Clownfish Emergency Need Advice ASAP

reefer420ppm · 03/17/2018, 06:06 AM

Last night I noticed my clownfish's fins were frayed and that he has a discolored hazy patch on each side of his body. I had already been monitoring the clown because he had exhibited strange behavior within a few days of introducing him to the tank. Originally I had noticed him acting weird when I would put the pumps in standby to feed. He would at times just stop swimming and then sink backwards slowly until he reached the sandbed. He would lay there for a few seconds on his side and then go back to swimming around like normal. He never seemed to do this when the pumps were on though so I assumed it was just some sort of odd clownfish behavior. He would also pick up food and spit it back out a lot but it still seemed that he was actually consuming a good portion of the food so originally this didn't worry me.

I do not have space for a QT tank in my apartment and now I'm beginning to regret even trying to attempt this hobby without one. The tank has been running for a few weeks now and all my parameters are all in check. My guess is brooklynella after doing some research. All the other fish and inverts look fine and have yet to exhibit any signs but I fear that they are in danger as well. I am at work right now and will be stopping by the local pet stores this evening in an attempt to procure some form of treatment. The searches I ran on the topic seemed to point to using a formalin bath as the primary treatment. I doubt I'll be able to find 37% formalin locally today so I was planning to settle for Ich-X or some similar product that contains formaldehyde. I also read that Acriflavine and Metronidazole could be effective in treating for brook. My question is which treatment would you guys recommend for me, considering I have no QT tank and 4 other fish that could potentially become affected? Can I combine any of these treatments or will the medications mix and create undesired complications? Is there any successful method that could eradicate the brook entirely in the display without running it fallow for weeks? Can I even successfully cure this disease without a QT tank?

My tank is a 30 gallon long with a 20 gallon sump. I am running carbon, gfo, skimmer, and refugium. I do not currently have any corals yet.
My stocking is as follows:
1 x cappuccino clown
1 x royal gramma
1 x six line wrasse
1 x blue reef chromis
1 x flame angel
2 x peppermint shrimp
1 x cerith snail
1 x super tongan nassarius snail

tkiry1 · 03/17/2018, 06:30 AM

If it's broknella which is going around.. I have an all clown tank.... The only way to help them especially if it looks like they are panting is to do a freshwater bath...I have saved at three or four that way.. I get tap water actually and use prime and get a black bucket... Match up Temps of course... And I do it for like 10 minutes.. Just my two cents...

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reefer420ppm · 03/17/2018, 06:58 AM

He isn't showing any signs of difficulty breathing yet, but I was definitely planning on doing some sort of dip when I get home from work this afternoon. I wasn't sure if dips alone would be enough to solve my problem since the fish will just go right back into the display after dipping. Also I still need to know whether to dip only the affected fish or if I should be focused on dipping all of the inhabitants in the display.

j.falk · 03/17/2018, 11:44 AM

You put all of that livestock in a 30 gallon tank after only a few weeks? Are you sure your tank is fully cycled already?

reefer420ppm · 03/17/2018, 01:12 PM

I started with 30lbs of wet live rock from my lfs and 30lbs of carribsea argalive sand. I started up the skimmer and I added the clown and the royal gramma first. I fed daily and tested parameters daily. Ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites all stayed at 0. The skimmer had produced some skimmate though. After the first week I did a 20% water change, dumped my skimmer cup, and cleaned my filter sock. Then I added the rest of the livestock and added chaeto to the refugium. I continued testing parameters daily and everything has remained in check and still currently is. I was planning on doing another 20% water change tomorrow.

j.falk · 03/18/2018, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefer420ppm

He isn't showing any signs of difficulty breathing yet, but I was definitely planning on doing some sort of dip when I get home from work this afternoon. I wasn't sure if dips alone would be enough to solve my problem since the fish will just go right back into the display after dipping. Also I still need to know whether to dip only the affected fish or if I should be focused on dipping all of the inhabitants in the display.

