Clownfish- ich? Brook?

[thebookshark]

Hello everyone,

My clownfish seems to have either ich or Brook. I know I likely have ich in the system as I had a Royal Gramma succumb despite treatment with PolypLab Medic (about a month ago). However I have a possum wrasse and a YWG which have always been completely unaffected (I know these species are often resistant; I was under the impression clownfish were as well due to their thick slime coats but alas). I do not have a QT but I pulled the fish today and did a 30 minute bath with Ich-X in tank water in a separate container. The fish is still eating and swimming actively. It was panting a bit after the bath but seems to have recovered fine now.

Can anyone ID the parasite and recommend any other treatments? I do not have a QT and don’t want to treat the display as I have a clam and lots of other sensitive inverts and SPS. I understand ich will remain in the system but the other two fish are perfectly healthy and have had zero signs of infection so really I just want to get the clown stable enough to fight it off if possible. TY!

 

[90gDreams]

looks more like velvet or brook than Ick. I don't have any treatment recommendations if you aren't willing to fallow the tank and treat the fish outside the display. You can do various dips like a formalin bath to knock it back but once you put it back in there is a strong chance it will simply reinfect the fish.

Depending on the outcome of this you might want to consider looking into the tank transfer method, or buying fish directly from ORA, Biota, or other breeding facilities. Fish diseases are a real pain to deal with once in the system. Ick isn't always terrible but plenty of other ones can just about ruin this hobby for you.

 

[siege]

Can you get a picture under white light only? And/or video?

Treating a display and nuking ones biodiversity is, as far as I'm concerned, is usually a non-option. But at this point I think you'd be well advised to invest in a cheap 10 or 20 gallon tank (and some cheap plastic plants and decorations that can be easily sterilized so the fish don't stress being in an empty box) to move the fish into for ongoing observation, treatment if/as necessary, and holding for the next 80 days while you let the tank sit fallow and allow the ich to burn itself out. Otherwise you're literally just sitting on a ticking time bomb.

For every post made about "the only 20+ year old reef tanks don't QT and have parasites", there are at least 100 more posts from people who didn't QT and lost multiple fish as a direct result. All too often, in 10+ year old tanks. Maybe if one has the time, money and access to the ocean to recreate some of their methods, but failing that... is it really worth the ongoing risk? If you're not able or willing to do QT yourself, as @90gDreams said, consider buying pre-QT'd fish from now on, or you'll just wind up right back here again eventually, except it might be something worse like uronema.

While we're all willing to help as best we can here, Humble.Fish is going to be the single most authoritative source on fish diagnosis and treatment.