Brooklynella, QT and Medication (sorry for the length!)

[jencheung]

So I had a pair of clowns for 2 1/2 years. I lost the little male two weeks ago (not disease related). My female seemed stressed and unhappy so I introduced a new male a week ago. They took to each other immediately and were happily swimming around together and hosting together in the toadstool leather. This afternoon the light turns on in the tank and my female has a pretty advanced case of Brooklynella. She seemed fine last night, ate greedily as usual. It seems to have just sprung up overnight. The new little male seems fine so far.

I set up a QT for them and got them out of the display tank so I can medicate them. I put the little male in there too since everything I've read said that it's pretty contagious. They're in about 5-6 gallons of water with a powerhead, airstone, heater and some pvc pipe. I used the recommended dosage of Quick Cure (formalin and malachite green) which is "1 drop per gallon every day." I know I'm going to have to do at least daily water changes so do I medicate just the new water or do I remedicate for all 5 gallons every day after I do the change?

I suspect that the female will not make it through the night. My question then will be, since the male has not yet shown symptoms, should I take him out of the QT and put him back in the display tank? The tank does have other fish in it so leaving it fallow isn't really an option. Should I leave him in the medication longer just in case? He'll have been in the medicated tank for about 14 hours by the time I wake up tomorrow morning. My inclination is to take him out and put him back to prevent him from being too stressed either from the medication or from being in the QT but if he'll benefit from staying in there longer I'll definitely leave him in. What would be more better for him?

My other question is concerning the equipment in the QT. After being used in the tank with the medication will they be safe to use again when I'm not using medication? The powerhead that's in there now I use to circulate and heat water for water changes. Will it be safe to use after I'm done with the QT? Should I treat it somehow? I'm concerned that somehow it'll absorb some of the medication and leach it back out later. Same thing with the heater. Will it be better to mark them for use only with that medication and get new ones for regular use?

Thanks so much for your patience if you've made it all the way to the end of this and I really really appreciate any advice or input you might have!

 

[jencheung]

Well, the female did not make it. The little male still looks good so I think I'm going to put him back in the main tank in a little bit unless someone has an argument otherwise.

Can anyone answer my questions about my equipment? Will I be able to clean them effectively so I can use them in non-medicated applications? Or is that a separate set of stuff I should reserve for use only if and when I need to use the formalin/malachite green again? How should I go about cleaning them? Vinegar bath?

Thanks

 

[jencheung]

Well since I haven't gotten any responses here I called my most trusted LFS for some advice and moved the male back into the display tank since he hasn't shown any signs of the accursed disease. I'll keep the QT up and running for a few more days just in case he comes down with it but I've got my fingers crossed and I'm hopeful. I have one last question and maybe someone will chime in. How long should I wait before introducing another clown?

 

[Cerianthus]

Hi! Jen,
Sorry for your loss but I am not so sure if it was Brook? How big is the tank? What kind of Clown? Is this Reef/FOWLR/FO? If had them for 2-1/2 yrs, I must say you done well!!
Did she show whitish slime/Haziness over the eyes?

As Far as cleaning of tools (PH, Heater), I doubt they would have absorbed/adsorbed any Med but can always have it running/dipped in F/W for few days with daily change of water.

If for reef, I would not take a risk of using any tools from Q/T tank, especially when used remedy which can be toxic to corals..

Since you already have a Q/T, How about q/tg new arrivals for couple of weeks or longer. I know it is pain and have to monitor Q/T more closely (small tank) but I think it is worth the trouble. All you need to do is take the water from main to q/t and acclimate the new arrrivals and monitor the water conditions closely.
When using as hospital, I would rather use gentle coarse aeration over PH since weakened fish has to spend more energy in stong currents.

I have not mentioned testing since you kept the Clown for more than 2 yrs and that told me that you know importance of stability of water.

I would definitely would not use the Q/T tank as reserve to prepare new salt water if tank is reef!
Hope this helped a bit!

 

[jencheung]

Thanks for the response Cerianthus.

I'm pretty sure it was Brook. At least it matched the pictures that I found online. I also brought a video taken on my camera into my LFS so that they could take a look and they said it was Brook too. It's 24g reef tank and they're tank raised oscillaris clowns.

The only thing that I was really concerned about is the powerhead as it's one that I use when circulating and heating water before a water change. I don't use the tank for that but I'd hate to have to buy yet another powerhead if I can effectively clean this one.

I know, I know I should always quarantine new arrivals, and honestly I usually do. However, these were tank raised clowns and from a LFS I trust. The female seemed to be so stressed out about not being able to find her mate and I thought the risk was pretty low about bringing in disease so I took the risk. And it's seems weird that the new clown doesn't show any signs of the parasite at all. It's been a week since I got him. Of course I'm keeping a very close eye on him and I'm keeping the hospital tank running with the meds in it for a couple of days so it's ready in case I need to treat him. I want to make sure that the one I already have is in the clear before I think about going back to the LFS.

*sigh* It's just so frustrating to lose them like this. They were my very first saltwater fish and have been through a lot with me. I brought them back from a vicious bout with crypto a couple of months after I got them and then after having them in a little 10 gallon FO for a year I set up this little reef for them. Just a couple of months ago they started hosting my toadstool leather which was just awesome to watch. Well, at least they're together now in the great fishbowl in the sky...

 

[Cerianthus]

Instead of PH, can use any aeration to circulate the water if possible.
As far as PH, I guess you could take apart and scrub and clean thoroughly but Malachite Green being pretty bad dye, I dont know.

Anyway, I must say you done well with ocellaris.
Although new fish can be carrier of such protozoan (no obvious symptoms), if memory serves, always had symptoms associated with eye (cloudy/hazy eyes).

BTW, when using any med with Formaldehyde, make sure fish are free of any opened wounds/skin. And take caution when you transfer fish out of such med tank to main tank to minimize any of med tank water dripping into main tank.

I know very well how you feel after such long time together.

Hope all goes well!

How did you get your cat into basin? When I used to keep Cats & kittens, they never went near water, lol.

 

[jencheung]

Again, thanks for the responses Cerianthus. Good point, I'll just an airpump to circulate while I figure out how I can clean the powerhead. And thanks for the support about the clowns. Of course any time I lose a fish I start to question my husbandry skills.

I was careful to keep as much of the water from dripping into the tank as possible when I moved the fish back over. And I made sure to have water on hand in case I needed to do an emergency change. So far things look good (knock on wood). I've given him a couple of very small feedings and he's eating well, his eyes are clear, his breathing is normal and he doesn't have any visible signs of the parasite. We'll see how he looks in the morning.

I didn't know that about formalin and open wounds on fish. I'll be sure to keep that in mind whenever I use the medication. I know it's nasty stuff but it seems to do the trick on these not un-common parasites so I keep it on hand just in case.

As far as my kitty goes, he decided one day that he likes to nap in bathroom sinks. I think he likes the curved shape of the basin as he fits in it pretty well. I've never turned on the faucet when he's in it so I don't think he associates it with water. But he does like to go in the tub after I've showered when it's still wet so who knows what he's thinking!