Brooklynella

[Humblefish]

@MickeysFins I have a story to share: Years ago a friend of mine had a brook outbreak (2 clowns) in her nano reef. So, I advised her to give both clowns a formalin bath and go fallow for 6 weeks. Well, she gave them the formalin bath but put them right back into the infected DT afterwards. To my amazement, they never got reinfected with brook. Flash forward 2 years later and she moves the tank a couple of hours away. The clowns break out with brook again, but another formalin bath fixes the problem once again (without ever going fallow.)

 

[Mickey]

Thanks. Interesting story. The moral for me is that just because a tank has been up for a long time and no evidence of disease for years, the aquarist has to be vigilant in observing the inhabitants because an outbreak of something can occur at any time. I watch my tank every evening and saw some unusual behavior but did not react because it didn’t occur to me that it might be signs of a disease outbreak.

 

[Mickey]

Unfortunately some nice fish paid the price. [emoji26]

 

[Mickey]

I think I'm on thread reading overload trying to figure out my best course of action for the PJ Cardinal.

I went through my fish closet and have a bunch of medications that I'm sure are all past the expiration date. I do have unopened packages of Tetra Parasite Guard and API General Cure - would either of those still be viable 2-3 years past expiration (GC doesn't show an expiration date on the box). I also have Metro+ that's unopened with no expiration date.

I'm moving the fish to a small tank I can use for a "bath" or just a small QT.

I'm also calling around to the few local LFS I trust to see if they carry Formalin MS, Acroflavine MS or Rally. If I can get it, I'll use that instead of any of the old stuff I have. If I can't get it I'm ordering it today but probably won't be here until Tuesday or Wednesday so I'm looking for my best options in the meantime. Recommendatons?

 

[Humblefish]

I would dose the Metro+ every 24 hours for 5-7 days. Go fallow in the DT for 6 weeks.

 

[stuart Kemshead]

Brook has a direct life cycle; meaning it lives, feeds and reproduces on the fish. However, some of the parasites do drop off into the water column (where they can live quite happily for some time) and then go on to infect another fish. But there is no encysted stage like with ich & velvet.



Yes; however I just learned today that the metronidazole dose needs to be 34 ppm (130 mg/gal) to eliminate brook in a single pass. This is more than Metroplex's max recommended dosage (2 measuring spoons per 10 gallons = 100 mg/gal). The public aquarium I got this higher dosage info from has successfully tested it on multiple fish, but I need to test it myself on a few clownfish before I feel comfortable recommending it.



Yes, a 5 min FW dip forces most (but sometimes not all) of the parasites to drop off.

Until I can do more experimentation, I highly recommend a 1-2 punch in order to defeat brook:

1. Give the fish a FW dip or acriflavine bath or formalin bath to knock most of the parasites off.
2. Transfer the fish into a new/sterile quarantine tank (to prevent reinfection), and treat with metro or Chloroquine phosphate for 30 days to finish the job.

1. Which is the best option if choosing just one, Formalin baths or Chloroquine Phosphate. Or is the best option as you described above.

2. Will emptying all tanks and leaving to dry in sun be sufficient to remove all trace of disease.

3. Would Chloroquine Phosphate be best option to treat all remaining fish to remove the disease from the tank.

 

[Joe.Reef805]

@LetItReef Rid Ich Plus is a formalin based medication, so it will treat brook. However, being it only contains 11.52% formaldehyde more than one bath treatment may be required to completely rid a fish of the parasites. I prefer 37% formaldehyde (as found in this product) for a "one & done" bath treatment.

Formalin-MS is hard to find at most LFS, but it can be purchased online (look here). In a brook emergency, however, I would use the first readily available formalin (or acriflavine) based product.

Will this product work the same? couldn't find Formalin-MS...

This is a problem with brook, as I have seen clownfish treated with formalin (bath) and then put right back into the same DT they came out of. They appear asymptomatic for months/years, but then brook comes back following a "stressor event". If I were in your shoes, I would give all 3 damsels a formalin or acriflavine bath just prior to placing in a DT. Brook is a surface parasite, and 60 minutes in either one of those chemicals should eradicate all traces of it.

Can I give more than one fish a bath at the same time?

 

[Humblefish]

Will this product work the same? couldn't find Formalin-MS...

