Is This Uronema?

[Marco S]

Now that I have gotten really good at dealing with ICH, Velvet, Flukes, Internal Parasites and Bacterial Diseases, I have been hit with Brook and now Uronema...I think. So far I have had three Chromis and one Clownfish die of Uronema all while they were in copper. They get a red mark on their side and then over the course of a day or two it grows to a sore and they die. I have tried treating with MetroPlex with no luck and copper does not seem to help at all. This time around I have two Barlett Anthias and a Clownfish in QT and decided to go with API General Cure first since I believe they have flukes. They are all eating well and I feed them four times a day, but yesterday I noticed the red sore on the side of one of my Anthias. She is still eating fine and does not even seem affected besides having a huge sore on her so I am wondering if it really is Uronema since my other fish stopped eating and swimming around immediately and died within 48 hours of me noticing.

Here is a video and some pics...

As I said previously, they are in API GC now. Should I dose something else also? I realize it is probably too late, but I figure I should at least try...

 

[C. Eymann]

I believe that is Uronema, ID treat with CP, never had luck with using metronidalzole/nitrofurazone for Uronema.

 

[Marco S]

I believe that is Uronema, ID treat with CP, never had luck with using metronidalzole/nitrofurazone for Uronema.

CP as in CopperPower or CP as in Chloroquine phosphate? If you are referring to the later, then I cannot get it locally and my fish will be dead by the time I order it...so that is probably not an option.

 

[HotRocks]

I would agree with the uronema diagnosis.

 

[Marco S]

I would agree with the uronema diagnosis.

Any ideas on how I should proceed? Like I said, copper does not seem to do anything with my last two encounters with this and I have also tried MetroPlex with no success. Is this fish just a goner? And should I separate them now so the others don't get it? All my QT tanks are in use, but I guess I can go grab another 10 gallon tank and set it up real quick...

 

[HotRocks]

Any ideas on how I should proceed? Like I said, copper does not seem to do anything with my last two encounters with this and I have also tried MetroPlex with no success. Is this fish just a goner? And should I separate them now so the others don't get it? All my QT tanks are in use, but I guess I can go grab another 10 gallon tank and set it up real quick...

Copper will not treat uronema. Do you have formalin?
Uronema is a very virulent parasite and even with pharmaceutical grade metro I would say my success rate is 60% once they show symptoms such as your fish pictured. I would go ahead and add the metro to the tank with the anthias. Also if you could do a formalin bath for the fish showing symptoms it would be helpful.

 

[Marco S]

Copper will not treat uronema. Do you have formalin?
Uronema is a very virulent parasite and even with pharmaceutical grade metro I would say my success rate is 60% once they show symptoms such as your fish pictured. I would go ahead and add the metro to the tank with the anthias. Also if you could do a formalin bath for the fish showing symptoms it would be helpful.

I do have Metro and Formalin. I will give that a shot. It is weird that the fish is showing no signs other than the obvious huge sore though. Maybe there is hope as long as it keeps eating...

Should I also add Metro to the food or is dosing the tank enough?

 

[HotRocks]

I do have Metro and Formalin. I will give that a shot. It is weird that the fish is showing no signs other than the obvious huge sore though. Maybe there is hope as long as it keeps eating...

Should I also add Metro to the food or is dosing the tank enough?

I would add the metro to Both if it were me.

 

[Marco S]

I would add the metro to Both if it were me.

I will give it a try and cross my fingers. Thanks for the quick replies!

 

[Marco S]

I dosed the tank with MetroPlex and mixed the food with Metro and Focus and by the time it was done soaking, (30 minutes) and I went to feed the fish, it is now laying on the bottom of the tank and not eating or moving at all. I thought Velvet was bad, but Uronema works FAST! And so far I am losing the battle. This will be the fifth fish I have lost to Uronema and that is more than I have lost to any other disease in the last year.

I think I am done buying expensive fish. I have lost more money in the last year to dead fish than I have alive fish in my DT and it is just sucking the fun out of this hobby for me...

Edit: Forgot to ask... @HotRocks Should I leave the rest of the fish in the tank and continue the QT or move them to a clean tank and sterilize the current one?

 

[C. Eymann]

I dosed the tank with MetroPlex and mixed the food with Metro and Focus and by the time it was done soaking, (30 minutes) and I went to feed the fish, it is now laying on the bottom of the tank and not eating or moving at all. I thought Velvet was bad, but Uronema works FAST! And so far I am losing the battle. This will be the fifth fish I have lost to Uronema and that is more than I have lost to any other disease in the last year.

I think I am done buying expensive fish. I have lost more money in the last year to dead fish than I have alive fish in my DT and it is just sucking the fun out of this hobby for me...

Did you sterilize your QT/everything after you lost previous fish to Uronema? because is incredibly resilient, even in fish less systems for lengthy periods of time.

 

[Marco S]

Did you sterilize your QT/everything after you lost previous fish to Uronema? because is incredibly resilient, even in fish less systems for lengthy periods of time.

I have religiously followed the rules outlined in these forums for every batch of fish I have QT'd...so, yes I do sterilize every tank, (and all equipment) with bleach for 24 hours and then rinse, rinse and rinse again and let dry in the AZ sun for a few days before using again. I also have separate equipment for every tank, have every tank in different rooms more than 10 feet away from each other and wash my hands 2 million times a day to avoid cross contamination. The Uronema is not from my tanks, it is from the fish I am getting and I get them from different sources including three LFS's and Divers Den so far.