orion9]

The clown was force fed for two weeks then began eating, and gained significant weight. Salinity was raised from 1.008 to 1.025 slowly over 7 days.
I noticed white patches on his sides and wanted to ask for assistance diagnosing what it could be. I'm hopeful it fungal or bacterial, rather than parasitic, possibly due to his current health struggles and recovery attempt?

Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The clown was force fed for two weeks then began eating, and gained significant weight. Salinity was raised from 1.008 to 1.025 slowly over 7 days.
I noticed white patches on his sides and wanted to ask for assistance diagnosing what it could be. I'm hopeful it fungal or bacterial, rather than parasitic, possibly due to his current health struggles and recovery attempt?

Thanks

How long were the clowns in hyposalinity?

Both clowns are breathing too hard. Does the tank have good aeration, not just circulation - but bubbles breaking the water's surface?

Jay

 

[Orion9]

How long were the clowns in hyposalinity?

Both clowns are breathing too hard. Does the tank have good aeration, not just circulation - but bubbles breaking the water's surface?

Jay

All fish were in hyposalinity for 35 days, after 35 days I raised salinity by .002 per day.

I have a sponge filter and Tidal 35 on this QT.

Only the clowns are breathing rapidly.
Example of other fish in the same QT:

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Well, the other fish are breathing fine.

What is the water temperature?
You could turn the air up a bit....

Ultimately, the hyposalinity would have taken care of ich or flukes. It suppresses, but does not eliminate Brooklynella or Amyloodinium (velvet). I don't think the latter is the problem.

You may need to go with the idea that this is Brooklynella (ugh!). It's in the early stages, so that's good. I think that you need to consider Ruby Reef Rally Pro dips and then low dose treat the tank.

Jay

 

[Orion9]

Thanks for the response, temp is 78 degrees, I increased airflow and will begin researching Brooklynella. Just wanted to confirm, Brook has a lifecycle and DT should be ok after 4 months fallow?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the response, temp is 78 degrees, I increased airflow and will begin researching Brooklynella. Just wanted to confirm, Brook has a lifecycle and DT should be ok after 4 months fallow?

4 months is longer than is needed for Brook, because it has a direct life cycle. 60 days is more reasonable, some people go with 45 days even.

Jay

 

[Orion9]

Thanks, my DT has been fallow since 2/1/2023, just wanted to confirm no additional treatment was needed for the DT.

The microscopic images of brook look similar to what I saw under my microscope after a ghost blenny passed a few weeks ago.

 

[Orion9]

I noticed white stringy / mucus lined feces stuck to the male clown today, I'm confused since he seemed to be recovering, and the female clown who is in close contact with him has no external signs, although she is yawning occasionally. Is brook usually fatal, could they have survived together in QT for 4 moths with brook?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I noticed white stringy / mucus lined feces stuck to the male clown today, I'm confused since he seemed to be recovering, and the female clown who is in close contact with him has no external signs, although she is yawning occasionally. Is brook usually fatal, could they have survived together in QT for 4 moths with brook?

Usually, Brooklynella is seen in newly imported wild clownfish. Longer term captives are less likely to come down with it. That said, I just don’t know if it is possible for Brook to linger like ich can.
I guess I don’t see mucus feces as a symptom for Brook…..
Jay

 

[Orion9]

I have not performed one on a live fish but would you recommend a skin scrape and microscope review, or would that cause too much stress?

I found Rally Reef Pro locally and scheduled to pick it up tomorrow.

Should they be bathed individually or together? Since they will be moved to a sterile QT after, can they be bathed in their current QT aquarium? Going on the thought that less transfers would create less stress.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have not performed one on a live fish but would you recommend a skin scrape and microscope review, or would that cause too much stress?

I found Rally Reef Pro locally and scheduled to pick it up tomorrow.

Should they be bathed individually or together? Since they will be moved to a sterile QT after, can they be bathed in their current QT aquarium? Going on the thought that less transfers would create less stress.

I do skin scrapes on live fish, just be gentle, but firm enough to get some mucus on the slide.
I don’t have a strong opinion on how to bathe them, but as a group in a smaller container s usually what I do.
Jay

 

[Orion9]

I discovered stray voltage in the QT and added a ground probe. The clown continues to improve but bar gobies still flash regularly, mostly during feeding, starting to wonder if its behavioral?

