2 clownfish/ happened overnight. Any advice?

[Freeze 15]

2 clownish look this way overnight. They are swimming at the surface. My dog face puffer is scratching on sand and rocks allot. Any thoughts of what this is and what I should do?

 

[Freeze 15]

#fishmedic

 

[coralconor]

Scratching I believe could be ich

 

[Cell]

Seems like velvet given this all progressed overnight. But im also seeing large spots like ich and skin sloughing like brook.

What fish did you add recently? What fish are currently in the tank?

 

[Lavey29]

The dusty looking coating on the clowns is mucous and is indicative of brook disease which means all fish need to go into QT and treated with formulin immediately. Tank needs to fallow for 76 days.

 

[Lavey29]

Seems like velvet given this all progressed overnight. What fish did you add recently?

Velvet doesn't have spots or dusty mucous coat just rapid breathing.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Have you noticed any white spots previously? Late-stage ich looks like that, but it generally doesn’t get that bad overnight. Could you post a video (linked through YouTube) to assess respiration rate?
Brooklynella is the other possibility, which will onset faster and creates a similar mucus film over the fish.
Both require different treatments, so it is important to know which one it is.
Do you have access to copper and formalin?
I would start with a formalin treatment (ruby reef rally pro also works but is not as effective) as that works on brook and has some effectiveness on ich).

Velvet doesn't have spots or dusty mucous coat just rapid breathing.

Velvet will give a dusty coat (hence the name), but usually by the time the mucus shows it is far too late, which is why the fast breathing is far more indicative. I don’t think this is velvet based on the long strands of mucus (characteristic of ich or brook).

 

[vetteguy53081]

2 clownish look this way overnight. They are swimming at the surface. My dog face puffer is scratching on sand and rocks allot. Any thoughts of what this is and what I should do?

these fish have brooklynella often referred to as clown disease. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body. The thick mucus on its body generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue. An alternative would be ruby Rally pro which takes a little longer.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

 

[Lavey29]

Have you noticed any white spots previously? Late-stage ich looks like that, but it generally doesn’t get that bad overnight. Could you post a video (linked through YouTube) to assess respiration rate?
Brooklynella is the other possibility, which will onset faster and creates a similar mucus film over the fish.
Both require different treatments, so it is important to know which one it is.
Do you have access to copper and formalin?
I would start with a formalin treatment (ruby reef rally pro also works but is not as effective) as that works on brook and has some effectiveness on ich).

Velvet will give a dusty coat (hence the name), but usually by the time the mucus shows it is far too late, which is why the fast breathing is far more indicative. I don’t think this is velvet based on the long strands of mucus (characteristic of ich or brook).

Jay told me in a prior post that the only major symptom for velvet was rapid breathing. No mucous coat dusty appearance.

 

[Cell]

Is it normal for brook to go from zero to 60 like this overnight? @vetteguy53081

 

[Lavey29]

Is it normal for brook to go from zero to 60 like this overnight? @vetteguy53081

Having experienced it, yes it can. Depends on the strength of the individual fish and their immune system but once it starts it attacks the tank fast.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is it normal for brook to go from zero to 60 like this overnight? @vetteguy53081

While rare, it can happen as the fish's immune system weakens and being a cilia parasite, have no direct cycle and once in the gills and on host fish can multiply quickly

 

[Freeze 15]

Having experienced it, yes it can. Depends on the strength of the individual fish and their immune system but once it starts it attacks the tank fast.

So I’m removing rock and inverts from my tank and going to start copper I guessed. Should I ramp up up go straight to therapeutic levels? Have tomini , hippo, 2 puffers, 4 gobies, Angel and 2 triggers

 

[Freeze 15]

So I’m removing rock and inverts from my tank and going to start copper I guessed. Should I ramp up up go straight to therapeutic levels? Have tomini , hippo, 2 puffers, 4 gobies, Angel and 2 triggers

1st clown died an hour ago, 2nd clown looks like he’s doing any minute now. No other fish showing signs of anything at the moment

 

[Lavey29]

So I’m removing rock and inverts from my tank and going to start copper I guessed. Should I ramp up up go straight to therapeutic levels? Have tomini , hippo, 2 puffers, 4 gobies, Angel and 2 triggers

You don't want to treat your DT. Treat the fish in a separate QT tank. Leave rocks and inverts in DT fallow for 76 days.

Follow Vetteguy directions above

 

[Freeze 15]

You don't want to treat your DT. Treat the fish in a separate QT tank. Leave rocks and inverts in DT fallow for 76 days.

Follow Vetteguy directions above

You don't want to treat your DT. Treat the fish in a separate QT tank. Leave rocks and inverts in DT fallow for 76 days.

Follow Vetteguy directions above

Really don’t have much choice. I don’t have a qt large enough for all fish. I’m thinking of removing all rock, removing all sand, treating with copper, and doing a bleach out on tank after all copper, trying to almost start over after I use my tank as a large qt. Only thing I’m worried about is my canister filter. Only thing I can figure may treat remaining fish and eradicate velvet or Brooklynella. Any thoughts?

 

[Lavey29]

Really don’t have much choice. I don’t have a qt large enough for all fish. I’m thinking of removing all rock, removing all sand, treating with copper, and doing a bleach out on tank after all copper, trying to almost start over after I use my tank as a large qt. Only thing I’m worried about is my canister filter. Only thing I can figure may treat remaining fish and eradicate velvet or Brooklynella. Any thoughts?

In theory yes you can and like you mentioned the cannister filter will be a concern and needed to be cleaned out thoroughly. What about a couple 20 gallon brute cans for QT. I would just be concerned that any residual formulin will prevent you from having inverts or coral in the tank for quite awhile and inverts are needed for cleaner crew.

@vetteguy53081 is most knowledgeable here.

 

[Freeze 15]

In theory yes you can and like you mentioned the cannister filter will be a concern and needed to be cleaned out thoroughly. What about a couple 20 gallon brute cans for QT. I would just be concerned that any residual formulin will prevent you from having inverts or coral in the tank for quite awhile and inverts are needed for cleaner crew.

@vetteguy53081 is most knowledgeable here.

I could possibly do that. I have my inserts in a bucket right now. It’s there away if I use my tank as a qt to transfer my inserts to a healthy tank without transfer the disease? Or will they have to be in another tank too? Think maybe dip them in fresh rodi before putting them in another dt i have?

 

[Sharkbait19]

To qt inverts, you simply have to keep them in a fishless system for 60 days. It’s much simpler and easier to move fish into a qt - it doesn’t have to be anything special, just something to keep fish alive for the time being.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay told me in a prior post that the only major symptom for velvet was rapid breathing. No mucous coat dusty appearance.

In some fish, at the very end of a velvet infection (right before they die) you can sometimes see skin issues, but in many cases, they just breath fast and then die.

I'm not sure what is going on here....

Jay