4 Chromis dead in 3 days

[eliaslikesfish]

Hi all, I’m new here and just had a quick question, I have a 60 gallon tank fish only with no corals yet and i have 2 clownfish and a baby blue hippo tang…The clownfish are thriving so I decided to get a baby blue hippo tang along with 4 chromis about 4 days ago, the tang is doing great eating well and swimming around all day, however the morning after I got them 2 chromis had died, then the next day another was gone, then today the last one died. I noticed the last one had a red mark almost looked like a wound at the top of his mid body but I’m just confused, all my parameters are perfect and the other fish seem happy. any insight would be much appreciated, I want to have a school of chromis but i’m worried about trying it again.

 

[threebuoys]

Pictures would have helped with a possible diagnosis. I will say that chromis are very susceptible to uronema. That infection often displays as red vertical lesions on the side of the body. Death usually happens quickly once the wound appears. Try searching "uronema chromis" and you will see numerous references to this malady.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all, I’m new here and just had a quick question, I have a 60 gallon tank fish only with no corals yet and i have 2 clownfish and a baby blue hippo tang…The clownfish are thriving so I decided to get a baby blue hippo tang along with 4 chromis about 4 days ago, the tang is doing great eating well and swimming around all day, however the morning after I got them 2 chromis had died, then the next day another was gone, then today the last one died. I noticed the last one had a red mark almost looked like a wound at the top of his mid body but I’m just confused, all my parameters are perfect and the other fish seem happy. any insight would be much appreciated, I want to have a school of chromis but i’m worried about trying it again.

Please post pics of fish under white light intensity as they are susceptible to uronema/ red band disease and bacterial/fungal issues

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Green chromis have been having high mortality issues - sometimes due to uronema, other times due to poor handling before you get them. In any event, I avoid that species if it came from SE Asia, the mortality rate is just too high (30 to 60% or more within 40 days). If you can source them from Tahiti or East Africa, those do better.

The last fish you described probably had Uronema:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[eliaslikesfish]

Pictures would have helped with a possible diagnosis. I will say that chromis are very susceptible to uronema. That infection often displays as red vertical lesions on the side of the body. Death usually happens quickly once the wound appears. Try searching "uronema chromis" and you will see numerous references to this malady.

 

[eliaslikesfish]

Pictures would have helped with a possible diagnosis. I will say that chromis are very susceptible to uronema. That infection often displays as red vertical lesions on the side of the body. Death usually happens quickly once the wound appears. Try searching "uronema chromis" and you will see numerous references to this malady.

Thank you all for the quick responses! I apologize for not adding pictures, don’t know why I didn’t But I did look up uronema on Chromis and it seems that is exactly what they had (the last one at least) I’m not sure if I should even try to add more chromis or if I should try to find another peaceful schooling fish… If you have any suggestions please let me know!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you all for the quick responses! I apologize for not adding pictures, don’t know why I didn’t But I did look up uronema on Chromis and it seems that is exactly what they had (the last one at least) I’m not sure if I should even try to add more chromis or if I should try to find another peaceful schooling fish… If you have any suggestions please let me know!

If you go with more green chromis, I would suggest buying pre quarantined ones - uronema is tough to treat, but shows up early on, so any losses would be on the dealer quarantining the fish, not you.

Jay

 

[TheDuude]

I have had better success with chromis once I started feeding Metroplex soaked food during quarantine. Seems to knock back the red band if they start showing it

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have had better success with chromis once I started feeding Metroplex soaked food during quarantine. Seems to knock back the red band if they start showing it

The trick with that is getting the dose correct - it needs to be 1 to 2% by weight in the food. At that level it is pretty bitter and some fish won’t eat it.

Have you seen this actually reverse Uronema lesions? I haven’t seen that myself.

Jay

 

[Kzang]

Thank you all for the quick responses! I apologize for not adding pictures, don’t know why I didn’t But I did look up uronema on Chromis and it seems that is exactly what they had (the last one at least) I’m not sure if I should even try to add more chromis or if I should try to find another peaceful schooling fish… If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Uronema is in your tank. You can't get rid of it, unless you bone dry all equipment, and get rid of all the fish. Some fish are more susceptible to it, like chromis.

 

[TheDuude]

The trick with that is getting the dose correct - it needs to be 1 to 2% by weight in the food. At that level it is pretty bitter and some fish won’t eat it.

Have you seen this actually reverse Uronema lesions? I haven’t seen that myself.

Jay

Only once, but I wouldn't call them lesions just faint red bands. I have found the fish take it when mixed with focus and selcon

No significant numbers, 6 batches of 3 chromis, could just be having better luck