Velvet or Brook?

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

I got 2 black and white clownfish and a diamond goby about a week ago. Started them off in copper at 1.0. They looked ok coming out of the bad they were shipped in, but The clowns wouldn't eat, the goby did. He's a pig. Anyway the clowns started getting get white specks all over them while ramping copper up, so I did a freshwater dip to help and to see if they had flukes. No flukes, but the clowns continued to deteriorate. The goby is was fine. Eating doing his thing. The smaller clown of the 2 started losing color and looking splotchy, like had greyish white discolorations on him and unfortunately he died. The bigger clown started doing the same and he died as well. It took a few days for the smaller one to die and then 2 more days after that the bigger one died. I didn't take any pics, although I should have. The goby is still doing great. Eating like a pig, nothing visibly wrong with him. When I noticed the greyish splotches on the smaller clown, I started dosing metro, furan 2, and kanaplex into the water along with ramping copper up and added another airstone just to be safe. I know that without pictures it's hard to diagnose, but I'm hoping to figure out if this might have been brook since this is the first time I've encountered whatever this was. And also what I should do with my diamond goby to ensure he stays well and finishes qt correctly?

hdsoftail1065 · Mar 20, 2019

It sounds like Brooklynella, but it's hard to say without pics. It looks like @4FordFamily and @HotRocks are online, they should be able to help with the goby treatment.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2019

It does sound like brook but we will need some photos for better ID

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
I got 2 black and white clownfish and a diamond goby about a week ago. Started them off in copper at 1.0. They looked ok coming out of the bad they were shipped in, but The clowns wouldn't eat, the goby did. He's a pig. Anyway the clowns started getting get white specks all over them while ramping copper up, so I did a freshwater dip to help and to see if they had flukes. No flukes, but the clowns continued to deteriorate. The goby is was fine. Eating doing his thing. The smaller clown of the 2 started losing color and looking splotchy, like had greyish white discolorations on him and unfortunately he died. The bigger clown started doing the same and he died as well. It took a few days for the smaller one to die and then 2 more days after that the bigger one died. I didn't take any pics, although I should have. The goby is still doing great. Eating like a pig, nothing visibly wrong with him. When I noticed the greyish splotches on the smaller clown, I started dosing metro, furan 2, and kanaplex into the water along with ramping copper up and added another airstone just to be safe. I know that without pictures it's hard to diagnose, but I'm hoping to figure out if this might have been brook since this is the first time I've encountered whatever this was. And also what I should do with my diamond goby to ensure he stays well and finishes qt correctly?

I’m going to suggest you treat for both, the problem is the goby is more likely to carry either one and not show physical symptoms. I would do copper for 14 days at 1.75ppm (copper power) while treating with Metro for Brook. You can kill two birds with one stone in 14 days then transfer to sterile tank for observation. Just make sure you aerate heavily. For velvet and or brook your DT will need to be fallow for 6 weeks.

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

hdsoftail1065 said:
It sounds like Brooklynella, but it's hard to say without pics. It looks like @4FordFamily and @HotRocks are online, they should be able to help with the goby treatment.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/

Brook is what I was leaning towards as well. I know I should've taken a picture but I was just so frustrated that I didn't even think about it. Thank you

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

4FordFamily said:
It does sound like brook but we will need some photos for better ID

It's what I was leaning towards as well. I didn't take a pic bc I was just so frustrated atm. My only concern now is other than 14 days in copper and then transfer to sterile qt with GC, how long do I dose metro for possible brook in the copper tank for the goby? And is there anything else I should do to ensure the goby doesn't carry brook into my dt?

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I’m going to suggest you treat for both, the problem is the goby is more likely to carry either one and not show physical symptoms. I would do copper for 14 days at 1.75ppm (copper power) while treating with Metro for Brook. You can kill two birds with one stone in 14 days then transfer to sterile tank for observation. Just make sure you aerate heavily. For velvet and or brook your DT will need to be fallow for 6 weeks.

Ok that answered my question lol. I just didn't know how to do both metro and copper at the same time. Should I dose 1 scoop or 2? It's a 10 gal qt by the way. Fortunately, after reading everything on this site about quarantining and treatment periods, I put none of these fish in the dt. I qt everything right off the bat. Fish start in copper and inverts, corals, and everything else go to another qt to be held for recommended qt period, and then rinsed thuroughly before hitting the dt. I learned my lesson the hard before I did my research and wisened up lol

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

Here's a picture of Mr goby. After fighting with him about moving the sand around and him taking all the sand out of the small dish I provided for him, he won. He moved most of the sand into this pvc and made himself a home

So I just took the dish out and he has now scattered it all over the tank. What a little turkey he is

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
Ok that answered my question lol. I just didn't know how to do both metro and copper at the same time. Should I dose 1 scoop or 2? It's a 10 gal qt by the way. Fortunately, after reading everything on this site about quarantining and treatment periods, I put none of these fish in the dt. I qt everything right off the bat. Fish start in copper and inverts, corals, and everything else go to another qt to be held for recommended qt period, and then rinsed thuroughly before hitting the dt. I learned my lesson the hard before I did my research and wisened up lol

Ideally I would dose two scoops per 10G but metro and copper both can suppress appetite so start with two and if his eating slows you can back off to 1 scoop of metro and if necessary lower the copper down. 1.50ppm is the minimum therapeutic level but if you decide to go below 1.75 especially having sand in the tank I would definitely use a Hanna checker. Sand will absorb some copper and could cause levels to fluctuate a little.

