Help! Brook or Ich

[cyanicko]

***Sorry in advance for the long read***if you’ve had experience with Ich/Brook…I would love your advice and feedback!

Starting a week ago I noticed my black clownfish had what I thought was Ich. Initially I did RODI dip—helped significantly, almost all spots fell off and started treating DT with Kick Ich Pro & soaking food with seachem garlic/metroplex/focus. Fish wise I only have two clowns and the orange one seems totally unaffected—both were eating well.

Decided a few days ago, to set up a QT tank with both fish, and treat the DT (Kick Ich Pro/Rally since I have several invertebrates) with plan to go fallow.

QT tank: used small rocks from DT and saltwater from tank—checked all levels and parameters, which were good. I think the QT transfer really stressed out the black clown as his spots returned with a vengeance (but was still acting normal & eating well).

I then started treating both clowns in QT two days ago with cupramine on Wednesday. Continued the metroplex/focus on Q2 day schedule. Checked copper level before 2nd dose which was 0.48. Sadly, Friday morning (a week from first noticing spots) the black clown looked absolutely awful—and passed away this afternoon.

Initially I would have just said Ich—it looked pretty classic textbook Ich—plus he’s lived over a week without any major issues, but now I am question Brook. His color changed, he has spots all over and hard to count (not like before) and had mucus looking spots in his white areas. The orange clown is still in the QT —seemingly acting normal, has eaten less since his friend passed away. May have 1 spot but very hard to tell, otherwise looks healthy for now.

If it is Brook, should I treat the remaining orange clown any other way?

If I attach pictures—I would love any and all advice! Thanks for your responses—sad day losing my first fish trying to do the right thing for the tank & my other guy!

 

[blaxsun]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is tough to say - the dark clown in the first picture has ich. The clown in the video is breathing fast, and is mottled in color, that looks more like Brooklynella. The other three pics in the middle are tough to say.

Soaking food with medication does not work (despite it being all over the Internet!). The dose for soaked foods is unknown, and then, the medication is going to wash off just as fast as it soaked in! Oral medications need to be bound up in a gelatin matrix or other binder, and must be dosed accurately.

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish can have more than one disease at the same time - that makes treatment very difficult!
Reef safe medications hardly every work.

I would stay the course with the Cupramine, but try dosing the Metroplex in the water - that works better than oral dosing on external protozoans.

I do need to add that once you've begun to lose fish from a problem, it is very difficult to stop it fast enough to save all the other fish.....

Jay

 

[cyanicko]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is tough to say - the dark clown in the first picture has ich. The clown in the video is breathing fast, and is mottled in color, that looks more like Brooklynella. The other three pics in the middle are tough to say.

Soaking food with medication does not work (despite it being all over the Internet!). The dose for soaked foods is unknown, and then, the medication is going to wash off just as fast as it soaked in! Oral medications need to be bound up in a gelatin matrix or other binder, and must be dosed accurately.

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish can have more than one disease at the same time - that makes treatment very difficult!
Reef safe medications hardly every work.

I would stay the course with the Cupramine, but try dosing the Metroplex in the water - that works better than oral dosing on external protozoans.

I do need to add that once you've begun to lose fish from a problem, it is very difficult to stop it fast enough to save all the other fish.....

Jay

Thanks so much for your reply! I’ll try dosing in the water. I totally agree he had Ich at first for sure via the first picture, but it appears maybe he died of Brook! I know rare to have both but I’m torn. I’ll def try dosing the water and hope the other guy pulls through! Thank you again for your insight

 

[Lavey29]

The clown in the last pic has brook not ich

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is ich and follow what jay recommended. After a week of you noticing this, there are signs that would have shown up that are lacking. Brook may have set in but the clear symptoms show ich. Unfortunately meds cannot be mixed to treat both. The Mocha/chocolate - its clear to see. The other has been exposed.

 

[cyanicko]

The clown in the last pic has brook not ich

Do you think he had ich…then brook ? It’s the same clown. or you think it was Brook all along?

 

[cyanicko]

The clown in the last pic has brook not ich

Thanks for your reply! That’s what I thought as well. Do you think he had ich…then brook ? It’s the same clown. The other clown seems unaffected—is that common that he would not also have gotten it? I’m treating him with cupramine, metroplex—and just added reef rally pro. I feel like it’s a lot, I’m just not sure what to cover him with at this point.

 

[cyanicko]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is tough to say - the dark clown in the first picture has ich. The clown in the video is breathing fast, and is mottled in color, that looks more like Brooklynella. The other three pics in the middle are tough to say.

Soaking food with medication does not work (despite it being all over the Internet!). The dose for soaked foods is unknown, and then, the medication is going to wash off just as fast as it soaked in! Oral medications need to be bound up in a gelatin matrix or other binder, and must be dosed accurately.

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish can have more than one disease at the same time - that makes treatment very difficult!
Reef safe medications hardly every work.

I would stay the course with the Cupramine, but try dosing the Metroplex in the water - that works better than oral dosing on external protozoans.

I do need to add that once you've begun to lose fish from a problem, it is very difficult to stop it fast enough to save all the other fish.....

Jay

Thank you so much Jay! Do you just dose the metroplex in the water, the same as if you’d dose in the food? I assume you don’t add the focus as that is just supposed to help bind to the food?
I appreciate your expertise! Just trying to help the other clown not suffer from this illness as well.

 

[Lavey29]

Thanks for your reply! That’s what I thought as well. Do you think he had ich…then brook ? It’s the same clown. The other clown seems unaffected—is that common that he would not also have gotten it? I’m treating him with cupramine, metroplex—and just added reef rally pro. I feel like it’s a lot, I’m just not sure what to cover him with at this point.

All fish need treatment in QT with formulin. Main tank needs to fallow 76 days.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you so much Jay! Do you just dose the metroplex in the water, the same as if you’d dose in the food? I assume you don’t add the focus as that is just supposed to help bind to the food?
I appreciate your expertise! Just trying to help the other clown not suffer from this illness as well.

Metroplex usually added to food but must be precise at 0.5gm weight which is a very tiny amount.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is tough to say - the dark clown in the first picture has ich. The clown in the video is breathing fast, and is mottled in color, that looks more like Brooklynella. The other three pics in the middle are tough to say.

Soaking food with medication does not work (despite it being all over the Internet!). The dose for soaked foods is unknown, and then, the medication is going to wash off just as fast as it soaked in! Oral medications need to be bound up in a gelatin matrix or other binder, and must be dosed accurately.

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish can have more than one disease at the same time - that makes treatment very difficult!
Reef safe medications hardly every work.

I would stay the course with the Cupramine, but try dosing the Metroplex in the water - that works better than oral dosing on external protozoans.

I do need to add that once you've begun to lose fish from a problem, it is very difficult to stop it fast enough to save all the other fish.....

Jay

Jay, I just popped in to say thanks for all the help you give to our community. We're blessed to have an expert like you helping us with these kinds of situations. It's hugely advantageous to our community to have access to someone with the years of experience and level of knowledge that you have. Not trying to blow smoke at you at all. Just truly grateful that we have an expert like you to help us with our fish disease/care questions.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you so much Jay! Do you just dose the metroplex in the water, the same as if you’d dose in the food? I assume you don’t add the focus as that is just supposed to help bind to the food?
I appreciate your expertise! Just trying to help the other clown not suffer from this illness as well.

At this point, I would keep the cupramine at 0.50 ppm, but add 2 measures (included) of Metroplex per every 40 L (10 US gallons). Dose the Metroplex every 48 hours for three treatment.


Jay