Help! What's wrong with my chromis?

[Da_Lil_Fishie]

My blue-green chromis isn't looking so good. Just yesterday he started to hide away, and lost his appetite and is hyperventilating. He has a patch on the side of his head that's a bit darker than the rest of his body. Could he have been stung by a coral or bruised somehow? He's in a 30 gallon tank with plenty of live rock, so he might have been spooked in the night and hit his head? The other fish in the tank are a sixline wrasse and banggai cardinalfish, never had any aggression issues with them.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, I also posted it in the disease forum.

 

[Zionas]

Can you send a pic for use to see?

 

[Kryptonian]

Try not to double post.. you probably had the right thread group but advice will always come with time. My response to the first:


Very possible he has an injury. What are parameters? Always post this as it will def be the first question when asking for help.

Patches, some swollen, some discoloration, can be a coral sting. Breathing heavy could mean complications or something else going on. Parameters help solve.

If you can snag a pic that’s also very helpful.

Welcome to R2R btw! Great place for advice!!!

 

[Da_Lil_Fishie]

He's already dead. Didn't look like a coral sting, it wasn't swollen or anything, just a tad darker than normal.

 

[mattzang]

sorry about your fish

how long have you had him?

the discoloration on the side of the head makes me wonder about uronema which is quite prevalent in chromis

 

[mattzang]

this is a starcki damsel i'm pretty sure i lost to uronema. tell-tale signs are redness on the side of the body and upon death the mouth is wide open. but sometimes it's entirely internal, but that's hard to tell.

that was the first day i noticed it, so i dosed metroplex immediately, but it still died that night

 

[ScottR]

Possibly uronema like someone mentioned. It’s a common parasite in chromis. Was the dark patch a maroon type color? Hard to see in the pic.

 

[Da_Lil_Fishie]

sorry about your fish

how long have you had him?

the discoloration on the side of the head makes me wonder about uronema which is quite prevalent in chromis

Possibly uronema like someone mentioned. It’s a common parasite in chromis. Was the dark patch a maroon type color? Hard to see in the pic.

I've had him for about two months. The patch wasn't maroon, more grey. I've never heard of uronema, how would I go about treating the tank? I think the sixline was picking at the body, if it is uronema could he contract it?

 

[ScottR]

I've had him for about two months. The patch wasn't maroon, more grey. I've never heard of uronema, how would I go about treating the tank? I think the sixline was picking at the body, if it is uronema could he contract it?

Uronema is a parasite and I can imagine it surviving in a tank as well as there are fish, even if they don’t show symptoms. Different parasites affect different species in different ways. The common method for many is to quarantine all fish before introducing them into the display. Some people medicate and some don’t. After you can confirm a parasite was in your tank, a basic fallow (fishless) tank for 76 days is the way to go.
You’re welcome to post another thread in the fish disease forum if you want more info. Lots of experienced people there.

 

[Zionas]

Even the Chromis you’ve bought in Hong Kong seem prone to it? If it’s a widespread thing think I’ll give up on Chromis altogether.

BTW I’d be very curious if local HK reefers tend to have different preferences in how they run their tanks and their preferred selections of livestock compared to Western reefers. I’m Chinese-Canadian but I’ve been following a “Western” school of reefing since Day 1.

Are large, mega tanks a rarity in Asia?

 

[ScottR]

Even the Chromis you’ve bought in Hong Kong seem prone to it? If it’s a widespread thing think I’ll give up on Chromis altogether.

BTW I’d be very curious if local HK reefers tend to have different preferences in how they run their tanks and their preferred selections of livestock compared to Western reefers. I’m Chinese-Canadian but I’ve been following a “Western” school of reefing since Day 1.

Are large, mega tanks a rarity in Asia?

My successes with keeping chromis

One of the things I hear reefers mention the most is, their trouble with keeping chromis. Eventually they pick off the weakest members and kill them until only one is left. However, my experience is different. Sure they do show aggression towards each other. But what fish don't? I can’t keep 2...

www.reef2reef.com

I just posted this oddly. Big tanks are very common here in HK. In Asia? I know in Japan they also keep large beautiful tanks. Taiwan as well. I’ve seen uronema before never in my tank that I’m aware of.

 

[Da_Lil_Fishie]

I had a quick look online at symptoms of uronema, the chromis wasn't showing any of the listed symptoms, no ulcers, not gasping for air (he was hyperventilating though), no wounds or red patches, no scratching on decor or substrate. The dark patch suddenly appeared yesterday, and now he's dead. red patches formed after he died though, but that could have been from fish and hermit crabs picking at the body.

 

[mattzang]

seems like 2 months would be too long for uronema to suddenly pop up, but i'm no disease expert

not being a uronema death would be great news as that stuff is in there forever once it gets in

 

[Da_Lil_Fishie]

seems like 2 months would be too long for uronema to suddenly pop up, but i'm no disease expert

not being a uronema death would be great news as that stuff is in there forever once it gets in

Oh that's a relief. I don't think I'm gonna get chromis again from fear of uronema.

 

[Zionas]

Understandable. I’ve long been on the fence about getting any Chromis but now I’m leaning towards a no. For an alternative stick to the more peaceful Chrysiptera Damselfish.

Not the Blue Devil or Fiji Devil, but ones like the Azure, Talbot’s, Springer’s, Rolland’s, Yellowtail, Tuxedo etc.