Please Help!

[mrshollyc]

Woke up to this already lost my Yasha Goby and one clown. Is this Marine Velvet? My last two fish a gasping for air. I need help fast.

 

[mrshollyc]

The stringy thing in her side is just her fin. It’s her angle and how the camera reflects it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Woke up to this already lost my Yasha Goby and one clown. Is this Marine Velvet? My last two fish a gasping for air. I need help fast.

heavy presence of mucus suggests brooklynella which commonly affects clowns especially wild caught versions. If I see correctly- the other fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body 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 prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for 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.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart which has most of the essentials

 

[threebuoys]

Do you see similar skin conditions on other fish in the tank? How long have the conditions been present? Rapid onset or been present a while?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef, sorry it couldn’t be under better circumstances.

If there are invertebrates in the tank and they are all fine, this is most likely a protozoan issue, either Brooklynella or velvet. Trouble is, these have two different treatments, and once fish have begun dying, it is difficult to stop the progression in time ….
I would try the FW dip as suggested and then treat for brooklynella, as that seems more likely to be the culprit.
Jay

 

[mrshollyc]

Do you see similar skin conditions on other fish in the tank? How long have the conditions been present? Rapid onset or been present a while?

Noticed the goby behaving oddly two days ago but didn’t see any noticeable skin conditions. Noticed the other clown swimming frantically into the water flow last night but still didn’t see anything on his skin. Both have died at this point. This morning is the first time I have seen anything on the other fish.

 

[mrshollyc]

Welcome to Reef2Reef, sorry it couldn’t be under better circumstances.

If there are invertebrates in the tank and they are all fine, this is most likely a protozoan issue, either Brooklynella or velvet. Trouble is, these have two different treatments, and once fish have begun dying, it is difficult to stop the progression in time ….
I would try the FW dip as suggested and then treat for brooklynella, as that seems more likely to be the culprit.
Jay

Can they be treated for Brooklynella and velvet at the same time? I have removed them from my display tank, freshwater dipped and now have them in QT treated with Copper Power.

 

[mrshollyc]

I really appreciate the advice. This has been like a punch in the gut.

 

[MnFish1]

Formalin can be used to kill Cryptocaryon (Ich) - it may not be a quick as copper. Formalin may not be as effective against velvet - though it apparently slows division/reproduction. So - to answer - yes - treat for both - with formalin.

 

[mrshollyc]

heavy presence of mucus suggests brooklynella which commonly affects clowns especially wild caught versions. If I see correctly- the other fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
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) 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.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

Thank you for all the direction. I also have a hermit, pistol shrimp, snails, corals and a clam in the main tank. What risk are they at from either the possible Brooklynella or velvet diagnosis?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you for all the direction. I also have a hermit, pistol shrimp, snails, corals and a clam in the main tank. What risk are they at from either the possible Brooklynella or velvet diagnosis?

They are VERY LOW risk.

 

[MnFish1]

Thank you for all the direction. I also have a hermit, pistol shrimp, snails, corals and a clam in the main tank. What risk are they at from either the possible Brooklynella or velvet diagnosis?

They are not - but may be affected by various treatments depending on what you decide to use

 

[mrshollyc]

I really appreciate the advice. This has been like a punch in the gut.

The Chromis has a brown tinge to it. I’ve lost the second clown as well.

 

[mrshollyc]

They are not - but may be affected by various treatments depending on what you decide to use

I pulled the fish and moved them to the QT so no meds in the main tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can they be treated for Brooklynella and velvet at the same time? I have removed them from my display tank, freshwater dipped and now have them in QT treated with Copper Power.

Copper Power works well for Velvet, but won't work well against Brooklynella, formalin is best for that (but tough to source).

Jay