Brooklynella Hippo Tang

[chatyak]

Help! What product to use for Brooklynella? I recently added shrimp and coral to my tank and now my hippo tang who has been fine for years is covered in a white "stuff". Looks like flour you use in baking, it is scratching, breathing heavily... I am guessing brook... which means my entire tank "has" it.

[Tech Support EH]

Hello chatyak,

I am very sorry to hear about your hippo tang possibly developing Brooklynella. Brooklynella is a very insidious parasite that must be treated immediately, as it can potentially be lethal within days. If indeed you are dealing with Brooklynella, the best medication that we can offer is Paraguard. However, Paraguard is unfortunately not considered 100% reef and invertebrate safe. If you do not have the option of quarantining the affected fish, then you really only have the option of treating with Metronidazole via a medicated food mix.

So, the best course of action, if possible, is to treat the hippo tang with Paraguard for about 3 weeks in a quarantine tank. This will give the fish the best possible outcome when faced with a potential Brooklynella infestation.

If you do not have the option of setting up a QT tank, then the only other option that we could offer is feeding Metronidazole. When utilizing Metro in a medicated food mix, it is not available in the water column and therefore your corals and invertebrates will have minimal exposure to the medication.

To feed Metronidazole, use 1 scoop Metro with 1 scoop Focus (a binding agent) added to the food once daily. You can also add some GarlicGuard to entice the fish to eat the medicated food more readily. GarlicGuard will also help to boost the immune system of the fish, helping to prevent possible secondary bacterial or fungal infections. To read about all of the products mentioned here, please see these links:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ParaGuard.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Metronidazole.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Focus.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/GarlicGuard.html

Best of luck to you, and we sincerely hope that your tang will recover quickly. Have a nice day.

[chatyak]

What about the rest of the fish? I would need to treat everything wouldn't I, and leave the tank fallow for 8 weeks?

[Tech Support EH]

In order to completely eradicate the parasite from your display tank, you would most likely need to remove any potential hosts (all fish) for a couple of weeks, if you do not have the option of treating the entire tank. You could try feeding Metronidazole for 3 weeks in the display and see if this makes a difference. Of course, any fish who are not eating will not benefit from a medicated food mix.

[chatyak]

Here is a video - you can see what I mean around :04 and :09 seconds if you pause it. Not sure if that helps any in a diagnosis. Seems to be more pronounced in person - doesn't show well in picture/video.

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/chatyak/?action=view&current=IMG_0241.mp4

[Tech Support EH]

Hi chatyak,

Thanks for the video. While I can certainly see what you are alluding to, it is unfortunately very hard to make a definitive diagnosis via the video. Brooklynella is characterized by a very fast-growing slime or mucus that builds and builds, eventually covering the gills and suffocating the fish.

Whether or not the fish is indeed suffering from Brooklynella or a condition caused by another parasite, your options are still quite limited in your main tank, since it now contains corals and invertebrates. Metronidazole is really your only option in the display.

If you are going to set up a QT, then Paraguard is a great option. Either way, I would suggest starting a treatment as quickly as possible, as Brooklynella (if that's what it is), can be deadly very quickly.

[chatyak]

Here are some pictures to further add. Yes my QT is filled at the moment with new arrivals... would have to establish another QT somewhere and go buy a tank.