Brooklynella

[maleficent]

I lost two of five yellow-tail blue damsels to brooklynella in spite of formalyn etc. about two months ago. Last week I had another of my damsels become ill with the same symptoms and appearance. i spent 4 hours attempting to capture him and finally gave up. Two days later he started breathing slower and his fins began to improve and the large white patches disappeared with no treatment. The two damsels I lost died within 48hrs. Is this something I should worry about recurring? Do I need to treat the others anyway?

 

[maleficent]

Brooklynella has been recently cropping up in damsels and angels. I had a hard time believing that was what it was because I had only known it to be associated with Clownfish. I did some research and it was the only organism that fit the clinical picture. My tank params are: pH 8.2, SG 1.024, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Calcium 420, KH 11, Temp 78, My tank is 55g with 50lbs live figi rock, 60 lbs of live sand, Emperor400 filter, Seaclone skimmer, 200gph powerhead and 196w PC actinic and daylight.

 

[beth]

Well, the fact that LFS's or any hobby stores where fish are sold for that matter, share tank water, filtration systems, etc., means that brook can not really be thought of as strickly a clownfish disease.
I had bought 2 clowns a few mos ago, one came in with brook, and died within a short period. A few days after the first died, the remaining fish becane with symptoms....I immediately began garlic treatment as I could not catch the fish in my reef to perform the standard treatment. The fish survived and is doing fine. I'm not saying garlic had any effect. However, I was thinking that perhaps the fact that the clownfish had a host anemone might have had something to do with the recovery. I don't know. Perhaps its a very strong, healthy clownfish.