How long to quarantine?

[Reefmaniac]

I changed this post to reflect the new information that I found. Please read the symptoms of both parasites as it may save your fish...I lost 2 of mine to Grodylactus.

[Reefmaniac]

Just found this on Brooklynella (the Fin/Body symptoms matched those of my clown and the Behavior category matched my Potter's)

 

 

"Behaviour

Fish will evidence lethargy, and swimming will become intermittent as the fish will tire very easily. Breathing at the surface, or just stationary "hanging" at the surface will be observed, as the fish try's to obtain sufficient oxygen when the gills are badly infested.

 

Fins.

Fins can become clamped and/or ragged . Often small spots of blood may be observed at the base of the fins.

 

Body

Lesions may become apparent on the body as well as excessive mucous. Colours of the fish become "faded" in appearance.

 

Gills

Gills will usually become protuberant and usually are paler than normal. Excess slime can easily be observed.

 

Skin.

Areas of haemorrhaging can be observed as well as ulcers, which typically have a circular shape . A slime can be observed over the body in advanced cases.

 

Histo-Patholgy

A scraping of the skin, or gills will invariably show signs of the flukes , which will confirm the suspected infection. Be aware that secondary bacterial infection is very usual due to the protective epithelial layers of the skin etc, being adversely impacted.

 

Life cycle

The species multiply by sexual viviparous multiplication, but there is evidence that a form of parthenogenetic reproduction can take place inside the mature parasite, & even within the "daughter" cell. The term given to this rather unusual reproduction method is called "paedogenesis". Although the parasite only gives "birth" to a single worm at a time, the gestation rate is so high that in a single month, under ideal conditions for the parasite as many as one million young can be produced. In this lies the danger that an outbreak presents, as far less than this number will cause massive mortality in the average Aquarium.

 

The newly born parasites can creep about on the skin of the host fish, or may search out a new host thus spreading the infestation. They must find a new host rather quickly or they will die, & this gives the Aquarist good opportunities to attack the problem, which if done quickly & correctly can have an excellent outcome.

 

Prognosis

In most cases a cure is almost always possible, & the Aquarist should be aware of what to look for, & assuming that the problem is identified as a Gyrodactylus species that is causing the problem take remedial action as detailed below. If this is done, then losses can be & should be minimal. However if the problem is not discovered, until it has severely progressed, then heavy losses will almost certainly ensue, as if the gills of the fish are badly damaged, or heavy necrosis of the skin takes place, the damage is often irreparable . It should be noted, that as in all parasitic infestations that cause necrotic damage, that secondary infection by bacteria and/or fungus may well occur. One author has suggested that the parasites themselves may carry the infectious bacterium from fish to fish.

 

Treatment.

There are several treatments that can be successfully employed.

 

1) The use of Formalin . Use 2-4 ml of Formalin in 10 Litres of water, preferably in a separate quarantine tank, for 30 minutes. If fish show signs of distress stop the treatment. Alternatively Formalin can be used as an extended treatment in the Aquarium itself at a dosage of 15-20 ppm . Water should be changed after 3 days.

 

2) Methylene Blue can be used successfully at a dosage taken form a stock solution of 1 gram in 100 ml of water. Use 3-6 drops of this stock solution in a Litre of the water to be treated.

Do not use this treatment in your main Aquarium as Methylene Blue, has a very adverse effect on the nitrifying bacteria, & also will cause the silicon bonding in your aquarium to become permanently dyed blue in colour.

 

3) Acriflavine is also very effective & is used at 1 gram per 100 Litres . ( We at Fish-Vet have a variant of this treatment with 3 active ingredients in our Fish-Vet product called Revive).

 

Other treatments have been reported as being effective, such as Benzalkonium chloride, Chloramine, as well as Potassium antimonyl tartrate. However there is not much current literature about the use of these, & I would hesitate to recommend them without more recent evidence.

 

To summarize then, Gyrodactylus in its various manifestations, is quite a common parasite, which if the fish are in good conditions, with clean water & unstressed, should remain at a level which will cause no problems. If for any reason these conditions should change for the worse, then an outbreak will often occur, which if spotted early can be brought easily & quickly under control.

