Clown looking rough, 3 fish died already

LoganGG

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 31, 2022
Messages
77
Reaction score
23
Location
delaware
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’ve lost 3 fish in the past week. My clown was swimming an inch above the sand when I came home from work tonight. I’m not sure if he’ll make it through the night. I was only able to take a pic of my CBB and clown, my foxface, lunar wrasse, and blue tang are quite shy. If anyone’s able to help me identify what’s wrong i’d appreciate it. So far, i’ve lost my other clown, and my two anthias, I don’t want to lose any more fish.

IMG_1450.jpeg IMG_1447.jpeg IMG_1442.jpeg IMG_1444.jpeg
 

fishguy242

Cronies..... INSERT BUILD THREAD BADGE HERE !!
View Badges
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
46,975
Reaction score
276,159
Location
Illinois
Rating - 100%
1   0   0

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I’ve lost 3 fish in the past week. My clown was swimming an inch above the sand when I came home from work tonight. I’m not sure if he’ll make it through the night. I was only able to take a pic of my CBB and clown, my foxface, lunar wrasse, and blue tang are quite shy. If anyone’s able to help me identify what’s wrong i’d appreciate it. So far, i’ve lost my other clown, and my two anthias, I don’t want to lose any more fish.

IMG_1450.jpeg IMG_1447.jpeg IMG_1442.jpeg IMG_1444.jpeg
I’ve lost 3 fish in the past week. My clown was swimming an inch above the sand when I came home from work tonight. I’m not sure if he’ll make it through the night. I was only able to take a pic of my CBB and clown, my foxface, lunar wrasse, and blue tang are quite shy. If anyone’s able to help me identify what’s wrong i’d appreciate it. So far, i’ve lost my other clown, and my two anthias, I don’t want to lose any more fish.

IMG_1450.jpeg IMG_1447.jpeg IMG_1442.jpeg IMG_1444.jpeg
The butterfly (hard to tell with pic which is slightly blurry) appears to have a bacterial or fin ray issue. Clown appears to have brooklynella. Some symptoms with brook will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus as well as the swim pattern you see. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria which may be what you see on the copperband also.
Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart which has most of the essentials
 
OP
OP
L

LoganGG

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 31, 2022
Messages
77
Reaction score
23
Location
delaware
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The butterfly (hard to tell with pic which is slightly blurry) appears to have a bacterial or fin ray issue. Clown appears to have brooklynella. Some symptoms with brook will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus as well as the swim pattern you see. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria which may be what you see on the copperband also.
Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart which has most of the essentials
I have a qt tank running and don’t have the treatment at the moment and will get some tomorrow. I’ll try a freshwater bath to hopefully get him through the night. Are there any extra steps to a freshwater bath, or just make sure it’s the right temp and that’s all there is to it? I’m relatively new to the hobby and this is only the second outbreak i’ve had.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I have a qt tank running and don’t have the treatment at the moment and will get some tomorrow. I’ll try a freshwater bath to hopefully get him through the night. Are there any extra steps to a freshwater bath, or just make sure it’s the right temp and that’s all there is to it? I’m relatively new to the hobby and this is only the second outbreak i’ve had.
Freshwater dip is 5 minutes , the same temp as display tank as Temporary relief to buy some time. Fish appears distraught and I would advise air stone to prevent added strain on oxygen
 
OP
OP
L

LoganGG

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 31, 2022
Messages
77
Reaction score
23
Location
delaware
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Freshwater dip is 5 minutes , the same temp as display tank as Temporary relief to buy some time. Fish appears distraught and I would advise air stone to prevent added strain on oxygen
Freshwater dip done, as soon as he was placed back in saltwater he’s been laying down for the past few minutes, is this normal or is it a sign he’s not going to make it?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
Freshwater dip done, as soon as he was placed back in saltwater he’s been laying down for the past few minutes, is this normal or is it a sign he’s not going to make it?
Normal and temporary. You should see a little bit peppiness and return to near breathing rate. As stated, when they are distressed or breathing heavy, add aeration as this step can pose added stress on a given fish
 
OP
OP
L

LoganGG

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 31, 2022
Messages
77
Reaction score
23
Location
delaware
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Normal and temporary. You should see a little bit peppiness and return to near breathing rate. As stated, when they are distressed or breathing heavy, add aeration as this step can pose added stress on a given fish
it looks like he is still laying down flapping his fins and breathing fast, I will keep an eye on him, is there anything else I can do until I get the medication tomorrow morning when stores open?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
it looks like he is still laying down flapping his fins and breathing fast, I will keep an eye on him, is there anything else I can do until I get the medication tomorrow morning when stores open?
Increase aeration with air stone/pump and leave light dim preferable with blue light
 

Jay Hemdal

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2020
Messages
28,604
Reaction score
28,261
Location
Dundee, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Sorry, I just woke up.

This is most likely a protozoan infection, the pictures aren’t clear enough to say for sure, but it is probably Brooklynella or Velvet.

If you post a clear video, I might be able to tell better, but time is off the essence here, so don’t do a video if it will slow down your treatment plan .

Coppersafe is the best treatment for velvet. Brooklynella is more difficult to treat, but a FW dip will buy you some time. Ruby reef rally pro is the most widely available treatment for Brook. Formalin is much better, but it is tough to get and toxic to people.

The bad thing is, once fish loss begins due to these infections, it is very difficult to stop it in time to save the remaining fish.
 
Back
Top