Chromis with Uronema? I think... Now What?

[kswan]

Ok. I'm new to the hobby and was looking to add a group of Chromis to my existing pair of Clowns, pair of Firefish and Royal Gramma. My tank is a Reefer 425 but the Chromis are in a 20 long quarantine tank. I purchased them yesterday from the LFS and that night noticed a small red area on one of the fish. It was probably there when I purchased but did not notice. I'm still learning what I need to look for. Today I think the spot is a little bigger. The fish is active and eating with the rest of the group so far. All my other fish have come through QT without an issue so now I'm a little lost. Should I separate this fish from the group? Do I assume all fish are sick? So far I haven't tried any medication but can pick some up tomorrow assuming my LFS has it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[GHsaltie]

That does indeed appear to be uronema . I would make he assumption that they have all been exposed. I’m not terribly well versed with this one but here’s the link for you. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/

 

[kswan]

Thanks @GHsaltie! I'll check it out.

 

[GHsaltie]

According to a post by @Humblefish on another thread, treatment would be a formalin bath then transferred into a new sterile tank. Metroplex or CP treatment for 14 days and then another transfer to a sterile QT at least 10ft away. I would opt for metro treatment given that this is time sensitive and CP takes time to acquire.

 

[GHsaltie]

Good luck.

 

[Maritimer]

Whatever happens with these guys (it's getting to feel like Chromis _without_ uronema are newsworthy!) be sure to sterilize that tank and all the equipment you're using with it afterwards, before the next round of fish. Uronema is an opportunistic parasite, which means it can live just fine without any fish.

Forever.

There's no "fallow" period for this thing.

~Bruce

 

[kswan]

I wish I would have done more research on this prior to purchasing Chromis. Unfortunately disease potential didn't hit my radar. I was more focused on compatibility...

 

[Maritimer]

You can't research everything ... You get to a point where you've read the same thing several times, and you feel you've begun to understand the undertaking. I think it's only because I spend so much time here that I've begun to see that side of it.

~Bruce

 

[kswan]

Well, no change overnight. Still active and eating. I’ll see what I can get at the LFS today for meds.

 

[GHsaltie]

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Colby Johnson]

That is 100% Uronema. At this point DO NOT formalin, it will more than likely kill the fish. My suggestion would be a nitrofurazone bath. Metronidazole is "supposed" to work, however my research has not shown that to be true, even at 200mg/g. On the other hand I have cured many fish with nitrofurazone. Metro is very useful in staving off low grade infections, but I have never seen it stop an infection of Uronema.

I advise strongly against treating chromis with copper (not sure if you are, just saying in general), as it is such an immunosupressant that Uronema prone fish almost certainly get infected when in copper.

Contrary to popular belief, if you have Uronema in your tank you do not need to "break everything down, sterilize and start over", that will just result in a lot of wasted time and effort! Uronemids are ubiquitous opportunistic ectoparasites that are present in every single tank. I have had many people tell me there is no way it is in their tank, and I have found it in every single one of their tanks through baiting. Typically an outbreak of Uronema is just a good indicator that there is something "off" with the biological consortium of the tank. This is very often the case in a "sterile" QT system. Uronema feeds on bacteria, and in a sterile type QT system tends to contain a lot of bacteria for Uronema to feed on, coupled with copper = Uronema infestation.

If you are interested in maintaining chromis in your tank, my advice would be to purchase the healthiest looking group you can find, place them in a five gallon bucket with nitrofurazone and airstone. Move them to a new sterile bucket and redose nitrofurazone everyday for an entire 7 day treatment. You can almost always beat Uronema in this way, as well as undergo a solid TTM QT at which point your fish "should" be both ich free and no longer suffering from a Uronema infestation.

Good luck!

 

[Maritimer]

I am intrigued - This Nitrofurazone could be something worth keeping near my QT. If it can reliably knock out Uronema, more folks need to know about it.

You seem to have had some experience with these Uronema infestations . . . thank you for sharing!!

~Bruce

 

[kswan]

Yes, unfortunately this morning I found the fish dead. I didn't see the post from @Colby Johnson in time and did a ParasGuard dip last night. I'm not sure if that is what did it but he was not looking good.

