Ich or Brooklynella? maybe both?

shootingstar_reef · May 13, 2021

I thought it was ich, but some of the visual symptoms seem more like brooklynella - is it just one, or could it be both? If you look at the second picture, is that a sore on the head of the center clownfish?

Benjammin · May 13, 2021

I can’t tell, but ich (white spot) is very common.
QT tank and meds if you can. I treated ich in tank with polyp lab medic but a qt is prob better.
Also, my clown was so run down by ich he was just laying on the sand. I added hydrogen peroxide to increase the o2 in the water (only use this as a last resort and research first).

Dolphins18 · May 13, 2021

I looked at photos of marine velvet all night. I think I read every article/study the internet offers. That unfortunately looks a lot like the photos I was seeing of velvet. It may be worth waiting for someone who has dealt with it to confirm though.

Jay Hemdal · May 13, 2021

shootingstar_reef said:
I thought it was ich, but some of the visual symptoms seem more like brooklynella - is it just one, or could it be both? If you look at the second picture, is that a sore on the head of the center clownfish?

I’ve never seen it happen, but it does look like the fish have symptoms of both Brook and ich. You can rule out velvet unless the fish are breathing hard/fast.
The trouble is, Brook and ich have different treatments and both need to be done in a treatment tank, do you have one available to use?
Jay

shootingstar_reef · May 13, 2021

I do! Oh no this is going to get complicated I see. In this tank I have these two clownfish, the gramma; along with a flame hawkfish and christmas wrasse (H. claudia).

My clownfish don't seem bothered despite their apparent condition - they're not flashing, swim fine and have appetite. The hawkfish and wrasse don't really have any visible symptoms of anything, though the wrasse will flash.

Up until a few hours ago, my gramma was only flashing, but I found it tilted at the surface, swimming into the current; maybe breathing...deeply? is what I'm going to call it. I gave it a ~3 minute fw dip to help alleviate some of its symptoms until I can set up a qt tank

Jay Hemdal · May 14, 2021

shootingstar_reef said:
I do! Oh no this is going to get complicated I see. In this tank I have these two clownfish, the gramma; along with a flame hawkfish and christmas wrasse (H. claudia).

My clownfish don't seem bothered despite their apparent condition - they're not flashing, swim fine and have appetite. The hawkfish and wrasse don't really have any visible symptoms of anything, though the wrasse will flash.

Up until a few hours ago, my gramma was only flashing, but I found it tilted at the surface, swimming into the current; maybe breathing...deeply? is what I'm going to call it. I gave it a ~3 minute fw dip to help alleviate some of its symptoms until I can set up a qt tank

Well, with the gramma having breathing issues, that muddles the diagnosis. At his point, the best I can suggest is to give the fish a 5 minute freshwater dip and get them into a QT. Then, you’ll need to decide to treat for ich/velvet and go with copper or treat for Brook with formalin.
Jay

shootingstar_reef · May 14, 2021

Thanks jay. It seems I underestimated how much time I had - I lost the gramma and a clownfish already

Can I do a 45m formalin bath, put them in a clean QT, then add copper a day or two later to give them a chance to rest? or should I not combine treatments this way

and to be clear, all the fish have brook, right? it may affect clownfish, but the other fish need to be treated too, correct?

Jay Hemdal · May 14, 2021

Not all fish will succumb to Brook, but I don’t know if anyone has ever developed a comprehensive list. I’ve only had issues with clownfish, basslets and some wrasses.
I think your formalin dip, followed by copper sounds good. Do you need help calculating the formalin dip?
Jay

shootingstar_reef · May 14, 2021

Jay, I chickened out of the FW dip. I prepped everything according to the humblefish website, but my clownfish went instantly catatonic - I panicked and put it back in the DT (so it was in there for like 30s tops). It had some frayed fins but seemed to recover. I can try again tomorrow; now that I remember it said some fish wouldn't immediately react well.

I would really appreciate the help/confirmation - If I do a formalin bath (for all my fish, just to be safe?) is it 0.6mL/gal? I have 37% formalin. If I use a 3 gal bucket, I just add ~1.8 mL to freshly mixed salt water, aerating 30 min before and during the bath?

Oh. and can I just sacrifice some sand from my dt to put in a dish in the qt for my wrasse? or do I have to buy new, special substrate?

Actually, can I just use formalin as the treatment for both diseases, in the qt tank? It seems a 10 day treatment might do that, but I'm not sure how many people have experience with this.

Thank you for your help!!!

Jay Hemdal · May 15, 2021

shootingstar_reef said:
Jay, I chickened out of the FW dip. I prepped everything according to the humblefish website, but my clownfish went instantly catatonic - I panicked and put it back in the DT (so it was in there for like 30s tops). It had some frayed fins but seemed to recover. I can try again tomorrow; now that I remember it said some fish wouldn't immediately react well.

I would really appreciate the help/confirmation - If I do a formalin bath (for all my fish, just to be safe?) is it 0.6mL/gal? I have 37% formalin. If I use a 3 gal bucket, I just add ~1.8 mL to freshly mixed salt water, aerating 30 min before and during the bath?

Oh. and can I just sacrifice some sand from my dt to put in a dish in the qt for my wrasse? or do I have to buy new, special substrate?

Actually, can I just use formalin as the treatment for both diseases, in the qt tank? It seems a 10 day treatment might do that, but I'm not sure how many people have experience with this.

Thank you for your help!!!

Yes - that's the standard formalin dose for a dip. I run those dips for 45 minutes.

Formalin doesn't work well for ich. I think the static dose (24 hour dose) of 25 mg/l is too low to kill the theronts. Just my opinion - after the formalin dip, I would start copper. However, you are going to need some non-calcareous sand for the wrasse, silica sand perhaps? Some people put that in a plastic Tupperware container at the bottom of the tank as opposed to placing it throughout the tank.

Jay