Blue Reef Chromis splotches

[ritter6788]

What has changed??!

Nothing that I've seen. The blue/green are very easy to keep, the blue reef are the ones (almost) no one can keep alive.

They are being tank bred now so someone knows what they are doing. Live planktonic foods 5x per day might be the reason. http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/12/31/breeding-the-blue-reef-chromis/

 

[melypr1985]

Meredith, did you food soak metro as well? Just wondering if uronema was growing internally with those chromis. Or cyanide poisoning could be to blame if they were all collected together.

I didn't food soak it. If I get more of these guys I'll add that to the agenda

 

[clsanchez77]

Nothing that I've seen. The blue/green are very easy to keep, the blue reef are the ones (almost) no one can keep alive.

They are being tank bred now so someone knows what they are doing. Live planktonic foods 5x per day might be the reason. http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/12/31/breeding-the-blue-reef-chromis/

When I had them in my last tank many years ago, they were fed 3 times daily plus I had a very productive refugium. I kept 7 alive for 3 years and then a 2 week power outage wiped the tank.

I truly think that is what I am missing right now. It's a catch-22. I cannot feed that quantity in my QT but I can in my DT. On the flip side, I am hesitant to move them to the DT until I resolve the splotches, which prompted this post and thus my R2R membership

I have a busy day tomorrow morning and evening but I will try to get some high res photos of them again tomorrow mid-day to compare to last weekends photos.

The tank is med free and has been for over a week. I am now feeding the QT 3 times a day, but also doing 5 gallon water changes a day and dosing 5ml stability everyday. The tank is cloudy, which makes taking pictures difficult. I moved my power head to the surface and turned the flowrate on the filter to max. My confidence is building in that if this were Uronema, they would already be dead. Also the fact that my 7 gobies are unaffected but have been QT'mates for the full duration is also giving me confidence. Apetite is right on queu and their behavior is spot on chromis. Sunday is father's day, maybe I just pull the trigger then and see what happens.

 

[clsanchez77]

Nothing that I've seen. The blue/green are very easy to keep, the blue reef are the ones (almost) no one can keep alive.

They are being tank bred now so someone knows what they are doing. Live planktonic foods 5x per day might be the reason. http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/12/31/breeding-the-blue-reef-chromis/

Thats amazing and encouraging. To think that when I left this hobby in 2008, fragging corals and captive bred fish was shunned by the mass of the hobby. The purists said it could not be done. Granted, I don't like what ORA has done to clownfish, I hate seeing SW fish go the way of FW goldfish and glassfish, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[ritter6788]

I think the agression/uronema card is overplayed with BR chromis. I'm almost convinced it's a feeding issue, either amount of food or they have a specific diet.

 

[clsanchez77]

I think the agression/uronema card is overplayed with BR chromis. I'm almost convinced it's a feeding issue, either amount of food or they have a specific diet.

Based on my experience I will go with quantity; they seem to eat anything that fits in their mouth. Mine are currently pooping in orange because they actively pick the calanus out of my food blend...which does not exist in the Caribbean lol. Overplayed? Maybe warranted though to some degree. The aggression is a lack of food/territory issue for them IMO, but this is not easy to fix in QT w/o chasing it...and I have crashed two QT's so far with losses. The uronema is pretty serious and worth the extra caution IMO. Being a ciliate, this is not something I won't lose sleep over if it gets in my DT as there is not way to remove it per say. But it also leaves specific markers and I'm not seeing that.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

My chromis are currently getting fed 2x per day in QT.. frozen cyclops daily (which they pig out on) and and then either Limpits or PE Mysis (of which they can only eat smaller pieces and are somewhat hesitant)

On Sunday I will be picking up some metroplex and focus to start dosing their food.. Will certainly keep the thread updated. Only changes from initial post is that the smallest of the group is showing a bit more timid behavior. Visibly no changes.

 

[clsanchez77]

My chromis are currently getting fed 2x per day in QT.. frozen cyclops daily (which they pig out on) and and then either Limpits or PE Mysis (of which they can only eat smaller pieces and are somewhat hesitant)

On Sunday I will be picking up some metroplex and focus to start dosing their food.. Will certainly keep the thread updated. Only changes from initial post is that the smallest of the group is showing a bit more timid behavior. Visibly no changes.

Something I contemplated but regret not doing was installing some egg create in the middle of the QT to separate the smalls from the larges. In the DT, I would have enough space and rock work/shelter for them to be mixed, at least in theory. But in QT, the little ones just seemed to be afraid to eat.

