Maroon Clownfish - White covering on body

[sawrip]

Hello,

I have a Maroon clownfish which has a white almost mucas type covering on the left of her body. Would somebody be able to advise what I'm looking at. Currently in a observation tank after two weeks in Chloroquine Phosphate for suspected velvet

 

[crazyfishmom]

That sounds like it could be brookynella. Can you provide a picture or video of the clown?

 

[sawrip]

That sounds like it could be brookynella. Can you provide a picture or video of the clown?

Just uploaded

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That looks like brooklynella. It is very difficult to treat when it reaches this level.

Odd thing though - this looks like a long term captive tank raised lightning clown - I would not expect such a fish to get Brooklynella bless it was exposed to wild caught clowns. Can you give a history of this fish?

The best treatment for Brooklynella is formalin dips. That is tough to get and pretty toxic to use though. If you can get it, I can walk you through the process.

Ruby Reef Rally Pro seems to work on minor infections.

Chloroquine has really mixed results, I suspect due to varying doses used. I would dose it at 15 ppm, but 20 might be needed.

 

[sawrip]

That looks like brooklynella. It is very difficult to treat when it reaches this level.

Odd thing though - this looks like a long term captive tank raised lightning clown - I would not expect such a fish to get Brooklynella bless it was exposed to wild caught clowns. Can you give a history of this fish?

The best treatment for Brooklynella is formalin dips. That is tough to get and pretty toxic to use though. If you can get it, I can walk you through the process.

Ruby Reef Rally Pro seems to work on minor infections.

Chloroquine has really mixed results, I suspect due to varying doses used. I would dose it at 15 ppm, but 20 might be needed.

So I have dosed Chloroquine again at 15ppm in the QT. I can't figure the source of this infection out, the tank hasn't had any new additions for many months (coral and fish) and this clown is the only one in the tank. It shares the tank with a fuzzy lion and small scorpion fish which were added just under a year ago.

It has been sat next to my coral QT setup so I wonder if aerosole transmission has possibly happend?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So I have dosed Chloroquine again at 15ppm in the QT. I can't figure the source of this infection out, the tank hasn't had any new additions for many months (coral and fish) and this clown is the only one in the tank. It shares the tank with a fuzzy lion and small scorpion fish which were added just under a year ago.

It has been sat next to my coral QT setup so I wonder if aerosole transmission has possibly happend?

Possibly, or transmission on a wet hand. Brook has direct development, so enough of them would been to be brought over to start an infection.

Also, while the symptoms APPEAR to be Brooklynella, visual identification of fish diseases is ALWAYS just a "best guess" as so many symptoms overlap.

FYI - I've had some toxicity reactions with lionfish and chloroquine - where the lionfish (volitans) ate in the morning and died that afternoon after a 20 ppm dose. I don't know if this issue extends to other scorpion fish, but it was one reason why I stopped using Chloroquine.....

 

[sawrip]

Thanks, it just doesn't makes any sense really, literally came out

Possibly, or transmission on a wet hand. Brook has direct development, so enough of them would been to be brought over to start an infection.

Also, while the symptoms APPEAR to be Brooklynella, visual identification of fish diseases is ALWAYS just a "best guess" as so many symptoms overlap.

FYI - I've had some toxicity reactions with lionfish and chloroquine - where the lionfish (volitans) ate in the morning and died that afternoon after a 20 ppm dose. I don't know if this issue extends to other scorpion fish, but it was one reason why I stopped using Chloroquine....

I sadly had to euthanize this morning, she's was rapidly breathing and was corkscrewing around the tank, it wasn't fair to let it continue.

My question is I'm now left with a fuzzy lion and small scorpion fish. I have formalin on order (37 percent), which should hopefully be hear shortly. Can you talk me through the process please to treat them.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks, it just doesn't makes any sense really, literally came out

I sadly had to euthanize this morning, she's was rapidly breathing and was corkscrewing around the tank, it wasn't fair to let it continue.

My question is I'm now left with a fuzzy lion and small scorpion fish. I have formalin on order (37 percent), which should hopefully be hear shortly. Can you talk me through the process please to treat them.

Are the lion and scorpionfish showing any symptoms? If not, you might want to just wait and see. If they are, then you can just use a 25 ppm dose of formalin in a treatment tank, daily for five days. To calculate a 25 ppm dose, you need to know the exact volume of water to be treated - then, it is gallons of water multiplied by 25 and then divided by 264. So, for ten gallons of water, it would be: 25 * 10 / 264 = 0.95 milliliters of formalin. Always use personal protective equipment (goggles, gloves, mask) when dosing formalin and use it in a well ventilated area. The tank must be aerated very well with an air stone during the treatment, and of course, monitor all water quality parameters during treatment.

 

[sawrip]

It's impossible to tell with the little scorp but both him and the lion appear ok. My concern is that I want my tank free of it and if I transfer them back to the DT after six weeks fallow we are back to square one - parasites still there. Currently the QT has 15ppm chloroquine in it. I am thinking of maybe using a formalin bath with them and then into an new sterile QT setup.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It's impossible to tell with the little scorp but both him and the lion appear ok. My concern is that I want my tank free of it and if I transfer them back to the DT after six weeks fallow we are back to square one - parasites still there. Currently the QT has 15ppm chloroquine in it. I am thinking of maybe using a formalin bath with them and then into a new sterile QT setup.

The problem with that is single formalin baths are not 100% effective, so there will be some carryover. Then, the sterile tank will have no biofilter, so you’ll be battling ammonia.

 

[sawrip]

The problem with that is single formalin baths are not 100% effective, so there will be some carryover. Then, the sterile tank will have no biofilter, so you’ll be battling ammonia.

Ok so I definitely need to dose the current QT with Formalin in that case. Would you remove the 15ppm Chloroquine Phosphate via water changes and then dose it or can you mix the meds?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ok so I definitely need to dose the current QT with Formalin in that case. Would you remove the 15ppm Chloroquine Phosphate via water changes and then dose it or can you mix the meds?

I would remove at least half the chloroquine, I don’t know of any contraindication for mixing them, but formalin is a reducing agent.

 

[sawrip]

I would remove at least half the chloroquine, I don’t know of any contraindication for mixing them, but formalin is a reducing agent.

Thanks, I will remove half then dose formalin as you've advised. Finally move to a sterile observation tank, whilst DT runs fallow.