Ich, Velvet, or Brook?

[m.k.aqautics]

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 30 ppm
pH: 7.8

Over the last couple weeks I’ve had this going around my tank. I brought in a flameback angelfish (and like a fool, didn’t quarantine). Soon after I introduced the flameback angelfish, two cardinalfish died seemingly for no reason. I’ve seen the spots show up on the clowns here and there, every few days or so, and first thought it was ich. Today my Royal Gramma died, having shown signs of this disease yesterday as well. I’m trying to set up a tank to keep them in and treat them in while I fallow my tank, but I don’t know what to treat for. Can anyone tell what this is?

 

[MnFish1]

1. what does going around your tank mean?
2. It's unclear whether the issue is the flameback - introducing disease into the tank - or whether it was progressive disease.
3. With fish dying ( your royal gramma)- I would suggest you have velvet in your tank. There is a protocol above that explains- basically every fish needs to be removed, treated with copper and perhaps prazipro - and the main tank needs to remain fallow for 76 days (depending on the temperature) @Jay Hemdal

PS to me it looks a bit like Brook as well

 

[MnFish1]

PS - the clownfish looks a little like Brook to me

 

[vetteguy53081]

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 30 ppm
pH: 7.8

Over the last couple weeks I’ve had this going around my tank. I brought in a flameback angelfish (and like a fool, didn’t quarantine). Soon after I introduced the flameback angelfish, two cardinalfish died seemingly for no reason. I’ve seen the spots show up on the clowns here and there, every few days or so, and first thought it was ich. Today my Royal Gramma died, having shown signs of this disease yesterday as well. I’m trying to set up a tank to keep them in and treat them in while I fallow my tank, but I don’t know what to treat for. Can anyone tell what this is?

This is clearly brook with secondary bacterial lesions. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body. The thick mucus on its body is a second sign 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. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is 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.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This does look like Brooklynella to me also. If you can post a video, I can usually confirm by the way the fish is acting.

Jay

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Thank you!

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Thank you, I just added ruby rally into the main tank today because my quarantine tank isn’t ready yet. Will copper be a decent replacement for formalin? I’ve read online that it’s carcinogenic and possibly dangerous, I have a lot of kids and dogs in my house so I’d rather not use that If I can avoid it. (My house also lacks central air so ventilation is poor). If copper won’t work, will I be okay using just the reef rally pro?

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This does look like Brooklynella to me also. If you can post a video, I can usually confirm by the way the fish is acting.

Jay

I’ll try to get a video later when I get back home. Would the brook have killed of my other fish just as quickly, with less or no symptoms?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you, I just added ruby rally into the main tank today because my quarantine tank isn’t ready yet. Will copper be a decent replacement for formalin? I’ve read online that it’s carcinogenic and possibly dangerous, I have a lot of kids and dogs in my house so I’d rather not use that If I can avoid it. (My house also lacks central air so ventilation is poor). If copper won’t work, will I be okay using just the reef rally pro?

Ruby is good. Copper to a degree will not replace formalin

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Ruby is good. Copper to a degree will not replace formalin

Sounds good, I’ll continue with the Ruby Rally for now. You mentions bacterial lesions, should I treat with something like melafix as well? Are there any better bacterial medications I can pick up tomorrow instead? Or should I wait to add more medication until the Ruby Reef Rally is finished?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’ll try to get a video later when I get back home. Would the brook have killed of my other fish just as quickly, with less or no symptoms?

No, Brook usually kills clownfish first and then other fish….but that isn’t a universal rule, just a tendency.
I’ll be offline until the morning, but will view the video then.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sounds good, I’ll continue with the Ruby Rally for now. You mentions bacterial lesions, should I treat with something like melafix as well? Are there any better bacterial medications I can pick up tomorrow instead? Or should I wait to add more medication until the Ruby Reef Rally is finished?

