Woke to a dead clownfish today :(

[Idaho Mojo]

Poor little guy had a bacterial infection a couple weeks ago. I had him in a QT running NFG, doing 25% water changes daily,
ammonia at 0ppm
Salinity at 1.025
Temp 80*F
Running a HOB with an air stone
PVC elbows and t's for hiding.

He seemed to be doing so much better the last few days, fin damage was regrowing and color was great.
This morning I woke to him laying flat, heavy breathing and major loss of color. I tried to hold him in the current from the HOB but he died in my hand after 10 minutes.

I did a water change yesterday with another dose of NFG, did a light feeding (he was eating REALLY well) and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

I am in the process of doing a 50% water change to reduce the amount of NFG in case that was the issue.

Can anyone tell me what might have happened?
This saddens me greatly [emoji20] I feel bad

 

[EmdeReef]

That looks like it could be brooklynella.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

That looks like it could be brooklynella.

I've had him for over a month, and there hasn't been any new additions. Wouldn't brooklynella kill faster than that?

 

[Big G]

Sorry for your loss Bacterial infections are usually a secondary event caused by something else. Did you freshwater dip it to check for flukes?

 

[Idaho Mojo]

Sorry for your loss Bacterial infections are usually a secondary event caused by something else. Did you freshwater dip it to check for flukes?

Sounds like I was treating a bacterial infection instead of the source. Yes I did do a freshwater dip.
I have treated with genersl cure, then metroplex/kanaplex, then NFG. There are still other fish in the QT

 

[EmdeReef]

Sounds like I was treating a bacterial infection instead of the source. Yes I did do a freshwater dip.
I have treated with genersl cure, then metroplex/kanaplex, then NFG. There are still other fish in the QT

What were the symptoms of the bacterial infection?

 

[Idaho Mojo]

What were the symptoms of the bacterial infection?

Some fin deterioration, and some flaky like stuff on the face. Those symptoms subsided after treating with metro/kana and completely disappeared and seemed to be fully healing after the NFG treatments.

 

[Big G]

How long was the metro treatment? The "flaky like stuff on the face" can be a descriptor of Brook.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

I treated with metro and kanaplex for 10 days.

I did have a post on here before about the same clown with the described symptoms.

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/540451/

 

[Big G]

Brook can be very difficult to beat down completely. Giving the fish a bath in an acriflavine product like Ruby Reef Rally or a formalin product like Quick Cure, then placing it in a new sterile QT where you double down with the Metro for 10-14 days can rid the parasites from fish. It's a very tough parasite.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/#post-2913287

 

[Idaho Mojo]

Brook can be very difficult to beat down completely. Giving the fish a bath in an acriflavine product like Ruby Reef Rally or a formalin product like Quick Cure, then placing it in a new sterile QT where you double down with the Metro for 10-14 days can rid the parasites from fish. It's a very tough parasite.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/#post-2913287

I have Hikari Ich-X which is 3% formaldehyde. It has instructions tank treatment, would it be as effective? I have one other clown, 3 firefish, a yellow tail damsel, scooter blenny, and a very small watchman goby in QT also. I decided to start a fallow period since they were all in my DT.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

Sorry forgot to add the pictures of the product

 

[Humblefish]

I have Hikari Ich-X which is 3% formaldehyde. It has instructions tank treatment, would it be as effective? I have one other clown, 3 firefish, a yellow tail damsel, scooter blenny, and a very small watchman goby in QT also. I decided to start a fallow period since they were all in my DT.

You really want to use a formalin product which contains 37% formaldehyde for maximum effectiveness: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/formalin.290925/

I've also noticed recently that Seachem states on their website that the metronidazole found in Metroplex is only 70% active: https://www.seachem.com/metroplex.php

This is discouraging, because a drug like metro really needs to be close to pharmaceutical grade (99% pure) for maximum effectiveness.

 

[Idaho Mojo]

You really want to use a formalin product which contains 37% formaldehyde for maximum effectiveness: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/formalin.290925/

I've also noticed recently that Seachem states on their website that the metronidazole found in Metroplex is only 70% active: https://www.seachem.com/metroplex.php

This is discouraging, because a drug like metro really needs to be close to pharmaceutical grade (99% pure) for maximum effectiveness.

Is this the quick cure that is referenced in the link you posted?
I also have API Genral Cure which has metro and prazi in it, although I am not sure what effectiveness percentage it would be compared to seachem metroplex.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Yes, that's it. Although technically I think Fritz makes it now: https://fritzaquatics.com/products/mardel-quick-cure

 

[Humblefish]

@mikeyn Can you clarify something for us please regarding Quick Cure:

On your website (under FAQS) I just read this:

What are the percentages of formaldehyde and malachite green in Quick Cure ?

Formaldehyde - 18.5%
Malachite Green - 0.44%

However, the SDS for Quick Cure posted on your website says 37% Formaldehyde: https://fritzaquatics.com/assets/files/uploads/Quick-Cure-SDS-2014.pdf

So, which is accurate?

 

[Big G]

Yes I saw that. Looks like they lowered the formalin percentage.

 

[Big G]

Looks like this one has the highest formalin % at 22 percent

 

[Idaho Mojo]

So which product should I order? Whichever has the highest? Trying to get something here asap since nothing is available near me.

 

[Humblefish]

I would go with @Big G suggestion until we can verify the percentage of formaldehyde contained in Quick Cure.