[Nikki]

My first fish seem to have contracted a disease :-( I bought two tank raised false percula clowns last week, started them off in a 10 gln QT tank and had increasing levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that did not reduce with water changes (possibly wasn't changing enough at a time), so I moved them into my display tank as these are my first fish adn the only thing in the display tank is 22.5 lbs of LR.

The first day after moving them I noticed that one of them had a patch that looked like net burn or something from being moved. This developed into a large (size of half a dime) whitish spot that now looks velvetty. I have searched the site and the wetwebmedia site and cannot tell if it is Brooklynella, velvet or just stress. When the clowns were first introduced one of them (the one with the spot) was not eating. I went out and got the food it was being given at the store and it did eat. It does appear to have clear stringy poop which does not disattach itself which appears to be a sign of Brooklynella. The one with the spot has droopy fins and seems lethargic, although at times it swims actively with its buddy. The other is very active and eats a lot.

I have two small children and not a lot of time to research this as they are both sick and crying for my attention right now ..... I plan to put them back in the QT today when I get a clear 15 minutes with water from the display tank, my questions are:

1. Do I only QT the one with the white patch or both?
2. Is my LR (and associated life that has popped up) at risk if I do not QT immediately?
3. Is formalin the right treatment?
4. Could it just be stress?

Anything else would be a help as well :-)

Thanks,
Nikki

[Steven Pro]

I would administer a formalin bath to rule out Brooklynella.
http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/...nd_or_foe.html

Brooklynella (assuming that is what your fish has) only spreads fish to fish, so there is no need to fallow the tank.

I would also add some garlic extract to the fishes' food as there is some evidence that it might help with intestinal worms (ala the clear stringy feces).
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php

[Steven Pro]

Also, here is my method of quarantine.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

It should help alleviate those ammonia problems you had.

[Nikki]

Thank you for all the information Steven, I will review and administer as I can. One concern I have after reading the formalin is that it sounds very dangerous as a substance and I am still feeding my 6 month old naturally. Will see what I can do as I just looked at the clown again and the site of ?? is definitely fuzzy.

Regards,
Nikki

[#99]

Use a medication called Pipzine for the internal parasites.Works great and fast.If the clown is swimming straight up or straight down,it is more than likely brooke.
Matt

[Nikki]

Thank you Matt. The clowns are not swimming straight up and down, whew! The one clown is still really healthy and eating well. I also did some maintenance today on the display tank and the clown I think is sick was very active during it. Still hasn't eaten though. I have my QT set up now and am reading the article Steven suggested above.

Also does anyone have an opinion on whether I shoudl QT both the clowns or just the apparently sick one?

Thanks,
Nikki

[Reefland]

I would just Q the sick one, no need to add any stress to the other clown if it is fine.

[Nikki]

Finally found some pictures of Brooklynella and this appears more shimmery/slimy than what my clown is exhibiting. Well, that rules one out, just wish I had a camera that took macro pictures so I could post a pic!!It appears from my recent reading that marine velvet could also look like saltwater ich and treatments are very different for this. I read that copper is good for marine velvet, but also that clowns do not do well with copper treatments .... appears to me there is no exact science in this, but more experience than anything else.

I also notice now that reccomended times for QT habitation vary from 2-4 weeks, I guess longer is better, just glad that these are my first fish and I am learning now (along with a little disappointment that my first fish are sick!!).

In regards to keeping a biological filter (air driven sponge) on hand at all time by maintaining in the display tank. I have an Eheim 2026, can I just place this in one of the substrate buckets?

Thanks,
Nikki

[Steven Pro]

There is a freshwater dip test to confirm if your fishes have velvet/Amyloodinium.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...fwdiptest.html

I am still leaning more towards Brooklynella as Amyloodinium is fast acting and rather deadly. Generally without treatment, your fish would not appear to get better. If it were me, I would give both clowns a formalin bath. I make it a habit of giving all wild-caught clownfish (or any captive raised housed in the same tanks as wild-caught) a formalin bath because clownfish are so associated with this disease that its common name is clownfish disease.