Blue Green Chromis Help?

[Billiam228]

So I'm a newbie and I started my tank 1 month ago, my parameters are perfect so 5 days ago I decided to put some fish in. I put 5 chromis and everything went perfect! My lfs has a quarantine tank set up so you can put the fish you want in the tank and the come pick it up a week later. So I finally took them home and put them in, they fed instantly and were schooling it was great. At the 48 hour point I saw that one was missing so I wait and then... it saw out of a hiding spot and was having trouble breathing the laid on its side, then stopped breathing. No markings no signs of anything. Two days after that I come home from work and found another one dead (same thing as last). And now today i noticed another one was missing so I look for it. I found him hiding in a rock and acting lethargic. I coaxed him out with food and noticed a red sore on his tail (managed to snag a picture). The other 2 have seen to have paired up and are for the most part inseparable. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on and if it's anything I did. Sorry for the long post!

 

[HotRocks]

Looks like Uronema to me. See the attached link. You will want to treat these guys asap! Also take note, that Uronema cannot be eradicated from a tank by a fallow period. Well explained in link.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/

I also just noticed you are new to R2R, welcome, lots of great people here with great info!

 

[Billiam228]

Thank you so much! It just seems to be a ruff start -.- I checked out the link and most methods seem to no be read safe and i have a couple of hitchhiker coral that a thriving (for some reason lol) so if you have any ideas I'd look to hear them

 

[deedubz]

You can bind metroplex with seachem focus. The thinking there is because the disease spreads internally, you'd want to feed the meds.

Measure- spoon that comes with the meds
Grab a Dixie cup or something. This mix can be frozen to preserve.
1 level "measure" focus
1 level "measure" metroplex
1 tbsp pellets
Few drops of tank water to help mix
Feed daily
Run carbon to pull meds that may have leached into water.

 

[HotRocks]

Thank you so much! It just seems to be a ruff start -.- I checked out the link and most methods seem to no be read safe and i have a couple of hitchhiker coral that a thriving (for some reason lol) so if you have any ideas I'd look to hear them

The treatment may be reef safe, but, the problem lies in the fact that, your fish could become infected over and over, as Uronema can be removed from the fish with treatment, but not the tank itself
I personally have never dealt with the disease. @Humblefish @Big G @4FordFamily @Maritimer @melypr1985 any suggestions for this fella?

 

[deedubz]

The treatment may be reef safe, but, the problem lies in the fact that, your fish could become infected over and over, as Uronema can be removed from the fish with treatment, but not the tank itself
I personally have never dealt with the disease. @Humblefish @Big G @4FordFamily @Maritimer @melypr1985 any suggestions for this fella?

I was going to mention that too. I've never dealt with it so I wasn't sure how you'd rid the tank itself, minus breaking the whole thing down and bleaching everything

 

[Billiam228]

Thank you guys so much! I'm gonna try to pick up the meds and see how that goods... wish me luck!

 

[melypr1985]

I was going to mention that too. I've never dealt with it so I wasn't sure how you'd rid the tank itself, minus breaking the whole thing down and bleaching everything

That would be the only way to do it. Break it down and sterilize.... or running chlorine in the system to kill everything off and sterilize that way. Either way you have to start all over with massive die off to contend with on top of it. It's best to keep it out of your system all together even if it isn't likely to effect most of your other fish.

 

[Big G]

Article from Advanced Aquarist on Uronema:

Uronema marinum
Uronema marinum is a free-living rather than obligate parasite as it feeds on live food, dead tissue and bacteria. However, this parasite is opportunistic and, it is often found on recently captured, transported, or otherwise weakened hosts. Poor conditions and stress are believed to be factors as they negatively impact the host’s immune system. Uronema marinum infects fish within a wide temperature and salinity range and invades the internal organs in advanced stages.

Reproduction
Reproduction is by fission.

Symptoms
Early on, increased mucus production and hyperactivity may be seen as symptoms of Uronema marinuminfection. Focal de-pigmentation, ulceration and pitting of the skin, respiratory distress, lethargy, flashing, clamped fins, erratic swimming, gasping at the surface or laying at the bottom of the aquarium are symptoms. Raised scales with bloody patches (hemorrhages) can also be exhibited. These lesions can be difficult to distinguish from those exhibited with vibrio bacterial infections.

• Excess mucus production
• Hyperactivity early in infection
• Focal de-pigmentation
• Ulceration and pitting of the skin
• Respiratory distress
• Lethargy
• Clamped fins
• Gasping at the surface or sitting on the bottom
• Raised scales with bloody patches
• Flashing
• Erratic swimming

Treatment
It is crucial to begin treatment early before this parasite invades internal organs. Early stages of infection may be controlled with freshwater or formalin dips (Basiola and Gratzek,1992.). Some success has been reported with nitrofurazone and methylene blue (Chueng et al., 1980. Bassleer, 1983). Experimental treatments with anti-malaria drugs such as chloroquine and quinacrine hold some promise. Hydrogen peroxide can be effective against parasites on external surfaces, but it is not well tolerated by some fish. Systemic infections have a poor prognosis. Secondary bacterial infection is common. It may be wise to follow formalin or freshwater dips with a course of nitrofurazone treatment.

 

[Billiam228]

So at this point my whole tank is infected... and there isn't anything I can do except nuke the tank and start over?

 

[melypr1985]

So at this point my whole tank is infected... and there isn't anything I can do except nuke the tank and start over?

Well, you could avoid chromis

 

[Billiam228]

From my understanding it can affect other fish too? Please correct me if I'm wrong lol

 

[Big G]

It's a nasty parasite. It not only attacks the usual gills, eyes, etc. But it also goes after the kidneys and the brain of the fish. Thus the extremely high mortality rate. Nuke the tank. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[Billiam228]

What about a copper treatment, any luck with that?

 

[HotRocks]

Copper is only for ich and velvet.

 

[Billiam228]

Ok so let's talk options! Which nuking method to do (most effective for Uronema marinum)

 

[Big G]

Drain. Wipe down with a bleach solution and clean all equipment too. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Dry. Start over. Sorry. Been there, done that.

 

[Billiam228]

Ya that's what I figured... what about the inverts and coral? How should I deal with them? Keeping them would be optimal but I'm prepared for the worst.

 

[4FordFamily]

So I have had this many times with fish and aside from occasional butterflies it’s not really been an issue. It seems to go away on its own in the tank— except for chromis it’ll kill them. But my other fish, aside from some butterflies never seemed affected and ive never treated for it.

That said, any chromis I’ve ever added died of the parasite. I’m not suggesting inaction, the disease is ugly enough that if it did take over your other fish it’s such a quick killer it would be too late — but you should know many just quit chromis altogether and years go by without issue. I’ve had a pearlscale or two and one copperband become afflicted with this disease, but nothing else ever. Even during my days of “throw it in and hope for the best”.

That said, that doesn’t work anymore as velvet ich and brook are everywhere! Do with that information what you wish. If you wish to keep chromis or butterfly you really need to nuke and start over. If not, some thinking to do.

 

[Billiam228]

My biggest fear is to "deal" with it and be constantly in fear of it with every fish that I add.