I checked feces earlier and noticed the following, but unsure if its parasitic or something feeding on the waste. It was floating and caught it before it came in contact with the sand bed.

Currently feeding Kanaplex in the morning and Metroplex at night while under observation. Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I discovered stray voltage in the QT and added a ground probe. The clown continues to improve but bar gobies still flash regularly, mostly during feeding, starting to wonder if its behavioral?

I checked feces earlier and noticed the following, but unsure if its parasitic or something feeding on the waste. It was floating and caught it before it came in contact with the sand bed.

Currently feeding Kanaplex in the morning and Metroplex at night while under observation. Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks!

"Stray voltage" (induced voltage), is a red herring - you can find that in most aquariums, and grounding the tank may resolve the voltage readings, but it does NOT cause issues like this. A true short circuit can cause problems, but if your aquarium is running off of a GFCI, that will not be an issue.

Those gobies are flashing more than I've ever seen before! I don't know what to make of that. Indeed, flashing can sometimes be behavioral, but this video shows more than that, and even more than I would expect flukes to cause.

The second video shows some organism with cilia. I don't know the magnification used, but they could be protozoans or even rotifers. The general thought is, anything with cilia is a filter-feeder, and therefore, not parasitic.

Jay

 

[Orion9]

My Midas blenny has been the healthiest fish until I noticed a string a feces stuck to him this morning. Is it normal or something that should be examined?

Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My Midas blenny has been the healthiest fish until I noticed a string a feces stuck to him this morning. Is it normal or something that should be examined?

Thanks!

It could be from excess protozoans, or it could just be normal. It is brownish in color, so that is much better than if it were white or clear. I would just watch it for now.

Jay

 

[Orion9]

All fish continue to flash, mostly the dartfish, all yawning occasionally, I'm under the impression they still have gill flukes.

They just completed two weeks of being fed metroplex/focus soaked food in the morning, and kanaplex/focus in the evening. Previously were in copper, hypo salinity, 2x baths in 3x strength prazi pro with tank transfer, general cure.

Feces look normal from all fish, no visible spots on their bodies, but the flashing and yawning continues. I'm considering fenbendazole bath but it sounds pretty harsh with the dissolving agents needed. Are there other medications for gill flukes?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

All fish continue to flash, mostly the dartfish, all yawning occasionally, I'm under the impression they still have gill flukes.

They just completed two weeks of being fed metroplex/focus soaked food in the morning, and kanaplex/focus in the evening. Previously were in copper, hypo salinity, 2x baths in 3x strength prazi pro with tank transfer, general cure.

Feces look normal from all fish, no visible spots on their bodies, but the flashing and yawning continues. I'm considering fenbendazole bath but it sounds pretty harsh with the dissolving agents needed. Are there other medications for gill flukes?

As I may have explained to you, unless you are dosing metro and kanaplex with a gram scale, the chance of you hitting upon the correct dose by just mixing it with food is essentially nil. Soaking food is useless - the meds will rinse off at the same rate that they soaked in, so depending on how fast the fish eat the food, the dose is going to be all over the place. Metro has a pretty wide dosing rate, but Kanaplex can be toxic if overdosed.

Did all of the fish go through 30 days of hyposalinity at the same time?

Prazi baths are tricky - even with a move to a new tank. Eggs from the flukes are not killed by the prazi, and some fluke species have sticky eggs that move right alone with the fish, so breaking the life cycle is tough.

The key here is: did you see ANY short term improvement after the prazi dips? If so, and then the fish began flashing again after a few days, then that's the issue - some eggs got through. On the other hand, if the fish showed NO improvement the day after a 3x prazi bath, then the original diagnosis of flukes needs to be questioned.

Jay

 

[Orion9]

Thanks for the information and your help! I had previously dosed the tank with metro for 2 weeks using 1-2 scoops per10 gal every 48hrs.

The flashing decreased after the 3x prazi bath but was not eliminated for the dartfish, flashing recently resumed for two fish I had not seen flash in weeks.

I was surprised not to see the fish react during the last two prazi baths, previously they would start flashing shortly after the medication was added, presumably from flukes convulsing, but there was no reaction during the last two baths.