Need to confirm disease diagnosis. Please help.

[Salty Lemon]

I've had this coral beauty for over a year. Suddenly he looks like this - and he is spending lots of time trying to get cleaned off by my fire shrimp. The closest guess I have is Brooklynella. His lips are white and his face looks like his scales are about to come off and his back fins are starting to shred. I haven't added any livestock to the tank except for corals for over a month. I do dip the corals. (More below the photo.)

These are my three questions....
1. Does this look like Brooklynella or do you have a different suggestion?
2. Can corals introduce diseases even after dipping?
3. If he has Brooklynella (or whatever), it means my whole tank has been exposed. How in the heck do I move 200 gallons worth of fish into two 20L quarantine tanks -- one of which already has two recently purchased tangs?

Here is the livestock:
3 firefish
2 Anthias
1 Coral Beauty
3 tangs -- purple, yellow, goldrim (2 currently in quarantine)
1 lawnmower blenny
1 Diamond goby
1 twinspot goby
2 shrimp
multiple hermits and snails.

Am I going to have to run out and purchase a larger tank to treat this? Thanks for the help.
@Humblefish @HotRocks @ngoodermuth @4FordFamily

 

[rkpetersen]

I'm not one of the experts but I'd be more concerned about a bacterial infection in this situation.
Perhaps try to at least catch this fish and get it into its own hospital tank.
Then some more pictures, definitely.
If the other fish look and act fine, and it's bacterial, you may not require drastic measures.
You could consider adding a UV sterilizer temporarily, if you're not running one.
Corals might still have coral diseases after a dip; depends on the disease and the dip.
Fish diseases can perhaps survive on any areas of exposed skeleton and especially frag plugs.
You've called the big guns so I'm sure they'll be along shortly.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Sorry this is happening

Help, @ngoodermuth @4FordFamily

Edit, sorry saw you already summoned the gods

 

[jsvand5]

Might be a good idea to treat for flukes. I think Brook is pretty unlikely if you haven’t added new fish recently.

 

[ngoodermuth]

It could also be velvet :/ But, I agree, bacterial infection and/or flukes are also possibilities... but the fact that he is visiting the cleaner shrimp so frequently makes me lean towards some sort of parasite.

Brooklynella has a direct lifecycle, it does not encyst on hard surfaces like ich/velvet... so it would require a droplet of water to travel, or another fish. A dipped coral is unlikely to carry brook into a tank.

You can check for flukes by giving a 5-minute freshwater dip. I think I would start there.

 

[Salty Lemon]

It could also be velvet :/ But, I agree, bacterial infection and/or flukes are also possibilities... but the fact that he is visiting the cleaner shrimp so frequently makes me lean towards some sort of parasite.

Brooklynella has a direct lifecycle, it does not encyst on hard surfaces like ich/velvet... so it would require a droplet of water to travel, or another fish. A dipped coral is unlikely to carry brook into a tank.

You can check for flukes by giving a 5-minute freshwater dip. I think I would start there.

Thank you everyone. It looks like I have to go catch a fish. Wish me luck.

 

[4FordFamily]

I also worry about velvet, it’s my gut instinct here. I’d suggest getting something to treat the fish in, yes

 

[Mastiffsrule]

I am by far the disease guy. So this is really a question. Would flukes get carried in by the coral, and if not could they stay dormant for a long time since salty lemon hasn’t put anything else in?

 

[ngoodermuth]

I am by far the disease guy. So this is really a question. Would flukes get carried in by the coral, and if not could they stay dormant for a long time since salty lemon hasn’t put anything else in?

Flukes can go undetected for some time. Not dormant, but just without obvious symptoms... especially in healthy, well-fed fish. The symptoms you end up seeing (frayed fins for example) are often the result of secondary infection.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Flukes can go undetected for some time. Not dormant, but just without obvious symptoms... especially in healthy, well-fed fish. The symptoms you end up seeing (frayed fins for example) are often the result of secondary infection.

Thinking thru this to help salty lemon but also learn along the way. Lymphocystis?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Thinking thru this to help salty lemon but also learn along the way. Lymphocystis?

Sure thing

Lymphocystis is more like cottony growths, and usually effects the fins before the face and body. Not a film that covers large areas.