Probably yes... Rid Ich Plus does contain formalin, but I have not been able to verify the percentage of formaldehyde used...

Can I give more than one fish a bath at the same time?

No, formalin rapidly depletes O2 from the water so there might not be enough available oxygen for more than one fish at a time. Aerate heavily when doing the bath.

 

[Joe.Reef805]

Probably yes... Rid Ich Plus does contain formalin, but I have not been able to verify the percentage of formaldehyde used...



No, formalin rapidly depletes O2 from the water so there might not be enough available oxygen for more than one fish at a time. Aerate heavily when doing the bath.

Ok thanks!. So just so I wont get this wrong.. Do I do separate baths for each fish or can i reuse the same bath solution to dip them in one at a time. Also one last question.. how long do I leave my DT fish-less? I don't want them to catch brook again after I treat.

 

[Humblefish]

Ok thanks!. So just so I wont get this wrong.. Do I do separate baths for each fish or can i reuse the same bath solution to dip them in one at a time. Also one last question.. how long do I leave my DT fish-less? I don't want them to catch brook again after I treat.

Yes, you can reuse the bath solution. Just treat each fish separately.

Fallow time for brook is 6 weeks.

 

[Joe.Reef805]

Yes, you can reuse the bath solution. Just treat each fish separately.

Fallow time for brook is 6 weeks.

Thank You!

 

[Joe.Reef805]

@blank For Ruby Reef Rally, I use roughly 2/3 teaspoon per gallon of bath water to be treated. You can safely overdose acriflavine so exact dosage is not needed.

One 90 minute bath is normally sufficient for temporary relief of velvet or eradication of brook. However, in some cases fish with the latter may require a second bath.

Question.. if I put them in QT after I found out they had symptoms of Brook.. then waited a couple of days for the meds.. after I do the dip does my QT water need to be completely replaced to put my fish back in the QT? Since that water might be infected like my DT?

 

[Big G]

Question.. if I put them in QT after I found out they had symptoms of Brook.. then waited a couple of days for the meds.. after I do the dip does my QT water need to be completely replaced to put my fish back in the QT? Since that water might be infected like my DT?

Sorry but yes. Clean and sterilize the qt. tank and equipment - anything that was wet and in contact with the tank water. Brook is a free swimming parasite. So there's probably some of them that came off your fish before you knew.

 

[brwaldbaum]

Probably yes... Rid Ich Plus does contain formalin, but I have not been able to verify the percentage of formaldehyde used...



No, formalin rapidly depletes O2 from the water so there might not be enough available oxygen for more than one fish at a time. Aerate heavily when doing the bath.

4.26%

http://www.kordon.com/kordon/produc...treatments-2/rid-ich#specifications-stability!

 

[Humblefish]

4.26%

http://www.kordon.com/kordon/produc...treatments-2/rid-ich#specifications-stability!

Thanks for sharing that!

4.26% formaldehyde is probably “good enough”, but using 37% formaldehyde as found in Formalin-MS & Quick Cure is better.

 

[brwaldbaum]

Thanks for sharing that!

4.26% formaldehyde is probably “good enough”, but using 37% formaldehyde as found in Formalin-MS & Quick Cure is better.

Not trying to be a jerk, but wouldn't adding 9x as much Kordon product accomplish the same goal?

Edit: Oh, never mind. It also has malachite green.

 

[becks]

Just a quick question regarding metrodizonal, I’m using Seachem metro in my qt, the bottle says 1 spoon full per 40l, however the box and website says 1-2 spoons per 40l.

Not sure what one to follow, i went with caution by dosing 1.5 spoons into my qt (60l)

Am I under dosing? Or do I carry on like this for the full treatment? I’m not sure if my clownfish had brook or velvet. So I’ve been dosing metro to be safe alongside cupramine.

 

[Humblefish]

@becks Metro has a wide therapeutic range. When using Seachem Metroplex, dose 1-2 measures (included) per every 40 L (10 US gallons). Start off with 1 measure per 40L, and ramp it up to 2 measures after the 3rd or 4th dose.

 

[becks]

Great thanks, I’ll up the dosage on the next dosage then.

 

[Ahbaloch]

i can't find any formalin ms or acriflavin ??