Clown sick- Brooklynella?

[Kendra]

Hello folks-

 

I have a problem. I have a 7 gallon tank that I've had for almost a year, and a percula that I've had almost as long. A few days ago I got him (soon to be her) a mate. The two fish took to each other immediately and all seemed well, but today my original clownfish is panting. The new clown still seems fine, but I think it must have been the carrier for whatever my first clown has come down with, because it is the only new factor.

 

The symptoms are rapid breathing and lethargy. Both fish ate, but, frankly, my old clown is the greediest creature I ever have seen, and I think it would eat on its deathbed. There are no white spots or slime, and other tank parameters are normal for my tank. (No measurable nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia. 1.026 SG, 84 degrees.) He still swims, he's not lying on the sand or anything, but he is not happy.

 

I am guessing either Brooklynella or Amyloodinium. What do you guys think? I don't have a quarantine tank, but my boyfriend and I were just about to start a 20 gallon tank. Thus far I have the tank, a 100 watt heater, a skilter 250, a RIO 600 powerhead, no lights, and no live rock or sand. Is there some way I could rig a temporary hospital tank with what I've got? With larger or more frequent water changes could I dilute the ammonia the fish will be producing, since I will not have established a nitrogen cycle?

 

Alternatively, what are my options with no hospital tank? Would a freshwater dip help? I realize it is stressful to the fish, but I noted that the treatment for Brooklynella included a lowered SG, which I probably couldn't do in my coral-filled tank. I assume Formalin is toxic to corals?

 

Also, what do I do then? I hear that once a protozoan is established in your tank, it may take a prolonged period without fish in the tank to get rid of it. In a month or so when my new tank is established I could move them in there, but would they be able to live in the infected tank until the new one was ready for them? Or, if the hospital tank idea works, could I keep them in there for a whole month?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Kendra

 

P.S. In the interests of helping people figure out what options are open to me, here is some info about my tank.

7 gallon bowfront

2x 36 watt PC lighting (Hangs over a bit)

SG 1.025-1.026 depending on evaporation

84 degrees (I have a lot of trouble keeping a stable temp cooler than that, so eventually decided that stable and higher was better than lower and fluctuating.)

No appreciable polutants. Calcium is sometimes a bit low due to the voracious clam.

Inhabitants are:

2 perculas

1 skunk cleaner shrimp

hermits & snails

mushrooms

ricordeas

zooanthids

star polyps

A small maxima clam

Xenia

Ancora coral

Yellow polyps

Clove polyps

A bubble coral

A mystery coral similar to a kenya tree

A couple of bright yellow-green sponges.

Quite a lot of red filamentaceous algae that I would not cry if was hurt by whatever treatment is used.

Everything seems happy except some of the yellow polyps that are close to the ancora and must be getting stung. And, of course, the clownfish.

[Dave ESPI]

Great post sorry it is on bad terms though...

 

I'm hopeing that your fish didn't die already as I didn't see this thread untill now). I am suprized no one answered it... ???

 

up-date needed please....

 

You could always set up a "Bucketarium" and use it as a hospital . Glass tanks are just fancy water holding containers that you can see through.

 

So from what I gather, the NEW fish is fine, but the OLD one is sick right ?

 

to treat anyfish, you will need to remove them. yes indeed from a coral rich tank.

 

more advice to follow.

[fawkes027]

Sorry for the fish problems. I've just recently had to "rip" my tomato out of its home for a few weeks in "Ich therapy".

[KamDesai]

So what was the solution in this matter? My clown seems to have come down with the same thing after introducing another fish which also seems sick.

[Steve973]

This situation sounds a bit like mine. However, my tank has been up for far less time than yours. When the cycle finished, i bought 2 false percs from petco. One had impossibly rapid breathing, while the other didn't seem to be overly stressed considering a sloshing ride home. In a couple days, the one that was rapidly breathing died. I replaced it with two very small false percs, but then the larger one began to show signs of brook, and of course it spread to the little ones. Currently, I have all 3 quarantined in a 2.5 gallon minibow, and I'm treating with a medication that contains formalin and malachite green. I change 1 gallon each day. This keeps the ammonia at tolerable levels, but who knows what the outcome will be? I'll keep you posted.

[Steve973]

Oh, I almost forgot. I have heard that adding garlic extract to the food helps rid fish of parasites. Plus, the fish seem to love the food that's treated with garlic. Someone recommended that I get liquid Kyolic at GNC, but my GNC didn't carry it, so i'll be looking for it at the health food stores at my local mall.

[Steve973]

Sorry for 3 posts in a row, but you can also give your fish a freshwater dip to provide some temporary relief. Just make sure to adjust temperature and ph. Although now that I look at the dates of your post, I'm sure that your problem has been resolved one way or the other. What treatment did you end up using, and what was the outcome?

[Tempest]

There is no empirical evidence to support claims that garlic cures anything, but then again it can't hurt either.

 

Brooklynellosis - Fish shows rapid breathing, gasping, hovers at surface; gills may hemmorrhage, body may have lesions or red spots. Treat with formalin baths - Take water from tank and put in bucket with an airstone. Add formalin (follow directions on bottle), leave fish for about 50 minutes. DIp in clean water before returning to tank. Repeat every other day for a total of 3 baths.

 

Amyloodiniosis - Fish displays breathing difficulties, loss of appetite, may hover near the surface, body can be covered with what looks like dust. To tell if its Amyloodinosis, put fish in freshwater (same temp and pH as tank) in a clear container and leave for 3 minutes. Return fish to tank (remove sooner if fish looks overly distressed). Check water. If there appears to be flakes, dust in water then fish has Amyloo.

Treat in hosptial tank with copper (use Cupramine) for 21 days keeping copper level at .5mg/liter.

 

This is a summary of info that can be found at http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j...shdiseases.html

 

Good luck.

[Steve973]

Thanks for the informative post. The addition of garlic seems to make the fish want to eat more readily. When the fish are sick, they seem like they have less appetite, so if the garlic helps them to eat, it may keep their strength up while recovering. The medication I got is a combination of formalin and malachite green, and it says to use a drop per gallon per day. I also change at least 40% per day, so the water stays fairly clean. How does this sound?