Tip: Surviving Brooklynellosis

(The author's Picasso breed A. percula in quarantine)

I recently ordered a pair of ORA's 'picasso' breed of percula clownfish (from a vendor who shall remain nameless) that arrived heavily infested with brooklynellosis.  After a week in the quaraintine tank and lots of medication, my clownfish managed to pulled through.  However, this led me to thinking "how often does the average hobbyist see this disease?  Will they be able to identify and treat it quickly enough to prevent mortality?  I should write a post about this!"  Because brooklynellosis can kill very fast, quick diagnosis and treatment is essential.   

What is brooklynellosis, you ask? 

Brooklynellosis is a protozoan parasite that commonly affects wild caught clownfish, or captive bred clownfish that were irresponsibly exposed to wild caught clownfish (as was the case with my fish).  Brooklynellosis symptoms include excessive mucous production, white "fuzz" or "rashes" on the skin.  Infected fish will also show a rapid respiration rate and act listless. 

Once you've diagnosed brooklynellosis, prompt treatment is essential.  Move the affected fish(es) to a quarantine tank, and begin treatment with formalin.  I used Quick Cure (a combination of formalin and malachite green sold to treat ich and crypt) at standard marine dose as directed, as well as methylene blue and erythromycin to combat secondary bacterial infections.  I also dosed Seachem's StressGuard (an excellent product) at a double dose per day.  My clownfish were lucky enough to make a full recovery after 5 days, and showed great improvement after only 24 hours. 

Great success has been had with the captive breeding of clownfish, so brooklynellosis isn't very common, and should never be seen in captive bred fish.  However, brooklynellosis is much more prevalent in wild caught fish, so it's good to know what to look for.  Remember, always quarantine everything, captive bred or not!

Share:

© Captive Aquatics / CA Blog