Hi Drew,
Accotding to two authors,
Brooklynella hostilis, like that other much-loved ciliate protozoan
Cryptocaryon irritans, supposedly has a life cycle that involves a free-swimming stage, an infesting stage,.... onto a free-benthic/dormant stage. It completes its life-cycle on the fish, according to Moe and many others.
So if you DO have Brooklynella on your fish,
(Could you list observable symptoms?) then you likely have it in the tankwater and the substrate as well.
Leaving the display devoid of fish for X weeks is often bandied about, although there is a lot of contention on several aspects on treating Brooklynelliosis (Stopskopf suggests copper, while Blasiola dismisses copper as useless..but I digress)
Yes, to my knowledge it is just
fish they latch onto, and (as with
C.irritans) the length of time they can survive without fish is at least partly a matter of opinion.
Thus we have similar recommendations to treat the fish and the display simultaneously and separately. You supposedly treat the tank by thoroughly removing detritus (alas for live sandbed owners), and boosting mechanical-filtration efficiency
Treatment of the isolated fish consists of the following.
* 15 minute bath in freshwater of matching pH and temp. Carefully observe fish for problems during the bath.
* 15 minute bath in saltwater (same pH, temp...) with 1000ppm Formalin.
* Dosing the isolation tankwater with Acriflavine, (10-14 days after the baths) w/c at the least counters secondary infections.
*continued isolation for another 10-14 days before you risk reintroduction to the tank.
I should mention that there are those who attempt to treat the fish and tank simultaneously but not separately. That is, the fish are kept in the display for the duration of treatment. However, the risk of reinfestation is obvious, and if they should dose Acriflavine into the display then useful nitrifying and
denitrifying bacteria may be affected.
FWIW, this disease is one big reason why quarantining your new purchases is so important. Once the beasties are in the gate, it can be a hard slog indeed getting them out.
Hang in there.
I'm channeling all of my dark powers to aid you as I type
[This message has been edited by horge (edited 11-17-2000).]
