clownfish disease

[Samw]

Anyone else lose clownfish this month? My brother bought 2 a few weeks ago and he asked me if he could swap 1 of his with 1 of mine so that the new ones can learn to live in his sea anemone. So I agreed. A few days later, his new clownfish dies and the new one in my tank starts to look sick. In addition, both of my original clownfishes from over 2 years ago now look like they both have clownfish disease. I then put the remaining clownfish from my brother's tank back into my tank. There is now 3 clownfishes in my tank. The next day, the 2nd new clownfish dies. So now, I just have my original 2 clownfishes left and both now have clownfish disease. Today, I just have 1 clownfish left and it might not make it through the night. All of my other fish are perfectly fine. I am very surprise as I thought clownfish were hardier than that.

[yifan917]

omg, sounds kinda scary....where did your brother get the clowns from?

[AJ_77]

Sam, were the new ones WC or tank-raised? What symptoms did they show? I have a small newcomer (ocellaris) that bears watching...

[Samw]

AJ, the new ones were tank-bred. Both of them died with Clownfish disease symtoms (heavy breathing, white coat on body). My pair was wild caught and they both also exhibited Clownfish disease symptoms after being exposed to the new clowns.

[zulu_principle]

Sam

Were they eating ?

Did you perform any dips or medication ?


Wendell

[Diomedes]

If you want to avoid clownfish deaths then quarantine your fish and use the right product as a dip or long-term precaution. Clownfish are very hardy, but you have to be cautious because this disease is brutal.
I am treating a couple clown's (1 Clarkii, 1 Maroon) that were purchased recently. The product PARA GUARD by Seachem seems to be very effective. Have treated dozens of Clowns with this and have very good success rate, even after near-total loss of caudal fin. Do not try copper, formalin etc. with Brookynella (aka Clownfish disease) because they won't work consistently...use a Malachite green based remedy. At least dip your clownfish in this stuff for an hour before introduction.

Stephen

[zulu_principle]

A tread that might be of interest.


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=2644869#post2644869


Wendell

[Samw]

Wendell, no, I had no medication on hand. I really thought the fish could fight it off without medication like they do with ich. Thanks for the tips Stephen.

[zulu_principle]

What about eating Sam ?


Wendell

[Samw]

What about eating Sam ?


Wendell

Nope. The remaining one isn't eating and the ones that died were also not eating previous to their deaths.

[Samw]

Well, that's the end. 4 dead clowns (in 2 different tanks) in a span of about 2 weeks. That is one heck of a disease. My pair of clowns were over 2 years in captivity and bred regularly.

[StirCrazy]

so does this desease stay in the tank water? or do you just have to wait a bit befor adding more clowns?

Steve

[EmilyB]

I bought a couple CB clowns locally once, and they both died of clownfish disease promptly. I've never seen that disease on any of the WC clowns I've owned. Maybe just coincidence.