Reef Discussion

[Matt_95]

I've had a pair of snowflakes in my tank for a few weeks, one of them began to look off maybe a week ago, I couldn't put my finger on it though until today. Today it has white growths on the fins and what looks like white mucus on the back half of one of its sides. I worry that it could be brooklynella. I have 3 other clowns in this and none of the others show symptoms. Two of the clowns I have had for two days only. I believe I have brought this in on a new hammer coral I bought from a system that contained a number of captive bred and wild caught clowns.
The only medication I have is a copper medication and I will be unable to get anything new until tomorrow, I have read it is a very fast acting disease, is there anything I can do until I am able to get a product containing formalin tomorrow? I am assuming I will need to treat all 4 fish?

Parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5

I have taken some pictures and I am uploading them now.

 

[Matt_95]

What do you all think? Is it brooklynella?

 

[MagicJ]

@Dr. Schell

 

[leodb89]

how is their behaviour? is it normal or do they seem stressed out?

 

[Matt_95]

The rest of the clowns seem perfectly fine, not doing anything out of the ordinary, they look healthy as well. The sick looking one barely ate today where as yesterday they all ate. The sick one also isn't swimming with it's usual wiggle, I'm not sure how else to describe it.

 

[Agent M]

Until you get the formalin the only thing you can do is reduce your salinity to keep the fish hydrated & give them some measure of temporary relief from the irritation. Bring ur salinity down to 1.017.

 

[Matt_95]

Should I do this for all of them? Or just the one showing symptoms?
Thank you for the advice.

 

[Agent M]

Yes for the whole tank, corals and all. It may help reduce some of the mucus around the gills or slow it down from forming. Will just help you bide some time till treatment.

Other alternative is a freshwater dip but this involves catching the fish & putting it through a lot of stress. There is a risk it will die from it.

 

[Matt_95]

I'll start that now, how quickly can I drop the salinity? And is it safe for my anemone as well?

When I get the formalin do I move the clowns to another tank then?

 

[Agent M]

You can drop salinity faster than you can increase it, but treat it like you are acclimatising the entire tank, a bit at a time over a couple of hours, just to be sure. You shouldn't see any signs of distress in any animals in the tank at this level. If you do, increase to 1.020.

You will need to catch the fish out to give it the formalin treatment. If you are able to set up a quarantine tank for treatment that would be good - a bucket, air stone & heater will do even, but until you're ready to start treatment I wouldn't increase stress by catching the fish early. Just get everything ready tonight

 

[Matt_95]

I'm starting to lower it now. I'm going to go pick up some formalin first thing in the morning. Should I add any live rock to the tank or will the formalin kill the bacteria off?

How fast will I be able to raise the salinity after the clowns are removed? And how long should it be left fish less? 6 weeks?

Is it likely I'll be able to save them?

 

[Matt_95]

I really don't think he will make it, he has really gone down hill. He can't stay off the bottom anymore and the nass snails keep going after it.

 

[MagicJ]

Can you put it in the QT?

 

[Agent M]

I don't know the answer to your question about how the formalin will affect live rock but I wouldn't put live rock in or anything the fish could damage themselves on. @Buddy mentioned recently he puts a fake plant in.

You can increase the salinity back up again at your leisure.

I'm not sure how long to leave the tank fishless.

Sorry to hear he has gone downhill, you can only do what you have available to you & even the treatment may result in the loss of your fish. All you can do is try. If you think he is at risk of being eaten by something, transfer him to the bucket tonight. You could also isolate him in the tank in something like a plastic sieve if u have one?

 

[MagicJ]

@Matt_95 have a quick read through these:

Treatment
The most effective treatment for brooklynellosis is a series of three formalin dips, one every third day for forty-five minutes. However, formalin should not be used with fish that have recently been handled, injured or exhibit open wounds. Catch the fish for treatment using clear plastic bags or containers and avoid using nets that will damage the mucus layer, or tissues of the fish.

If the fish are injured or have open wounds then place them in a low salinity quarantine tank (approximately 14ppt salinity) for at least twenty-four hours before proceeding with formalin dips. Add a polymer such as Pro Tech Coat Marine™ or StressGuard™ to the quarantine tank to serve as a temporary mucus layer substitute.

Keep the fish in a hyposaline (low salinity) environment between treatments. This should help alleviate some of the difficulty in maintaining osmotic balance that is associated with Brooklynella hostilis. Leave the fish in a cycled quarantine tank for seven days or more after all treatments are completed.

Some authors suggest combining formalin with malachite green in the treatment dips. My preferred method excludes the use of malachite green, because of the additional toxicity and subsequent stress it adds to fish that are already in a weakened condition. Antibiotic treatment may be necessary if a secondary bacterial infection becomes apparent.

From http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/aafeature1#h1

Treatment of brooklynellosis

Both Lom (1995) and Noga (2000) recommend formalin baths of between 0.125 and 167 mL/L for 30 to 60 minutes. The warmer your water, the less formalin that should be used as both formalin and increasing temperature reduces the oxygen saturation of the water.

The bath water should be matched closely with the tank water and probably the best way is to take water from the tank and place it in a bucket, add the formalin. mix well and treat the fish. Replace the removed water with fresh seawater (artificial or natural depending on what is normally used). Add an airstone to the dip bucket to ensure good aeration (and then toss the airstone away). After the dip is completed, dilute the dip water with 4 times the volume of tap water and discard.

To each gallon (or 4 litres) of bath water, around 0.6 mL of formalin should be added to get the desired dosage.

Have a second bucket of tank water ready to transfer the fish to when the treatment is complete or the fish shows signs of stress. The second bucket allows the fish to be "rinsed" before it is placed back into the tank.

Don't use formalin if the water temperature is greater than 27°C (80°F).

If the fish appear to have trouble breathing - more so than before the bath started - remove them.

From http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/brooklynella.html

Something to look into later, but I don't believe that this protozoan would have come in on a coral.

Good luck.

 

[MagicJ]

I would also recommend you have a read of this http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html - this is an excellent 'consolidation' of information available on the net.

He recommends leaving your DT empty of fish for 4 weeks.

 

[Matt_95]

I'll put in some PVC off cuts or something they can't hurt themselves on then.

I've isolated him away from anything that could hurt him now, however he is still getting worse. His tail is beginning to disintegrate. Poor little guy, I don't think I'll be able tore place him either.

Thanks for those links MagicJ, I'll give them all a dip when I take them out of the tank tomorrow to transfer them into the quarantine tank. Do you think it would be a good idea to give all fish the formalin baths before they are released into the display?

The only additions to the tank have been the coral and I use natural sea water. I don't think he could have had it at the breeders, all the fish there were of excellent health. Could it have come in with my NSW? I don't want to bring something like this in again.

 

[Dr. Schell]

I would be isolating this fish ASAP. Looks as though the fish is reacting to a pathogen int he water that is breaking down its slime coat. Are there any toxins present?

 

[Dr. Schell]

Has this fish swam into one of your corals (without aclimating)? Apears also to be dehydrated (sunken in body). Reducing the salinity in a QT may aid in its recovery by reducing the osmotic pressure on the fish.

 

[Dr. Schell]

disruption of the slime coating of the fish may quickly result in dehydration (ie as occurs with many of the parasitic disorders (ie marine white spot, etc). This can also occur as a result of mechnical damage (ie. stinging by coral etc)