Brooklynella help

[seafansar]

Dang really? I wish I'd read that a few hours ago. I just put the male in a QT tank that has sand and LR in it. I'd hate to tear it down and throw out the sand and rock. He looks really good, but if he shows any signs whatsoever (rapid breathing, clamped fins, lethargic swimming) I'll treat him. He looks tank raised. Are tank raised clowns less likely to get brook than wild?

 

[leebca]

In general, these two are not the same: tank raised and tank bred. I would assume that tank raised fishes could have been exposed to Brook.

It depends on how the 'Tank bred' were handled. If they were put into a marine system with wild caught fishes, just consider them wild caught when it comes to Brook. If they have never be in water that was in contact with wild caught fishes, then I would say they have a very real likelihood of not being infected.

It also depends upon how they were tank bred, Were they in water that had contact with wild caught, untreated fishes? Was the breeder person conscious of keeping Brook out and took all the necessary steps? Were the parents tank bred or wild caught?

 

[seafansar]

Ummm...I'll call the people I got it from and ask.

 

[seafansar]

Here's the new clarkii. He's been acting normal, but I'm keeping a close eye on him.

 

[seafansar]

Well I gave the female her third, last, formalin bath. She didn't look as stressed out this time. I'm still keeping an eye on the male. He is still looking good; very active and breathing normal. I just had a few questions. Could a clown who is not stressed out have brook and just show no signs of it (like ich)? Also should I worry about the male changing sex any time soon? I was thinking if he looked good for another week or two, I'd put them in the same QT tank. Bad idea?

 

[leebca]

Sara,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I was hospitalized last Friday and have just been released. Had a mystery infection which has cleared up.

Brooklynellosis used to be called the 'stress disease.' This was because a fish can carry it and not display having it. It is for this reason I recommend that all newly acquired Anemonefishes not previously treated, be treated as if they have brooklynellosis.

The QT process has many purposes. One is to give the fish a chance to acclimate to captivity, learn to eat, get accustomed to the owner, etc., all under a reduced stress or stress free condition.

When two Anemonefishes are put together, Mother Nature takes over, forcing one to dominate the other. This ensures gender determination. This domination behavior is very stressful and continues -- it is ongoing. For this reason I never recommend putting two together in the same QT. Each fish is stressed. The dominating one must expend energy to dominate, the dominated fish is obviously stressed by being harassed.

 

[seafansar]

Thanks. I'm glad you are feeling better.

I won't put the clowns in the same QT then. I'll put them in tanks right next to one another, so they can see each other and see how they react.

 

[Woodstock]

Sara,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. I was hospitalized last Friday and have just been released. Had a mystery infection which has cleared up.

Yikes!! Sorry for your illness but I am soooo happy you're doing okay and are back with us!
:whstlr:

 

[seafansar]

Dang it! Got another clown with brook again! It's a perc that a friend was desperate to get rid of. He said the male died, and now we know why. Hopefully I can find some formalin in time.

BTW, the clarkiis are doing just fine. They are in my dad's tank right now. They haven't showed any signs of the disease since the treatment. It appears, though, that they never paired up. They just don't act like a "couple" like my perc pair, but at least they don't try to kill one another.

 

[seafansar]

I'm treating the fish right now, but now I'm not 100% sure it's brook. The poor little clowns fins are just falling apart. It has some mucus build up, but is losing it's fins a symptom of brook?

 

[seafansar]

I treated the fish twice with the formalin. She's looking good and growing her fins back.

I forgot to mention how hard formalin is to find nowadays. I guess FL banned the sale of it, cause it can cause cancer. Luckily one of my LFS's had a jug of it to treat his incoming fish. He just told me to bring in a container and he'd give me some. Nice guy!

The friend who gave me the clown didn't know what brook was prior to talking with me. Before I picked up the fish he had already added another pair of clowns. Well, about 4 days later they started showing signs of brook. He took them back to where he bought them from so they could treat the fish, but both fish died after 2 days.
He's going to wait 4 weeks before adding more clowns, but he has a cleaner wrasse in the tank still (28 gallon). He says he can't catch it and has no place to put the wrasse. I told him the wrasse will probably keep the parasite alive even if it's not showing any signs of disease. Am I correct?

 

[leebca]

The group of parasites that cause Brook are a bit 'tricky.' They can hang around fish and not harm them until the fish becomes stressed. They favor Anemonefishes, although I've known Angelfishes to get infected too.

This all leads up to the thought/opinion that removing the wrasse may not be all that important. I believe once properly treated the fish returning to the same display tank isn't a problem (where there are other fish there or not).

 

[seafansar]

Interesting. I'll tell him he can quit worrying about it so much.