Brooklynella or Marine Velvet?

[Richs2k6]

In an effort to give my clown fish a friend I bought a smaller one to join him. Just over 24 hours later I noticed when the lights when out he went crazy and starting swimming up and down the tank and then finally ended up laying on the sand bed breathing heavily. When I went looking for him a few minutes later he was in the back of the tank with a worm wrapped around him. I figured they didn't get along and he died of stress. Anyhow, I noticed what looked like his skin peeling but figured it may have been because the larger one was nipping at him though I never actually witnessed it. When I came home today I noticed the larger one had the same issue. The skin was peeling and he was swimming erratically, almost as if he was blind. Now I am pretty sure the smaller one was diseased and he passed it on to the larger one. I did some research and it had to have been Brooklynella or Marine Velvet but I can't really tell the two apart. I was hoping someone can confirm it by looking at the pics.

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/6140/photo2oq.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img600/4410/photo1fog.jpg

Now that I am fishless where do I go from here? Do I still need to treat the tank or just give it time to die off? BTW, has anyone had problems with fish from Tongs in Fountain Valley? I bought one from there once before and it died 24 hours later too. The original clown I had for almost a year so I don't think it's my tank. I acclimated the new one for 45 minutes and did not add any water from the stores tank.

 

[Assyrian fish guy]

from the looks of it, it look alot like Brooklynella. looked at other fish with the sickness and it matches the pics you posted. i havent really dont alot of reading on this, but the lil i did due says to keep fish out for three months and work your way back up slowly. i am sure someone with more info will help you out.

 

[Richs2k6]

Yeah I just read 8-10 weeks. This sucks. My large clown was almost a year old. I'm starting not to trust fish at LFS's. Guess I'll have to be very selective, buy from here or set up a QT tank.

 

[Justin]

Should have QT'ed. Next time, put a down payment at the LFS and let them hold it for a week. Better than nothing.

 

[Mr. Plant]

Looks like its Brooklynella. I just recently lost both of my clowns due to Brooklynella. If you still want a pair of clowns, make sure you buy a "pair ", and quarantine them for several weeks,to reduce stress and make sure they are eating.

 

[wickedfish]

Test your ammonia level as well. But ya I wouldn't get anything from Tongs and just slap it in my tank.

 

[djam]

If you have a favorite fish store figure out what day they get new stock and plan around that. Say they get new stock on Monday's pick the fish(es) on Monday or Tuesday and have them hold it to Sunday. Just make sure if you ask them to hold a fish it is between batches otherwise a new batch of fish bring in the potential for new infections. As I understand it, most of the really bad things kill a fish in a few days. I"ve been to a wholesaler before that ships, they get huge shipments of fish, thousands maybe, they drip acclimate them and dump them in with everyone else.

D

 

[djam]

I personally will not buy from Tong's again, I bought a fish from them and stupidly didn't have time to setup a QT tank and just dumped him in in 24 hours he disappeared (never found the body), 2 days later everyone in the tank had bad ich (real bad). I fought it as hard as I could and spent more on meds, UV, etc than the value of all the fish.. of 7 fish 6 died and it broke my wife's heart and she wanted me to get rid of the tank.

My fault, but if you go there you will see a lot of sick/dying fish. and they cram so many fish into a small area it has to drive up their stress. It is a personal decision.

 

[Richs2k6]

If I had a bigger tank I would set up a QT tank but it's only 18 gallons. If I had a larger system I definitely would. Btw, does anyone know if it effects shrimp? I only read about fish. I might use the downtime to try and kill off my aiptasia problem. The LFS suggested 5-10 peppermint shrimp but I'm cautious because I had an ammonia issue a few weeks back. I don't want to overload the tank.

 

[BeanMachine]

I personally will not buy from Tong's again, I bought a fish from them and stupidly didn't have time to setup a QT tank and just dumped him in in 24 hours he disappeared (never found the body), 2 days later everyone in the tank had bad ich (real bad). I fought it as hard as I could and spent more on meds, UV, etc than the value of all the fish.. of 7 fish 6 died and it broke my wife's heart and she wanted me to get rid of the tank.

My fault, but if you go there you will see a lot of sick/dying fish. and they cram so many fish into a small area it has to drive up their stress. It is a personal decision.

I agree.

They have a killer invert selection though.

 

[BeanMachine]

If I had a bigger tank I would set up a QT tank but it's only 18 gallons. If I had a larger system I definitely would. Btw, does anyone know if it effects shrimp? I only read about fish. I might use the downtime to try and kill off my aiptasia problem. The LFS suggested 5-10 peppermint shrimp but I'm cautious because I had an ammonia issue a few weeks back. I don't want to overload the tank.

Won't effect inverts. Peppermints may or may not eat the aiptaisia its not guaranteed. They'll get hungry and its entirely possible they'll pick on your corals and what not. I wouldn't get that many for an 18 gallon, 3 would be enough I would think.

 

[Richs2k6]

Yeah I know but berghia are hard to come by right now. The guy at the LFS is against berghia. He said they die before they finish the job. I found that to be true. I bought two in the past and they cleaned up about 80% of them and then disappeared. I tried peppermint shrimp in the past but only bought one and it disappeared before it did anything. From what I understand you're better off buying several so they compete for food and therefor hopefully go for the aiptasia. I'm just concerned about throwing so many in at once. I was thinking of trying 5.

 

[hbtl_ofndr]

... but I'm cautious because I had an ammonia issue a few weeks back. I don't want to overload the tank.

What were your levels? Might not have been disease but rather Ammonia poisoning - which can also make "peel"/kill them.

 

[djam]

I put one shrimp in my tank, took care of about 15 of them in less than a week. 5-10 for an 18 gallon tank?

 

[Richs2k6]

You may have had the lucky shrimp. My ammonia was 4ppm but it's been stable for a few weeks. I don't think it was ammonia poisoning. While my corals died the clown weathered through it and the corals rebounded since.

 

[wickedfish]

You may have had the lucky shrimp. My ammonia was 4ppm but it's been stable for a few weeks. I don't think it was ammonia poisoning. While my corals died the clown weathered through it and the corals rebounded since.

Dude even small amounts of ammonia will kill fish like your picture shows. That's why I suspected it. Maybe your tank isn't full cycled. Some corals are more resistant than fish.