Brook on new clowns ? Advice appreciated

[Zevulos]

Hi
I bought two black storm clowns on Saturday and they’ve been in the store for 4 months, they’ve been feeding well and acting fine but when I got home today I noticed the male was sat in the bottom of the tank not doing much just breathing heavily with a cloudy eye and a few patches of his slime coat missing/peeling
I quickly went to my LFS and bought some 30% formalin, i dipped my male clown in a solution consisting of 2l saltwater (heated and same salinity as the tank) and 0.5ml of formalin as per the recommendation on the forum. I took the clown out after 25 minutes as he wasn't doing too good and put him into a clean QT tank.
Around 10/15 minutes later he passed.

My female clown isn't showing any signs of brook/infection and is much bigger and fatter. Should I keep my eyes on her for a while or is it recommended to treat her ?
Ive read mixed responses.

The video is of my male before i dipped him.

I have no other fish in the tank, these were my first two fish after being fully cycled. My perams are
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0.2 nitrate
1.025 salinity

Thanks !

 

[Tamberav]

Can’t see the video on my phone but if it was identified as brook, I would treat the female. Clowns are very susceptible to this disease and can perish fast by the time you see signs.

Are there any other fish in the tank?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I agree with the above. The video won’t play on my end, but brook doesn’t mess around. It’s best to consider all exposed fish as infected and treat as such.

 

[Zevulos]

Can’t see the video on my phone but if it was identified as brook, I would treat the female. Clowns are very susceptible to this disease and can perish fast by the time you see signs.

Are there any other fish in the tank?

There are no other fish, these were the first additions. ill take some photos from the video and see if that will work, ive attached them to the reply
Ive noticed the female every minuite or two sort of flicks/twithes randomly. She is still feeding well.

 

[Tamberav]

Yes I would treat. Especially since the only fish, easy to do it now.

 

[Zevulos]

Yes I would treat. Especially since the only fish, easy to do it now.

is my dosage of 0.5ml of 30% formalin for 2l of water correct for 30-45 minuites, then into a clean QT tank ?
Do you think the female twitching/flicking is a sign of brook too ?

 

[Tamberav]

is my dosage of 0.5ml of 30% formalin for 2l of water correct for 30-45 minuites, then into a clean QT tank ?
Do you think the female twitching/flicking is a sign of brook too ?

Here is the treatment depending which product you are using

Formalin

FORMALIN Formalin (37% formaldehyde) What It Treats – Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium), Brooklynella, Uronema, Flukes (Monogeneans), Black Ich (Turbellarians). How To Treat – In order for Formalin to be fully effective, the product you are using should contain 37% formaldehyde. At present...

www.reef2reef.com

While clowns will do odd things in a pair, I wouldn’t say twitching/flicking is normal in this case and probably a sign of parasites/irritation.

 

[Zevulos]

Here is the treatment depending which product you are using

Formalin

FORMALIN Formalin (37% formaldehyde) What It Treats – Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium), Brooklynella, Uronema, Flukes (Monogeneans), Black Ich (Turbellarians). How To Treat – In order for Formalin to be fully effective, the product you are using should contain 37% formaldehyde. At present...

www.reef2reef.com

While clowns will do odd things in a pair, I wouldn’t say twitching/flicking is normal in this case and probably a sign of parasites/irritation.

Here is a link, the first time she does it there is something in the water floating past her, the second time is what she is doing every 3-10 minutes randomly.

In this case as the other clown died and she isnt showing any sign apart from randomly twitching would you 100% dip her. I just don't want the dip to kill her off either as she is a stunning clownfish and theyre hard to find/expensive in the UK

 

[Tamberav]

Here is a link, the first time she does it there is something in the water floating past her, the second time is what she is doing every 3-10 minutes randomly.

In this case as the other clown died and she isnt showing any sign apart from randomly twitching would you 100% dip her. I just don't want the dip to kill her off either as she is a stunning clownfish and theyre hard to find/expensive in the UK

How long ago did the male die?

 

[Zevulos]

How long ago did the male die?

About 2 hours ago

 

[Tamberav]

About 2 hours ago

I think it’s more risk not to treat.


@Jay Hemdal can probably weigh in how clowns handle formalin.

 

[Zevulos]

I think it’s more risk not to treat.


@Jay Hemdal can probably weigh in how clowns handle formalin.

Hopefully so, ill wait for @Jay Hemdal reply and then take it from there Thank you so much for your help !
What are the tell tale signs when i dip my clown that they're too stressed and I should move them back to QT ?

 

[Zevulos]

I think it’s more risk not to treat.


@Jay Hemdal can probably weigh in how clowns handle formalin.

Hey, so i dipped my female with 0.3ml of 30% Formalin in 2l of watter, she did great for 45 minuites.
She is now sat in a 10l sterile QT tank (No meds) so fingers crossed she is ok. She is swimming as usual and just chilling

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hopefully so, ill wait for @Jay Hemdal reply and then take it from there Thank you so much for your help !
What are the tell tale signs when i dip my clown that they're too stressed and I should move them back to QT ?

Sorry - I’m out running around today and just saw this….

Your 30% formalin, is it 37% formaldehyde? That is the same as saying 100% formalin. I’ve seen 10% neutral buffered formalin, but that is a fixative, you can’t use that.

 

[Zevulos]

Sorry - I’m out running around today and just saw this….

Your 30% formalin, is it 37% formaldehyde? That is the same as saying 100% formalin. I’ve seen 10% neutral buffered formalin, but that is a fixative, you can’t use that.

No worries at all, it just says on the label - "Formalin 30%" and thats it.
The marine department of my LFS use it in all of their QT tanks when they have a new batch of fish before they put them out for sale.
Its Pond Medic Formalin 30% by Kockney Koi

 

[Zevulos]

I think it’s more risk not to treat.


@Jay Hemdal can probably weigh in how clowns handle formalin.

My Female in the QT seems to be staying at the top now breathing quite a bit heavier than when she was in the tank, i only have a 2 inch airstone in there and the airpump is rated 10-50 litres of water.
I do have an interpet CF1 filter downstairs not used (not cycled) would it be worth putting that on the tank for more oxygenation ?

 

[Tamberav]

My Female in the QT seems to be staying at the top now breathing quite a bit heavier than when she was in the tank, i only have a 2 inch airstone in there and the airpump is rated 10-50 litres of water.
I do have an interpet CF1 filter downstairs not used (not cycled) would it be worth putting that on the tank for more oxygenation ?

As long as there is no old used filter media still in it that could foul the water

 

[Zevulos]

As long as there is no old used filter media still in it that could foul the water

ahh the filter media has been left out of water for about a month, i think it will foul the water.
Is it worth putting it in just to circulate the water better ?
Would a video of her breathing help ?

 

[Tamberav]

ahh the filter media has been left out of water for about a month, i think it will foul the water.
Is it worth putting it in just to circulate the water better ?
Would a video of her breathing help ?

Can you just remove it and run it with no media?

 

[Zevulos]

Can you just remove it and run it with no media?

Yes i believe so, sorry that's what i meant haha.
Will it be too strong for her in a 10l Tank ?