Green Chromis Dying need help

[jfenton954]

Hi I just ordered 12 chromis and 2 purple fire fish and 1 red fairy wrasse. The wrasse and fire fish are doing good the chromis are dying slowly I've lost 4 and one is laying on the bottom now. I just got them Tuesday drip acclimated them 4+ hours to my hypo-salinity qt tank 1.009. They seem to have scales missing an area is pinkish white. Please help.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Pics are a bit fuzzy but look like Ammonia burn to me. Did all the Chromis come shipped in a single bag ? If so the hypo is probably not a good thing until they have a healthy slime-coat again.


Cheers, Todd

 

[ChristopherKriens]

I would say Uronema marinum. Common in chromis.

 

[Humblefish]

I would say Uronema marinum. Common in chromis.

I agree. Ammonia burn would only be around the gill area.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Nothing can be done?

 

[Humblefish]

It's one of the hardest parasites to "cure" as it hasn't been studied thoroughly (like ich) and always seems to come back no matter what you do (IMO). So, almost everything that is known about it comes from anecdotal experience. Supposedly it doesn't even need a host to continue it's life cycle. Once it gets into a tank, it is there as long as the tank is setup, but is opportunistic and only strikes when a fish's immune system has been compromised.

Best treatment option is metronidazole. I have had some success treating with that. I've also seen acriflavine mentioned as a possible treatment; but I have no experience using that medication. Chloroquine phosphate also treats Uronema, but that is very difficult to obtain. Whereas metro is widely available - sold by Seachem, API General Cure contains it, etc.

These fish need to be treated with metro ASAP or most, if not all, will likely perish.

 

[Humblefish]

Btw, I would not use any of the above medications in a reef tank with corals/inverts. Treatment needs to take place in a QT.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

I haven't tried the above methods, but I found formalin to be effective in combination with keeping the bottom of the tank very clean. The bacterium can sustain itself and multiply solely on detritus.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Thanks for that info Humblefish. :fish:

 

[fishroomlady]

I'm just wondering if they are suffering from something to do with ammonia as well - that is an awful lot of fish to add to a QT at one time and then the lower salinity would cause additional stress.......

 

[Rob Top1]

I would also add that while chromis are cheap and it seems a lot of people use them to test the waters I have found them to be sensitive to newer systems and do far better in established tanks.