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
Ideally I would dose two scoops per 10G but metro and copper both can suppress appetite so start with two and if his eating slows you can back off to 1 scoop of metro and if necessary lower the copper down. 1.50ppm is the minimum therapeutic level but if you decide to go below 1.75 especially having sand in the tank I would definitely use a Hanna checker. Sand will absorb some copper and could cause levels to fluctuate a little.

Hannah checker is the only copper test I use. And right now my copper is at 1.75 give or take a little and I've done the metro at 1 scoop every other day and he's been fine with it. He comes out of his pipe and then goes back in all day. As soon as food hits the tank though he's like a piranha so I'll try to add a scoop of metro to make sure and see if he's ok with it. Would 10 or 14 days of metro be suffice?

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
Hannah checker is the only copper test I use. And right now my copper is at 1.75 give or take a little and I've done the metro at 1 scoop every other day and he's been fine with it. He comes out of his pipe and then goes back in all day. As soon as food hits the tank though he's like a piranha so I'll try to add a scoop of metro to make sure and see if he's ok with it. Would 10 or 14 days of metro be suffice?

I would do 14 days, the same length as copper to be sure.

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I would do 14 days, the same length as copper to be sure.

Agree.

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I would do 14 days, the same length as copper to be sure.

Gotcha 14 days it is. Thank you so much. You have no idea how appreciative I am for you and everyone else on this site for all the help. It has definitely made my journey easier and less stressful.

4FordFamily said:
Agree.

Like I said above thank you so so much! I'm so thankful for all the help y'all provide!

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
Gotcha 14 days it is. Thank you so much. You have no idea how appreciative I am for you and everyone else on this site for all the help. It has definitely made my journey easier and less stressful.

Like I said above thank you so so much! I'm so thankful for all the help y'all provide!

You’re quite welcome let us know if we can help in any way again!

Do you have an ammonia alert badge to monitor ammonia? Biospira to prevent ammonia?

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

4FordFamily said:
You’re quite welcome let us know if we can help in any way again!

Do you have an ammonia alert badge to monitor ammonia? Biospira to prevent ammonia?

Sure do. I have one on both qt tanks and I keep a large bottle of biospira on hand. That stuff is the holy grail to quarantining! I also keep seperate everything's for each tank like buckets for water changes, syphons for cleaning, heaters, filters, air pumps, etc.

4FordFamily · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
Sure do. I have one on both qt tanks and I keep a large bottle of biospira on hand. That stuff is the holy grail to quarantining! I also keep seperate everything's for each tank like buckets for water changes, syphons for cleaning, heaters, filters, air pumps, etc.

Good work!! Like a seasoned QT veteran!

JenniferMcK · Mar 20, 2019

4FordFamily said:
Good work!! Like a seasoned QT veteran!

Thank you. After I lost my first few fish I decided if I was going to keep on trucking in saltwater, that I needed to have some type of plan so I would have a healthy aquarium. Fortunately I found this site, and have learned what I need to do. It's working for me and I learn something new everyday. I have a coral beauty I got through quarantine that is in my holding/odservation qt, waiting to go to dt. I did have a maroon clown pair that got through as well, but unfortunately the female killed the male after being together for more than a month and I decided to give the female to someone who had more room for her and an anemone. She's very happy in her new home. My plan was to have a pair of clowns, the coral beauty, and a goby in my 55 gal tank, so I've got 1 fish down and hopefully the goby gets through ok. I'm actually going to a new lfs today who specializes in sales of clownfish. They have awesome reviews, so hopefully I'll get lucky and find a good pair of clowns. So I may have to set up another qt if I find a healthy pair. My husband isn't gonna be happy but my kids will be so excited. Wish me luck

Big G · Mar 20, 2019

JenniferMcK said:
Ok that answered my question lol. I just didn't know how to do both metro and copper at the same time. Should I dose 1 scoop or 2? It's a 10 gal qt by the way. Fortunately, after reading everything on this site about quarantining and treatment periods, I put none of these fish in the dt. I qt everything right off the bat. Fish start in copper and inverts, corals, and everything else go to another qt to be held for recommended qt period, and then rinsed thuroughly before hitting the dt. I learned my lesson the hard before I did my research and wisened up lol

So cool to see a post like this ^^^ It's nice to see. Good on you for taking such good care of your fish and inverts. NICE!