I think my new tang has brook

[Naiad]

So I picked up some new fish to start replacing the ones I lost. Today marks day one of my qt procedures and it already looks bad. The regal tang is breathing hard and swimming into the current. It is pale and seems to have white patches. Since my first step is usually to get fish eating these fish are in a tank with rock to pick off ect. I will be setting up a hospital style qt now to treat. It seems formalin baths are the recommended course. I will attempt that. Should I also medicate the qt with something? Also should all fish get baths or just the tang?

 

[Naiad]

Bad shot I know...

 

[Naiad]

So I'm giving the tang a bath. I really hope Idid not misdiagnose this. I will move the tang into a bare qt in case further treatment is needed. I'm not sure about dipping the others until I'm sure what I'm dealing with

 

[Naiad]

 

[melypr1985]

Your describing velvet, but it doesn't look that way from the pictures. From the pictures I'd say brook. The two side by side for comparison. I'm leaning towards you having caught brook early in this case.

Brooklynella:

Symptoms – This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s).

Treatment options - Formalin bath, followed by additional formalin baths (as needed - but give the fish a day to recuperate in-between baths). You can use formalin in a QT (at a much lower concentration than the bath), but great care must be taken to provide plenty of gas exchange as formalin will quickly deplete the water of oxygen. For this reason, doing baths is the safer option as the fish can be pulled from the formalin if showing signs of distress. Formalin-MS is preferred, as that contains 37% formaldehyde. However, in a bind, any medication containing formalin (ex. Quick Cure) is better than nothing. Alternative treatments for brook include metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex) and acriflavine (ex. Acriflavine-MS). A freshwater dip may provide temporary relief if you are unable to locate any of the aforementioned medications right away.

Velvet (Amyloodinium):

Symptoms - Because velvet can be such a fast killer, key behavioral symptoms will often prelude visible ones. A fish with velvet may breathe heavy, seek relief by swimming into the flow of a powerhead and act reclusive (velvet makes them sensitive to light).

If visible symptoms do manifest; velvet appears the same as ich, except the fish will usually be covered in “dust.” This dust may look gold colored if viewed at the right angle and under the right spectrum of light. Velvet is often misdiagnosed as ich and is the main “tank killer” in our hobby. It can wipe out all your fish in less than 72 hours and cannot usually be “managed” as ich sometimes is.

Treatment options - Chloroquine phosphate is the treatment of choice for velvet, but copper also works if symptoms are caught early on. Tank transfer and hypo does notwork with velvet. A freshwater dip or formalin bath is recommended before treatment begins, due to the severity of this disease; however these would only provide temporary relief and will not eradicate velvet.

 

[Naiad]

Ok ty. I gave the fish a formalin bath. The tang is now alone in a bare qt tank. So should I keep doing baths until things get better? I will keep an eye on other 2 fish that were with the tang.

 

[melypr1985]

Ok ty. I gave the fish a formalin bath. The tang is now alone in a bare qt tank. So should I keep doing baths until things get better? I will keep an eye on other 2 fish that were with the tang.

Yes. I would give it a couple baths... if things arn't showing improvement after that, then we might want to consider other possibilities.

 

[Humblefish]

The regal tang is breathing hard and swimming into the current.

^^This suggests velvet.

It is pale and seems to have white patches.

^^This is not all that unusual for a Hippo Tang.

After the formalin baths, are you transferring him to a new QT?

 

[Naiad]

Yes it is in the new qt tank

 

[Humblefish]

Yes it is in the new qt tank

I would treat the QT with either copper or CP as a precaution.

 

[Naiad]

I would treat the QT with either copper or CP as a precaution.

Ok I will try and find cp tomorrow

 

[Humblefish]

Ok I will try and find cp tomorrow

CP would be ideal, as it treats ich, velvet, brook & uronema. However, if you must use copper (which only treats ich & velvet) add metro to it to treat the other two.

 

[Reefahholic]

Really sucks that CP isn't more available to hobbist. After all, we are saving fish here. People freak out about saving the whales, yet do to size, a yellow tang is merely overlooked.

 

[Naiad]

The tang died in the night. I am really worried now about the butterfly that was in the other qt with it. They shared a tank for 24 hrs.

 

[michellejy]

I'm so sorry. I lost my clownfish to brook. I had never seen the symptoms before, so I kept attributing the small signs to other things until the day she started losing color. By then, it was too late; she was gone in a few hours.

You probably want to drain/sterilize the tank that the tang was in so you have it as an option to medicate/isolate the butterfly (if it isn't already on its own). I am sure @Humblefish and @melypr1985 will have suggestions about treating the butterfly. I wouldn't be surprised if a precautionary dip is recommended, but I don't have any success with the disease to make an intelligent recommendation.

Good luck to you.

 

[Naiad]

Ty yea I plan on bleaching the hospital tank. I have a few feelers out for CP. Hopefully the other guys hold on until I can get some.

 

[melypr1985]

Rinse the tank out with vinegar and let it and all the equipment dry completely. That will sterilize the tank and equipment for you. You can treat the butterfly with copper or CP. If you can't get the CP qickly, then start the copper.

 

[Naiad]

Got replacement for tang squared away with lfs. Working out picking up CP from another reefer. Will clean out tank tonight and let dry overnight. Planning on having the fish in a hospital tank and beginning treatment tomorrow or as soon as I get meds.

 

[Naiad]

Ok so I have everything ready. Took longer than I expected. Remaining fish are alive. The mandy seems unfazed by whatever killed the tang which given their slime coat isn't surprising.. the butterfly shows no symptoms of disease but lack of appetite. This is a new CBB though so that could just be the fish not adapting to captive life. Now would cp be good enough on these two without the harsh dips because there is no visible symptoms of illness only possible exposure? I really want to try and get the CBB into a larger tank asap as it is not eating well. I have a 55 it could recover in if it makes 2 weeks in CP. Also what is the best way to dose the CP? Should I have it in qt before adding fish or move fish first?

@ Humblefish

 

[Humblefish]

@Naiad I dose CP in the QT before ever adding the fish, that way they are being treated from Day 1. However, I would get your CBB eating before exposing to CP.