I also found they would not initially accept mysis and instead I had to work them up do it. Calanus, Cyclops and Fish Eggs were all a hit. They will also destroy San Francisco Bay Brand Plankton (krill). But even now, they will leave some of the mysis be. Apparently beggars can be choosers.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Something I contemplated but regret not doing was installing some egg create in the middle of the QT to separate the smalls from the larges. In the DT, I would have enough space and rock work/shelter for them to be mixed, at least in theory. But in QT, the little ones just seemed to be afraid to eat.

I also found they would not initially accept mysis and instead I had to work them up do it. Calanus, Cyclops and Fish Eggs were all a hit. They will also destroy San Francisco Bay Brand Plankton (krill). But even now, they will leave some of the mysis be. Apparently beggars can be choosers.

The QT is a 46 bowfront and all chromis are 2" or less so egg crating would be difficult.. The smallest of the chromis is very active during feeding time so I'm not too concerned about separating them at the moment for that reason. I forgot to mention that I also tried feeding some mysis flake food (before anything else so they were hungry) with some success. I'll definetly look into getting some other small foods to try out with these guys.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

The more research/ digging around I do on these guys, the more I don't think it is uronema.. I see them all the time chasing each other down, so rather than getting metroplex I'm going to soak their food in some selcon and throw in another decoration so the smallest can hide more easily when necessary.

 

[clsanchez77]

The more research/ digging around I do on these guys, the more I don't think it is uronema.. I see them all the time chasing each other down, so rather than getting metroplex I'm going to soak their food in some selcon and throw in another decoration so the smallest can hide more easily when necessary.

That would be wise. Just remember not to do anything that could absorb medications. Just keep an eye on the wounds for any signs of bacteria infection. For that reason, I would probably still keep the metroplex in the food. I will move mine to DT today. I just want to get some comparison pictures first.

 

[clsanchez77]

Here is my update photos. This is a big improvement over the past few days. Went up to 3 feedings and dosing 2ml of Seachem Vitality with the food, all med free

Fish No 1
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Fish No 2
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Here is my update photos. This is a big improvement over the past few days. Went up to 3 feedings and dosing 2ml of Seachem Vitality with the food, all med free

Fish No 1
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Fish No 2
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr
Chromis in QT - Improving by Christopher Sanchez, on Flickr

Those markings look identical to the ones on my chromis, although mine don't have as many..

I'm sitting next to the tank watching them (can't manage to get any decent pictures) and I see the larger two chromis target the smallest every 2 minutes or so.. the smallest continues to come out and attempts to join the group, but does not succeed.

All 3 just ate a decent amount of crushed up 'Cobalt mysis flakes' which are packed with probiotics

 

[clsanchez77]

I moved them over and a few notes. First, the two chromis just became best friends all over again . Secondly, royal grammas do not like chromis near their den . Finally, red spotted hawkfish eat masked gobies . Down 2, 3 to go. That's the thing about reef tanks, no matter how much you research you will still learn something new each day.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

I may move the smallest chromis into my 10g mantis shrimp tank (not as crazy as it sounds). I've housed a pair of clowns with said mantis for months and not once did he gave them a dirty look. It's fed every 2 days and there's always a few hermits around for snacks if he gets jumpy.. I want to avoid the death of the smallest (or any of them for that matter) so he will go about the rest of his quarantine in that tank. I'll probably move him tommorrow after i get home from work.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Thats very brave of you. You must really know your Mantis. Keep us posted on his condition.

 

[clsanchez77]

I may move the smallest chromis into my 10g mantis shrimp tank (not as crazy as it sounds). I've housed a pair of clowns with said mantis for months and not once did he gave them a dirty look. It's fed every 2 days and there's always a few hermits around for snacks if he gets jumpy.. I want to avoid the death of the smallest (or any of them for that matter) so he will go about the rest of his quarantine in that tank. I'll probably move him tommorrow after i get home from work.

May not be the best idea if the chromis is in a weakened state. But yes, most mantis go after other inverts. If I remember correctly, clubbed mantis typically eat crustaceans and snails where speared mantis eat small fish. Either way, they are opportunistic and it will be hard to turn down a weakened fish.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

I would only be worried about the mantis going after him if the chromis were lying on the ground which he's not.. I'm fairly sure he's not gonna last in with the other 2 chromis in the 46.

Edit: I actually just remembered that I have a net breeder cage that I could use.. don't know why I didn't think of it before

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

New development: smallest chromis did not make it while in the mesh breeder net (still in the 46 QT tank).. Larger 2 chromis unphased and still swimming together

 

[Maritimer]

Sorry to hear that.

These blue-reefs are a challenge, for sure.

~Bruce