Chromis with odd scales

[Biglurr54]

I have 4 chromis in qt right now. They are in 50mg/gal of CP and on day 4. I am also feeding metro infused mysis 2xs a day.

One of the chromis has these odd scales. They appear smooth and not pine cone but they reflect light differently. One of the other chromis may also have this only to a much lesser degree.

What do you think we have going on and what's the treatment moving forward.

 

[408Dartfish]

I’m wondering this also. I’ve had chromis get the marks also noticed them yesterday. Dustin

 

[Big G]

With Chromis we usually start thinking Uronema. It's a nasty parasite that cannot be starved out of the tank (going fallow) and can be difficult to treat. It kills somewhat quickly. Once you see the tell tale "red sores" on the side of the fish it's usually too late to save them. Have you treated the fish prophylactically?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/#post-2913295

 

[Biglurr54]

They are in CP and receiving metro infused food to combat any chance of uronema. I have dealt with it in qt. Lost one of three chromis in that batch to it. It doesn't have the burn marks typical of uronema.

It's just an odd coloration of a few scales. And the coloration is more or less just the position of scales reflecting the light.

I wonder if it's flukes under the scales

 

[Biglurr54]

That pick of uronema is from me. That's the fish I lost. I thought it looked oddly familiar.

 

[Big G]

They are in CP and receiving metro infused food to combat any chance of uronema. I have dealt with it in qt. Lost one of three chromis in that batch to it. It doesn't have the burn marks typical of uronema.

It's just an odd coloration of a few scales. And the coloration is more or less just the position of scales reflecting the light.

I wonder if it's flukes under the scales

Have you given the fish a freshwater dip? Would confirm or eliminate that as a possibility of flukes.

 

[Biglurr54]

Not yet. I just noticed the scale discoloration this morning on my way out to work. I will dip when I get home.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

The red sores from uronema ususlly start as raised scales.

I'm not sure that's what this is, but that would be my guess.

 

[Biglurr54]

I'm going to do a fresh water dip and increase CP to 60mg/ gallon. I just got home and the spots seem to have disappeared.

 

[fishgirljockey]

I have 4 chromis in qt right now. They are in 50mg/gal of CP and on day 4. I am also feeding metro infused mysis 2xs a day.

One of the chromis has these odd scales. They appear smooth and not pine cone but they reflect light differently. One of the other chromis may also have this only to a much lesser degree.

What do you think we have going on and what's the treatment moving forward.

I don’t know if you ever got an answer and I’m just seeing this but this is due to stress. I have one that has it and he’s the runt. There will always be that one who is smaller or picked on.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t know if you ever got an answer and I’m just seeing this but this is due to stress. I have one that has it and he’s the runt. There will always be that one who is smaller or picked on.

Correct, this is an old thread, but those spots are not Uronema. I've seen them as stress spots in individual fish.

Jay

 

[fishgirljockey]

Correct, this is an old thread, but those spots are not Uronema. I've seen them as stress spots in individual fish.

Jay

Yup! I have one that has it currently and he’s the runt. There’s another one that will get it on and off depending; I have a dottyback that likes to bug them. I might get 2 more to make them a stronger group. I believe the more you get, the less chance of them being stressed. They’re school fish; school fish in the wild is like hundreds or even thousands…not 2 or 3. Obviously we can’t have hundreds or thousands lol but I think 6 is a good minimum and plenty of places to swim. I noticed adding a ton of rocks has helped a lot because they love to weave in and out of them fast. These fish shouldn’t be in a small tank with only 2 or 3. I don’t like that they require a 30g tank. They need to require a bigger tank for these because they stress very easily and this is why they get sick a lot; ick, uronema, etc. and they die quickly! I love chromis and I think a lot of people misunderstand them just because they’re “easy.”