 

Gyrodactylus is an excellent example, of how prophylactic treatment in a quarantine tank, can be used to preempt the likelihood of any such outbreak. "

 

Any thoughts about QTing the Chromis and Goby?

[MillerLite]

Great information maniac. Quick question for you. What size tank do you have? Six fish in less than a 10 gallon could be a problem. Also, I have dealt with both brookynella and ich in the past. It seems from your description that you could have both in the tank at the same time. Did you add the clown the the tank already prior to quarantining the fish? I think that it may be worth quarantining all your fish outside the tank and place them in some kind of medication immediately. Note that the formalin (the med I used for brookynella) is a dip and the animal should not be left in this for very long (30 min I think). May be worth then transferring to a qt tank, possibly treated with either copper or meth green. I would read up on interactions of meds though before doing this. The tank should be left fish free for a while regardless to ensure that all of the nastys have died.

[Reefmaniac]

It is a 20. Actually, the symptoms that I posted are for a hookworm, Grodylactus, instead of Brooklynella...I didn't read down the page far enough. Here are the Brooklynella symptoms:

 

Typical signs of infection

Brooklynella hostilis

 

Water

There is little doubt that fish exposed to lowered water quality , and in particular the stress of elevated Ammonia /Nitrite levels such as are brought about in shipping, can induce an outbreak of this parasite. All the literature seems to confirm this.

Behaviour

Fish demonstrate lethargy, will "toy" with their food, appearing to eat & then spitting it out. Respiration becomes difficult as the Gills become heavily parasitized , & can easily be observed.

 

 

Body

A "faded" appearance of small areas becomes apparent , & such areas spread outwardly as the infestation progresses. Sloughing of the epithelium will occur in later stages.

Gills

Gills will become massively parasitized and a smear or other examination of the gills should easily determine the cause of the infestation.

 

Skin

As the "sloughing" occurs increasingly large areas of damage can be seen, as the skin becomes broken down by the parasites activities.

 

Histo-Patholgy

Parasite can be confirmed by skin or gill smears from suspected fish. Parasites are mobile and range in size from 60x80 microns to 40x48. In shape they are heart or kidney shaped ( see illustration), and they have typically ventral organ for attachment to their host.

 

Treatment

 

The literature has very little on effective treatment, & the authors disagree on the application of Copper as treatment, (Stopskopf's book recommending its use, whilst Blasiola stating categorically it does not work). In this authors experience I have to agree with Blasiola, I have never found it to be effective against Brooklynella.

 

The combination of the following treatments & techniques have worked for me, on several occasions with varying degrees of infection, to eliminate the parasite, but I have had to employ at least 2 of the methods, & often all four. With careful attention the parasite can be brought under control( eliminated), but one should be aware there is no " 24 hour" simple cure. Be very suspicious of anyone telling you that they have such a remedy.

 

1) Giving a "dip" in freshwater of the same temperature & pH as the Marine tank, for about 15 minutes ( careful observation must be made, during this time, to avoid distress, & the fish removed, if major problem is observed).

 

2) Giving a bath in Sea water with Formalin added add at a dosage of 1000 ppm for some 15 minutes.

 

3) Adding an Acriflavine product (such as Fish-Vet's Revive) to the tank water for a period of 2 weeks after the above treatments.

 

4) Taking severe steps to ensure that water quality is optimum along with the TOTAL removal of any detrital matter .

 

I would mention that G.Basleer mentions in his book that Quinicrin gives a good result, regrettably he does not give any figures for dosage, or any contraindications.

 

If any secondary infections with by bacteria are observed then the use of an antibiotic would be useful. The use of UV to help prevent secondary infection should be employed.

 

It is useful to point out to the Aquarist who is intending to buy fish, that the judicious way to avoid to problems that this noxious parasite can bring to your Aquarium, is often best managed, by ensuring that your dealer has the fish in his tank for some 2 weeks prior to you taking it home. Most fish that will break out due to the stresses of transport , with this parasite will do so within this time.