Only dip the affected fish. If the others look fine, don't dip them...you'll just stress them out and potentially cause more harm than good. If you can, find something to separate the clown into while it is healing up (like a breeder box that hangs over the side of the tank). If the clown has tattered fins, my guess is that something else in the tank is probably picking on it and if I had to put money on it...I would say it'd probably be the sixline. They don't always play well with others.

03/17/2018, 06:06 AM	#1
reefer420ppm Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 3	Clownfish Emergency Need Advice ASAP Last night I noticed my clownfish's fins were frayed and that he has a discolored hazy patch on each side of his body. I had already been monitoring the clown because he had exhibited strange behavior within a few days of introducing him to the tank. Originally I had noticed him acting weird when I would put the pumps in standby to feed. He would at times just stop swimming and then sink backwards slowly until he reached the sandbed. He would lay there for a few seconds on his side and then go back to swimming around like normal. He never seemed to do this when the pumps were on though so I assumed it was just some sort of odd clownfish behavior. He would also pick up food and spit it back out a lot but it still seemed that he was actually consuming a good portion of the food so originally this didn't worry me. I do not have space for a QT tank in my apartment and now I'm beginning to regret even trying to attempt this hobby without one. The tank has been running for a few weeks now and all my parameters are all in check. My guess is brooklynella after doing some research. All the other fish and inverts look fine and have yet to exhibit any signs but I fear that they are in danger as well. I am at work right now and will be stopping by the local pet stores this evening in an attempt to procure some form of treatment. The searches I ran on the topic seemed to point to using a formalin bath as the primary treatment. I doubt I'll be able to find 37% formalin locally today so I was planning to settle for Ich-X or some similar product that contains formaldehyde. I also read that Acriflavine and Metronidazole could be effective in treating for brook. My question is which treatment would you guys recommend for me, considering I have no QT tank and 4 other fish that could potentially become affected? Can I combine any of these treatments or will the medications mix and create undesired complications? Is there any successful method that could eradicate the brook entirely in the display without running it fallow for weeks? Can I even successfully cure this disease without a QT tank? My tank is a 30 gallon long with a 20 gallon sump. I am running carbon, gfo, skimmer, and refugium. I do not currently have any corals yet. My stocking is as follows: 1 x cappuccino clown 1 x royal gramma 1 x six line wrasse 1 x blue reef chromis 1 x flame angel 2 x peppermint shrimp 1 x cerith snail 1 x super tongan nassarius snail

03/17/2018, 06:30 AM	#2
tkiry1 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 134	If it's broknella which is going around.. I have an all clown tank.... The only way to help them especially if it looks like they are panting is to do a freshwater bath...I have saved at three or four that way.. I get tap water actually and use prime and get a black bucket... Match up Temps of course... And I do it for like 10 minutes.. Just my two cents... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

03/17/2018, 06:58 AM	#3
reefer420ppm Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 3	He isn't showing any signs of difficulty breathing yet, but I was definitely planning on doing some sort of dip when I get home from work this afternoon. I wasn't sure if dips alone would be enough to solve my problem since the fish will just go right back into the display after dipping. Also I still need to know whether to dip only the affected fish or if I should be focused on dipping all of the inhabitants in the display.

03/17/2018, 11:44 AM	#4
j.falk Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 632	You put all of that livestock in a 30 gallon tank after only a few weeks? Are you sure your tank is fully cycled already?

03/17/2018, 01:12 PM	#5
reefer420ppm Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 3	I started with 30lbs of wet live rock from my lfs and 30lbs of carribsea argalive sand. I started up the skimmer and I added the clown and the royal gramma first. I fed daily and tested parameters daily. Ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites all stayed at 0. The skimmer had produced some skimmate though. After the first week I did a 20% water change, dumped my skimmer cup, and cleaned my filter sock. Then I added the rest of the livestock and added chaeto to the refugium. I continued testing parameters daily and everything has remained in check and still currently is. I was planning on doing another 20% water change tomorrow.