 

[Salty Lemon]

I spent the last hour trying to catch a fish. Still no luck. ;Sour I may have to take @Raege 's suggestion to me for tank success by having a vodka gimlet first. I'll get the bugger, but I'm only so tall, my tank is so big, I have so much rock, and I'm starting to think that my coral beauty is smarter than I am. I'll keep everyone posted. And once again...thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

I don’t know much about disease but I can tell you 100% how to catch a fish.

It only works for fish that sleep out in the open where you can get to it with a net. I had a 2 inch domino that eluded me for ever until I came across this method, then first attempt bam, in the net.

I waited until they were sleep for a few hours. If you do not have enough ambient light to see him, turn on a light in another room. Just enough for you to barely see him. Get the net ready, no noise, get a flash light aimed at him and turn it on right at his eyes, he will freeze long enough to catch him.

I do not think it hurts his vision but let’s see what others say about that.

 

[Raege]

If he’s still eating you can try a home made fish trap.I caught my devil Damsel with one once. Glass far some treat food in it then a zip lock baggie with one bottom corner cut off. Stick bag cut end in glass jar roll zip top over glass rim secure with rubber band submerge and wait. May get lucky and have him swim down cone and voila.
If not eating I’ve had luck with turning lights to full blast after tank and room have been completely dark fir an hour. Fish gets dazzled and if ya know where it’s resting may get a net on him before he snaps too.
Best if luck sry for your troubles

 

[Salty Lemon]

I don’t know much about disease but I can tell you 100% how to catch a fish.

It only works for fish that sleep out in the open where you can get to it with a net. I had a 2 inch domino that eluded me for ever until I came across this method, then first attempt bam, in the net.

I waited until they were sleep for a few hours. If you do not have enough ambient light to see him, turn on a light in another room. Just enough for you to barely see him. Get the net ready, no noise, get a flash light aimed at him and turn it on right at his eyes, he will freeze long enough to catch him.

I do not think it hurts his vision but let’s see what others say about that.

@Mastiffsrule , you may be a genius!

 

[Salty Lemon]

If he’s still eating you can try a home made fish trap.I caught my devil Damsel with one once. Glass far some treat food in it then a zip lock baggie with one bottom corner cut off. Stick bag cut end in glass jar roll zip top over glass rim secure with rubber band submerge and wait. May get lucky and have him swim down cone and voila.
If not eating I’ve had luck with turning lights to full blast after tank and room have been completely dark fir an hour. Fish gets dazzled and if ya know where it’s resting may get a net on him before he snaps too.
Best if luck sry for your troubles

Not a bad ideas. Thank you. Sounds like you and Mastiff have similar ideas about surprising the fish with lights.

 

[jsvand5]

I spent the last hour trying to catch a fish. Still no luck. ;Sour I may have to take @Raege 's suggestion to me for tank success by having a vodka gimlet first. I'll get the bugger, but I'm only so tall, my tank is so big, I have so much rock, and I'm starting to think that my coral beauty is smarter than I am. I'll keep everyone posted. And once again...thanks for all the suggestions.

If it were me, I’d treat the display with prazi. You’d have to treat all your fish if it does end up being flukes so treating in the display is by far the easiest solution. Just do a few big water changes afterward and you won’t see many negative effects to your tank.
If it ends up being velvet you’re stuck pulling every fish from the tank but it could definitely be a much easier battle if it’s only flukes that prazi is effective against. The good part is that you will know if the prazi is working pretty quickly. If not then you have to move to treating for velvet.

 

[Salty Lemon]

If it were me, I’d treat the display with prazi. You’d have to treat all your fish if it does end up being flukes so treating in the display is by far the easiest solution. Just do a few big water changes afterward and you won’t see many negative effects to your tank.
If it ends up being velvet you’re stuck pulling every fishY from the tank but it could definitely be a much easier battle if it’s only flukes that prazi is effective against. The good part is that you will know if the prazi is working pretty quickly. If not then you have to move to treating for velvet.

I've been trying to stock up my pharmacy in the fish quarantine room (a.k.a. my laundry room). And I just purchased more Prazipro last week. I have a couple feather dusters. How big are this risks? I know they are sensitive to it. Anyone know?

 

[sfin52]

Not a bad ideas. Thank you. Sounds like you and Mastiff have similar ideas about surprising the fish with lights.

I just caught a foxface by blocking all areas of retreat and netted the bugger. It was large so it was easier. It was beating on other fish.

They seem to know when they are targeted.

 

[5altkreep]

Granted its only my experience, but my feather duster didnt seem to have any reaction when i used prazipro in my tank. Its still doing fine. Good Luck!