Tis the season for....brook?

[bcollie]

I guess what both my qt black & white clowns have is brook. They were fine & eating this morning; tonight they have a white dusting over their bodies. Their breathing is heavy and each is stationary in its own spot. I'll find the treatment tomorrow and start it tomorrow night. Are their chances good since I discovered this early? I don't understand this..for almost two weeks they have looked great, were active and eating quite well. Damn.

 

[greymach]

from what i have heard is brook kills fast. I dont know how to treat it but i think you should asap

 

[lazypinoy]

yeah it kills quick. ive heard something about a formalin bath for it and once treated it cures it. ur gonna have to ask someone about this one.

 

[bcollie]

When I checked them this morning, I thought they had ich!...that is how bad they looked. About 30 minutes later, they looked like they did last night...more a dusty coating on their bodies. They do have skin blemishes..lesions I assume; its hard to tell since they are black. One is gasping more than the other, and was doing the vertical posture. In reading about ich, velvet & brook...I can't really be certain what they have. The only thing they are not doing is rubbing their bodies up against solid surfaces. Other than that, their syptoms match what I have read about all three issues.
I thought tank raised fish were suppose to be free of these inflictions? They have been in qt since I first brought them home; they have suffered no trauma; the water parameters are good. I lowered the salinity in hopes lower salinity would buy me time. I am just sick to my stomach.
I had my wild caught cinnamon clown for 4 yrs without any problems. I sold the cinnamon so that I could have black & white clowns. I waited 3 mths for these fish..and now this. These clowns came from a very reputable, well know breeder..

 

[beth]

Take a look at the examples in the Diseased Fish thread.
The treatment for brook is formalin bathes, and the procedure is detailed in the FAQ Thread.

 

[bcollie]

I did look at the pictures last night, and the clowns did look to like they have brook last night, then this morning they looked like the had ich and then about 30 minutes later, it appeared to be brook again. The 'spots' were so well defined in the 'ich' period I knew they had ich (I mean cystal clear tiny sugar/salt like spots..I was shockd), but later the 'spots' were back to the dusty look. I didn't see a heavy mucus on either fish. I looked at both under a magnifying glass...I could see lesions on both, and although the dusting did look like spots, they did not look like ich spots which to me have a more defined, pimpled look. Brook looks like smooth or flat spots to me with more of a blurred edge. I didn't think brook would effect their eyes like ich, but one of the pictures on the thread does shown brook on a clown's eyeball.
I don't hold out much hope...in fact, I expect one to be dead when I get home.
I did start the salinity reduction this morning.
btw, I read that I shouldn't just say parameters are good. The parameters last night were amm 0, nitrates/nitrites 0, ph 8.0, salinity 1.025. Salinity was down to 1.019 when I left the house this morning. Ph is probably down too but I don't know what it is.... If I have any live fish tonight I'll head to the store for baking soda. dr

 

[beth]

Are you doing hyposalinity in your display? You can do this with inverts and LR present. What are you using to measure salinity.
It is possible that your fish have both. Can you post a picture?

 

[bcollie]

Thanks for your reply. The clowns have been in a qt tank since I brought the clowns home. I started the hyposalinity in the qt this morning. I am using a borrowed refractor to test the salinity. My camera won't let me get a photo that close to reveal the clown's skin.
As I feared, one clown is dead. However, the other clown looks a little better. It was swimming around the tank and actually came up to the side of the tank to look at me when I looked at him/her, and he/she was doing the clownfish wiggle. I offered food and he/she was a greedy little pig. I'll continue with the salinity drop....to 1.009(?). I'll recheck that figure. And this continues for 3 weeks....wow.
I've never seen brook or velvet and the only ich I've seen was when a freshwater upside-down catfish come down with it. I have no idea if the clown has both diseases.

 

[bcollie]

The 2nd clown died over night. Since these clowns were tank bred, born & raised, I wonder if it would have been better not to qt them. I contacted the guy who shared the order with me (he bought 3 black & white clowns) and his clowns are doing just fine...his were not placed in a qt but were acclimated and went into his display tank.

 

[beth]

This was very likely brooklynella. Not likely that the clowns would die from ich so quickly.
Hyposalinity will only treat ich, not brooklynella.
Sorry to hear this.

 

[bcollie]

I thought I read reducing salinity was used for brook too. Regardless, they did go quick..less than 48 hrs I think. I just can't think of what could have stressed or traumatized them to cause the brook to flare up. This is one of those times I want to chuck it all and just stick with my dogs & cats. This can be a heartbreaking hobby.

 

[bcollie]

Everything I've read says brook is highly contagious...does this mean I need to toss the sponge that is in the power filter? If there are no fish in the qt tank, all the bugs should die right? Even the ones on the sponge..if there are any on the sponge. thanks...

 

[beth]

The FAQ Thread at the top of this forum has info on treatment. Formalin bathes is the only effective treatment. Hypo is only effective with ich.
Sorry, I thought you may have read that, and just thought that the fish had ich. In any case, unless you had been able to find formalin quickly, they would have died. If you plan to get more clowns, be sure to have formalin on hand up front and be prepared to follow the treatment recommendations in the FAQ Thread.
You may want to give you LFS the heads up on the disease so they can treat their clowns.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by bcollie
Everything I've read says brook is highly contagious...does this mean I need to toss the sponge that is in the power filter? If there are no fish in the qt tank, all the bugs should die right? Even the ones on the sponge..if there are any on the sponge. thanks...
Brook seems to attack clowns mostly. I am not saying other fish can't get it, but it mostly effects clowns. I had a case of brook on a newly purchased clown awhile ago. He died within two days of it being noticable. I am sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[bcollie]

I think I confused treatments, or combined them in my mind thinking I needed to do both to treat brook. Thinking back, I did notice one had a blemish on its side..that was about 1 days after I got the fish home. Neither ate with the gusto I would expect of clown fish, and I offered them several different types of food. I read last night that fish with brook 'toy' with their food. I think the one was sick or starting to get sick when I received it, and the sick one passed it on to the other clown. Not that it makes me feel any better, but I'm pleased to rule out my tank/water and/or possible trauma they suffered in my care. I'm don't mean to rehash this over & over, but I want to learn and be prepared for the next time. I sure hope there is never a next time.
Thanks to everyone for their input. To those of you that have lost a fish to brook, I am very sorry for your loss.
I will alert the breeder to what happened...the clowns came directly from a breeder, not through a lfs.