As for the rest of the fish (4) they are all looking good so far. I dosed Metroplex to the tank last night. Should I continue dosing Metroplex every 2 days per the instructions? I have some tubs available if I need to move them to a clean tank. Not sure what is right for the remaining fish.

 

[kswan]

So moving forward I need to assume my QT is contaminated. What is the best approach to prevent this getting into my display and also helping the remaining fish?

 

[kswan]

Sounds like the best approach may be to do the tank transfer method with Paraguard dips in between? Any input will be really helpful. I'm not sure what the next step is. Remaining fish are still looking really good.

 

[Maritimer]

I wish I knew more about fighting this one ... TTM isn't often recommended for Uronema, but in theory, it ought to keep parasite levels low - at least until the fish's natural immunity can be restored.

~Bruce

 

[revco33]

That is 100% Uronema. At this point DO NOT formalin, it will more than likely kill the fish. My suggestion would be a nitrofurazone bath. Metronidazole is "supposed" to work, however my research has not shown that to be true, even at 200mg/g. On the other hand I have cured many fish with nitrofurazone. Metro is very useful in staving off low grade infections, but I have never seen it stop an infection of Uronema.

I advise strongly against treating chromis with copper (not sure if you are, just saying in general), as it is such an immunosupressant that Uronema prone fish almost certainly get infected when in copper.

Contrary to popular belief, if you have Uronema in your tank you do not need to "break everything down, sterilize and start over", that will just result in a lot of wasted time and effort! Uronemids are ubiquitous opportunistic ectoparasites that are present in every single tank. I have had many people tell me there is no way it is in their tank, and I have found it in every single one of their tanks through baiting. Typically an outbreak of Uronema is just a good indicator that there is something "off" with the biological consortium of the tank. This is very often the case in a "sterile" QT system. Uronema feeds on bacteria, and in a sterile type QT system tends to contain a lot of bacteria for Uronema to feed on, coupled with copper = Uronema infestation.

If you are interested in maintaining chromis in your tank, my advice would be to purchase the healthiest looking group you can find, place them in a five gallon bucket with nitrofurazone and airstone. Move them to a new sterile bucket and redose nitrofurazone everyday for an entire 7 day treatment. You can almost always beat Uronema in this way, as well as undergo a solid TTM QT at which point your fish "should" be both ich free and no longer suffering from a Uronema infestation.

Good luck!

nice write-up. Not all is lost if you have it. What brand of nitrofurazone would you recommend?

 

[Tritie]

Hi

That is 100% Uronema. At this point DO NOT formalin, it will more than likely kill the fish. My suggestion would be a nitrofurazone bath. Metronidazole is "supposed" to work, however my research has not shown that to be true, even at 200mg/g. On the other hand I have cured many fish with nitrofurazone. Metro is very useful in staving off low grade infections, but I have never seen it stop an infection of Uronema.

I advise strongly against treating chromis with copper (not sure if you are, just saying in general), as it is such an immunosupressant that Uronema prone fish almost certainly get infected when in copper.

Contrary to popular belief, if you have Uronema in your tank you do not need to "break everything down, sterilize and start over", that will just result in a lot of wasted time and effort! Uronemids are ubiquitous opportunistic ectoparasites that are present in every single tank. I have had many people tell me there is no way it is in their tank, and I have found it in every single one of their tanks through baiting. Typically an outbreak of Uronema is just a good indicator that there is something "off" with the biological consortium of the tank. This is very often the case in a "sterile" QT system. Uronema feeds on bacteria, and in a sterile type QT system tends to contain a lot of bacteria for Uronema to feed on, coupled with copper = Uronema infestation.

If you are interested in maintaining chromis in your tank, my advice would be to purchase the healthiest looking group you can find, place them in a five gallon bucket with nitrofurazone and airstone. Move them to a new sterile bucket and redose nitrofurazone everyday for an entire 7 day treatment. You can almost always beat Uronema in this way, as well as undergo a solid TTM QT at which point your fish "should" be both ich free and no longer suffering from a Uronema infestation.

Good luck!

Hi, I'm getting ready to tear a tank down to uronema. I live in Canada and have a hard time getting meds. What strength of nitro will work for this? Also, I recently watched the BRS episodes and you mentioned uronema was only present in 8% of tanks. Do you still believe this to be present in all tanks, and do you still advocate for not tearing down the tank?