Brooklynella not going away

[dulcisveteranus]

I've had two clownfish that got brook after adding a firefish goby. I gave them a rid ich bath and put them in a quarantine and they were perfectly fine the next day. I put them back in the display tank and they got brook again. One of the clownfish died and the other still alive. I left the filefish in the display tank. He doesn't show any symptoms and is healthy. I gave the clownfish another rid ich bath after a week. I put her in the quarantine and she was healthy again. I treated the main tank with ridich 3 times before adding the clownfish back. The firefish and my hermit crabs stayed in the DT. After the treatment, I added the clownfish back in the Display tank and a day later I see another brooklynella spot. What do I do? I can't do fallow display because my parents won't let me have another quarantine tank for that long.

 

[Sammy S]

That disease is terrible. Both of my clownfish had gotten it after I fed them a new bag of frozen shrimp even though my tank was healthy....within 48 hours they died.
Formalin is the preferred medication for treating brooklynellosis, and may be used on the aquarium fish either as a dip or a continual bath. “Saturated formalin” is used, a 37 to 40 percent solution of formaldehyde in water.

Formalin will kill saltwater aquarium invertebrates and algae, so it cannot be used in a reef aquarium. Formalin also displaces oxygen from water, so supplementary aeration of the water will be required in the quarantine aquarium.

This quote comes from Fish Channel, and I agree it's the best method, however anyone else's input i also very helpful:

"Treatment dips are normally performed daily for 5 days. Dosage, duration and frequency should be described by the manufacturer and may vary slightly between brands. But the required concentration of formalin is 200 mg/l, or 2 ml of 37 to 40 percent formalin per 2.6 gallons (10 liters) of seawater. Treatment dips last 30 to 60 minutes, though the aquarium fish should be removed immediately should it show signs of severe distress, such as rolling onto its side. Some aquarium fish react negatively to formalin dips (including surgeonfish, tangs and butterflyfish), in which case half-doses should be used instead. Once dipped, the aquarium fish should be placed in the quarantine aquarium and observed.

If used as a continual bath, formalin needs to be added to the quarantine aquarium at the dose recommended by the manufacturer. The aquarium fish will need to be held in the aquarium for at least 7 days. Reduced salinity (hyposalinity) is beneficial, but otherwise environmental parameters, particularly pH and temperature, should be similar to those of the display aquarium.

Because brooklynellosis causes damage to the skin, there is value to using medications that boost or replace the slime coat of the aquarium fish after the formalin treatment is concluded. Damage to the skin may allow secondary infections to develop, so the use of a broad spectrum antibiotic in the quarantine tank is useful, especially following severe infections."

This is one of those nasty parasitic infections..... unfortunately quarantine is the best on truly only viable solution if you have corals. I wish you the best of luck in treatment and continue to keep an eye on your other fish for signs of it showing up since it is aggressive and can kill fish in a few days.

 

[Sammy S]

Also, please remember brooklynellosis cannot be treated in reef aquariums because formalin is highly toxic to invertebrates! So be careful when using this treatment for them

 

[54seaweed]

I've had two clownfish that got brook after adding a firefish goby. I gave them a rid ich bath and put them in a quarantine and they were perfectly fine the next day. I put them back in the display tank and they got brook again. One of the clownfish died and the other still alive. I left the filefish in the display tank. He doesn't show any symptoms and is healthy. I gave the clownfish another rid ich bath after a week. I put her in the quarantine and she was healthy again. I treated the main tank with ridich 3 times before adding the clownfish back. The firefish and my hermit crabs stayed in the DT. After the treatment, I added the clownfish back in the Display tank and a day later I see another brooklynella spot. What do I do? I can't do fallow display because my parents won't let me have another quarantine tank for that long.

First of all never treat the main tank as copper will ex-orb into rock , making the tank useless for a reef . you will not be able to keep any inverts or coral ,
if you treated the main tank don't be surprised to find all inverts dying off.

the best thing to do is to leave the tank fallow 8/10 weeks if there are no fish to host it will die off ,

a dip in rid ich will not cure Brooklynella/ick it only kills off some of the parasite , fish need to be qt for 4/6 weeks being treated to kill off the ich/brooklyella ,

rid ich is not a instant cure a week qt isn't enough time in qt you may have killed off most of the parasite but when you reintroduced you started the life cycle all over again

disease-and-treatment/the-brooklynella-parasite.

 

[Sammy S]

First of all never treat the main tank as copper will ex-orb into rock , making the tank useless for a reef . you will not be able to keep any inverts or coral ,
if you treated the main tank don't be surprised to find all inverts dying off.

the best thing to do is to leave the tank fallow 8/10 weeks if there are no fish to host it will die off ,

a dip in rid ich will not cure Brooklynella/ick it only kills off some of the parasite , fish need to be qt for 4/6 weeks being treated to kill off the ich/brooklyella ,

rid ich is not a instant cure a week qt isn't enough time in qt you may have killed off most of the parasite but when you reintroduced you started the life cycle all over again

disease-and-treatment/the-brooklynella-parasite.

I completely agree with this!!

 

[dulcisveteranus]

Nevermind guys. I think my clownfish actually doesn't have brook anymore. The white spot is not there anymore, then again it could've been just me seeing things because it was very late at night especially on finals week. She seems perfectly healthy now! She's active and eats fine! I'll keep a close eye on her. Hopefully the disease is gone now. If I had to resort to fallow display I wouldv'e just quit the saltwater hobby and go back to freshwater. Thanks for the help!

 

[melosu58]

BrooklynellosisArt


Never treat your tank for parasites.

 

[dulcisveteranus]

It's still a FOWLR though...

 

[54seaweed]

that doesn't change things , as copper will leech in to the rocks rendering the rock useless for a future reef and copper will kill inverts and not allow coral to grow

 

[dulcisveteranus]

Ridich doesn't have copper though...

 

[54seaweed]

remember salt water is totally different than freshwater , things are done differently for a reason . any and all medication will leech into the rock rendering it useless ,if down the line you want to add coral they will most likely die off . inverts are very sensitive also they can and will be poisoned from the medication . this is why we never treat the main tank with any medication that's why a qt tank is needed.
I'm not here to steer you wrong if you chose to do different that's your choice.