Melafix wont work and does not work as its tea tree oil, Ruby Rally will address that

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Melafix wont work and does not work as its tea tree oil, Ruby Rally will address that

Okay thank you

 

[m.k.aqautics]

No, Brook usually kills clownfish first and then other fish….but that isn’t a universal rule, just a tendency.
I’ll be offline until the morning, but will view the video then.
Jay

I wasn’t able to get a good video tonight because my tank is green from the ruby rally and it was hard to see the fish, but if it’s behavior you’re looking for I can answer that. The clownfish in the picture, as well as other fish that have shown similar symptoms, is gasping pretty heavily, glass surfing or swimming in one spot, and often diving down into the sand to scratch at themselves. They’ve seemed interested in eating, however the clownfish was eating then spitting out food (food that it’s usually very eager to eat).

 

[m.k.aqautics]

1. what does going around your tank mean?
2. It's unclear whether the issue is the flameback - introducing disease into the tank - or whether it was progressive disease.
3. With fish dying ( your royal gramma)- I would suggest you have velvet in your tank. There is a protocol above that explains- basically every fish needs to be removed, treated with copper and perhaps prazipro - and the main tank needs to remain fallow for 76 days (depending on the temperature) @Jay Hemdal

PS to me it looks a bit like Brook as well

1. I first noticed one small white spot on the clownfish, and when it lasted several days with no change I figured it may be a lymphocyst and that I’d just keep an eye on it. Then the (newly introduced) flameback angelfish died. The angelfish had developed a big black, scaleless patch on his side and a similar looking white coat up until then. Then the white spot on the clownfish dissapeared, and the second clownfish started showing symptoms a few days later. The second clownfish was gasping badly and glass surfing a lot, so I gave him a freshwater dip and a few days later he was looking good again. My Midas Blenny and Royal gramma showed symptoms on similar timelines, and yesterday my Royal gramma was looking particularly bad. The Royal gramma went missing for a few hours, and when I found it it was dead. So currently, the flame Hawkfish, Midas Blenny, and make clownfish look fine. But the clownfish in the photo, my female clown, is still looking rough even after the FW dip I gave her earlier today. This all, for reference, happened in the span of about two-three weeks.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I wasn’t able to get a good video tonight because my tank is green from the ruby rally and it was hard to see the fish, but if it’s behavior you’re looking for I can answer that. The clownfish in the picture, as well as other fish that have shown similar symptoms, is gasping pretty heavily, glass surfing or swimming in one spot, and often diving down into the sand to scratch at themselves. They’ve seemed interested in eating, however the clownfish was eating then spitting out food (food that it’s usually very eager to eat).

How long have you been treating with the Ruby Reef? It may be that it just hasn’t had time to work.
Jay

 

[m.k.aqautics]

How long have you been treating with the Ruby Reef? It may be that it just hasn’t had time to work.
Jay

I just added ruby reef yesterday, it had just come in from shipping as I hadn’t been prepared beforehand. I’ve only had this tank up and running for about 4 months, so I’m still working on building up my fish med kit.

 

[m.k.aqautics]

I’m trying to post a video of my other clownfish, who’s been reinfected today and is not looking good.the first clownfish that I posted is looking better.

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This does look like Brooklynella to me also. If you can post a video, I can usually confirm by the way the fish is acting.

Jay

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 30 ppm
pH: 7.8

Over the last couple weeks I’ve had this going around my tank. I brought in a flameback angelfish (and like a fool, didn’t quarantine). Soon after I introduced the flameback angelfish, two cardinalfish died seemingly for no reason. I’ve seen the spots show up on the clowns here and there, every few days or so, and first thought it was ich. Today my Royal Gramma died, having shown signs of this disease yesterday as well. I’m trying to set up a tank to keep them in and treat them in while I fallow my tank, but I don’t know what to treat for. Can anyone tell what this is?

 

[m.k.aqautics]

Hopefully the video is attached to this reply.