Day 3 of Brooklynella Tx w. Formalin (In Clownfish)

[krourke85]

I thought I would post my experience to help anyone else out there.

 

My first clownfish died after 2 days of white slime coat and moderate scratching. He looked otherwise fine and then spiraled into death in a matter of hours.

 

With the help of Tamberav, the fish was diagnosed with Brooklynella.

 

The next day my other clown started displaying the same symptoms.

 

 

Treatment:

I have been modelling my treatment off of http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html

*remember formalin sucks air out the water and your fish already have gills that aren't working very well (gills clogged with parasites)

 

Day1

Start with 30-60 min bath in 1 gallon of hypotonic water (1.020) with 1 teaspoon of Formalin 3 (37%)

I don't have an air pump, so 02 content is the major concern.

My clown swam for 5 minutes before passing out (lying on the floor, conscious, but still breathing)

 

At this point I put him into a 1L rinse for 5 mins to remove sloughing parasites and formalin.

 

Day 3 (36 hours after 1st tx)

Same treatment, but he lasted 15 minutes before passing out. I'm guessing a significant proportion of parasites unattached themselves from his gills during the first treatment and this increased his gill capacity. Possible reduction of white tinge to slime coat during treatment. He looks less white, so maybe 15 minutes was enough for most of the parasites to drop off his scales/skin

 

Each time he recover significantly once going into the rinse and is back to 100% once back in the main tank.

 

[krourke85]

On a side note,

 

Just noticed my tank walls crawling with these little guys. Pretty sure they're not Brooklynella, cause that would be REALLY bad if they were. They are everywhere.

 

They are about 1mm long by 0.2mm wide with tails and they move quick then stop for awhile.

[Tamberav]

Probably a type of pod: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchpods.html

 

My one concern is you are putting the clown back into a tank that is probably infected with brook. How will you break the cycle?

[krourke85]

True, it is a concern for me too. While the parasites are at very high levels right now, there will always be parasites in my tank. I am hoping that if he survives he will have developed an acquired immunity against further infection.

 

I am switching my cheap substrate for Arag-Alive next weekend. I am planning to also do a complete water change. I might try and do one last bath then before putting him back in the tank.

 

If he doesn't make it I will wait the 6 weeks before having fish in my tank, sadly setting up a quarantine tank for 6 weeks isn't feasible for me.

[krourke85]

Interesting thought: his time in Formalin is limited by O2 content. I just read that hydrogen peroxide can assist in treating Brooklynella AND it helps oxygenate the water. Perhaps I should add this to his bath?

[Tamberav]

What makes you think parasites are always present?

[krourke85]

I heard somewhere that pathogens are always present in a tank but fish only get sick if they are susceptible from being stressed.

I could definitely be wrong though.

[Tamberav]

I heard somewhere that pathogens are always present in a tank but fish only get sick if they are susceptible from being stressed.

I could definitely be wrong though.

 

That makes zero sense if you think about it. A brook/ich parasite doesn't just appear out of thin air.

 

It needs a host in its life cycle to survive hence the 6-8 weeks fish-less, if you kept a tank fish free for this period and treated new fish in a QT tank with meds to kill any parasites before they were put in the DT, then there is no parasite in the DT.

 

I believe the reason it got started is Ich is present in most body's of water. Brook is much more deadly than Ich and clownfish are extremely susceptible to it more-so than other fish that it got nicknamed "clownfish disease". Not sure whether clowns can gain enough immunity or not. I thankfully never had to deal with it. The fact the clown is still alive is good though considering most die within a day of symptoms.

[krourke85]

What you say makes sense. I forgot that parasites need a host to survive. I might have been thinking of bacteria.

 

Ok, I will definitely give him another bath, then break down my tank and set it up with 100% new water and substrate. I will cook the live rock for 6 weeks.

 

This is still if he lives that long. His body is looking better, but his eye have gotten worse. He is barely eating, that might be because he can't see the food.