Can anyone help identify what killed my fish???

[Mark Nicoletti]

Can anyone identify what killed these guys?

I also lost two clowns and a yellow tang. My hippo tang showed some scratching but seems fine now. I do quarantine my fish but all this started after I placed a recently quarantined fish in the DT. I’ve treated the DT with Praziquantel (since it’s reef safe).

Any thoughts?

 

[fishguy242]

hi,sorry to see,lets get some expert eyes here, #reefsqaud @Jay Hemdal

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

It looks like a bacterial infection or Uronema. It looks more like a bacterial infection IMO.

We need to know the following:

1. How long did it take for the fish to die after you noticed the issue?
2. How long did you quarantine for?
3. Were you testing for ammonia when this happened?

Here's some more info on Uronema and bacterial infections.

Bacterial Infections

Why fish get bacterial infections What You Need To Know: * Infections can be caused by either Gram‐positive or Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative infections are typically more virulent, and more common in marine fish. * Bacterial infections are often "secondary" to a preexisting parasitic...

www.reef2reef.com

Uronema marinum

Uronema marinum What You Need To Know: * These are the red sores most often seen on chromis damsels; however it can afflict any fish. * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute formalin bath (e.g. Quick Cure), followed by transfer into a new/sterile QT. * Once in QT, it is very important to do...

www.reef2reef.com

.

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

It looks like a bacterial infection or Uronema. It looks more like a bacterial infection IMO.

We need to know the following:

1. How long did it take for the fish to die after you noticed the issue?
2. How long did you quarantine for?
3. Were you testing for ammonia when this happened?

Here's some more info on Uronema and bacterial infections.

Bacterial Infections

Why fish get bacterial infections What You Need To Know: * Infections can be caused by either Gram‐positive or Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative infections are typically more virulent, and more common in marine fish. * Bacterial infections are often "secondary" to a preexisting parasitic...

www.reef2reef.com

Uronema marinum

Uronema marinum What You Need To Know: * These are the red sores most often seen on chromis damsels; however it can afflict any fish. * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute formalin bath (e.g. Quick Cure), followed by transfer into a new/sterile QT. * Once in QT, it is very important to do...

www.reef2reef.com

.

It took a good while for the two tangs to die. The gramma and clown fish went quicker (but still a few days).

quarantine of patient zero fish was 4 weeks in copper plus two weeks Prazipro. Ammonia is zero in my DT (this is in my DT)

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

Also, it did not look like uronema in person.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

It took a good while for the two tangs to die. The gramma and clown fish went quicker (but still a few days).

quarantine of patient zero fish was 4 weeks in copper plus two weeks Prazipro. Ammonia is zero in my DT (this is in my DT)

Sorry for your losses. If that's the case I think you were dealing with a bacterial infection (I'm not an expert, I'm just going by the info from those links I sent you). Uronema kills fish qucikly. If someone else could confirm that would be great.

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

Also, I have one hippo tang remaining in DT. It is doing fine.

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

Oh. And I forgot one thing. The kole had Rectal prolapse too.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Also, I have one hippo tang remaining in DT. It is doing fine.

Yeah, it seems like a bacterial infection. I'm just not sure if every bacterial infection is contagious for fish, I know a lot of bacterial infections humans get are.

Oh. And I forgot one thing. The kole had Rectal prolapse too.

Hmm, this makes me wonder if it's something else. I'm going to leave the diagnosis to the experts @Jay Hemdal @Humblefish then. I'll follow along though, It's a good learning experience for us.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Also, quick note, if it ends up being identified as uronema you're definitely going to want to bathe that blue tang in formalin before the red sores spread (only potential cure that exists at the moment). You will also need to restart your DT by sanitizing it. There is no cure for uronema unless it's caught early on (before sores appear). According to Humblefish once it gets in the DT, assume it will reproduce indefinitely. I'm hoping it's not uronema for your sake, that's why I left it to the experts this disease is no joke.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can anyone identify what killed these guys?

I also lost two clowns and a yellow tang. My hippo tang showed some scratching but seems fine now. I do quarantine my fish but all this started after I placed a recently quarantined fish in the DT. I’ve treated the DT with Praziquantel (since it’s reef safe).

Any thoughts?

I looked at the photos, sorry - I can't definitively say what the cause of death was. Your use of prazi should should out metazoans (flukes, etc.) so that leaves a bacterial infection, or a protozoan. Bacterial infections usually do not spread quickly through an aquarium, so that implies it may be a protozoan infection. The open mouth on the dead gramma indicates a gill issue. Since the fish went through a copper treatment, that leads me to it being acute bacterial infection - rare, but it can happen.

Jay

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

I looked at the photos, sorry - I can't definitively say what the cause of death was. Your use of prazi should should out metazoans (flukes, etc.) so that leaves a bacterial infection, or a protozoan. Bacterial infections usually do not spread quickly through an aquarium, so that implies it may be a protozoan infection. The open mouth on the dead gramma indicates a gill issue. Since the fish went through a copper treatment, that leads me to it being acute bacterial infection - rare, but it can happen.

Jay

The gramma and two clowns that died were breathing rapidly. I was able to save a third clown that I was able to get out of the DT into a QT with CP and Praziquantel. Took about 24 hours and now the one clown is good as new.

the hippo in the DT also looks fine now after I dosed praziquantel in the DT (2 doses 5 days apart).

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The gramma and two clowns that died were breathing rapidly. I was able to save a third clown that I was able to get out of the DT into a QT with CP and Praziquantel. Took about 24 hours and now the one clown is good as new.

the hippo in the DT also looks fine now after I dosed praziquantel in the DT (2 doses 5 days apart).

Good deal that you still had some CP, it seems to be completely off the market now, due to its misuse for treating Covid.

Jay

 

[Mark Nicoletti]

Good deal that you still had some CP, it seems to be completely off the market now, due to its misuse for treating Covid.

Jay

If It’s bacterial, do I need to go fallow or what do I need to do?