QT'ing Chromis, not going well.

[LeftyReefer]

Been wanting to add a small group of blue/green reef chromis to my tank.

My QT tank was not being used for anything at the time so figured it would be a good time to try to QT a small group of them. LFS didn't have any so figured I'd start getting things ready and when they got some, I'd be ready. So I tore the unused QT down, cleaned/bleached it and then set it back up and cycled it with bottled bacteria. Tank has been cycled for a couple weeks now.
This past weekend, my LFS finally got about 20 new chromis in, so last saturday I headed down and had them bag up 4 to make the trip home with me.

Took them home and gave them a 90 minute formalin bath... during which, one started gulping air and hanging out near the water surface. Noticed shortly thereafter it had developed several read spots around its head. Figured it was surely uronema, so scooped it out and euthanized it. Not a great start. down to 3.

I finished the formalin bath on the other 3 and then gave them an additional 90 minute bath in Ruby Rally Pro and H202. When that was done, I placed them all into the QT tank, which I then dosed with PraziPro. All three were eating good at that point and looked to be doing fine.

A few hours later, I checked on them again and noticed one was hanging out in a corner, away from the other two... When I fed them, they would all eat, but the two would chase the third one back to the corner where it would stay. Couple hours later, the one hanging out in the corner started developing red spots on its body... scooped it out and euthanized it. UGH. down to 2 now.

next morning I wake up and now one of the others is hanging out in the corner while the other one is still up near the water surface in the opposite corner again... a few hour later, the one in the corner started getting red spots... scooped him out... down to ONE. UGH.

At this point, I figured it was only a matter of time before this guy suffered the same fate... in a desperate haste, I decided to go all out and dose pretty much all I had to try to save this last poor chromis from the inevitable uronema death that just took the other 3.... So I dosed Ruby Rally Pro to the QT, along with MetroPlex, which up to that point, I had just been mixing in with food, but had not been dosing to the water column. Now I dosed it to the water column too. figured I had nothing to lose at this point as this fish was probably going to die anyway like all the others. I also dosed H202 to the QT tank at some point that evening. I even threw in a couple packets of Super Ich Cure powder before going to bed.. (Super Ich Cure contains malachite green and nitrofurazone) Then went to bed and prayed, figuring he'd be dead by morning.

To my surprise, the next day he looked fine. So I continued to dose Ruby Rally Pro for 3 days, along with adding Metroplex to the water every other day. To my surprise, this last chromis never developed any red spots. On thursday, I ended up doing a big water change (90%) to get rid of the meds that I had added over the past few days. On Friday, I added a second dose of PraziPro, which was 6 days after the first dose per the marine parasite calendar. and then also on Friday evening, I finally started copper treatment. QT tank is now at 2.43 ppm copper power and has gotten 2 rounds of prazi, on day 1 and day 6. Today is day 7 and still no red spots on this guy.

I will plan to continue the copper treatment for the next 30 days.

Unfortunately, looks like I'm only getting 1 chromis out of 4 through this QT, at the most.

Not sure If i'm going to try this again or not with Chromis. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which fish get uronema and which don't. Seems its just an absolute crap shoot.

 

[ZoWhat]

Well...

I always just trust my reputable LFS for fish. I DO NOT qt my fish at all.... and in 15yrs never had an issue with a fish that I acclimated and released into my DT within 2 hrs. Never had one fish take down my entire tank.

That's bc.... I buy from a trusted LFS and only buy fish they have had for a couple of weeks that they have treated.

I'm good friends with the Owner, and:

1) she only buys fish from a distributor who only sells her healthy fish, (she's extremely picky who she does biz with),

2) she does her own in-house treatment program,

3) I either buy a fish that she's had for over 2 weeks.... or put one on hold that I will buy after it's been treated by her,

4) I only have her "bag it" if I see it actively eat


.

 

[Harold999]

A formalin bath, wow, who told you this is a good idea? Normally this is a last resort medicin for Brooklynella at clownfish, but when the fish survives the treatment his lifespawn will be 2 years max because of the formalin.
It's nasty stuff.

 

[LeftyReefer]

A formalin bath, wow, who told you this is a good idea? Normally this is a last resort medicin for Brooklynella at clownfish, but when the fish survives the treatment his lifespawn will be 2 years max because of the formalin.
It's nasty stuff.

Humblefish Uronema

 

[jfoahs04]

Your QT process seems a bit quick and aggressive. Most procedures start with 24 hours in an unmedicated tank to acclimate before beginning medication. And even after that, most start gently with prazi or slowly start ramping up copper over a few days. The stress of transport to LFS, bagging, transport home, and then right into 90 minute (I have only done 45 minute formalin baths) formalin bath can’t have helped.

That said, you may have dodged a bullet anyway. Sounds like they were carrying Uronema. I’d wager the aggressive treatment caused stress which helped speed up the showing of symptoms (and eventually death in 3/4). But the silver lining is that you didn’t end up with infected fish spreading disease in your DT.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Were your chromis very young/small? if not it could be aggression between them, as you saw 2 chasing the third one. Red marks could have been bites?
Most of what I read says that you need to keep either 1 chromis or 6 or more, as they end up killing each other.
I have 7 of them for 4 years now, but started with 9. One was killed by an aggressive damsel on the first day when it ventured through an egg crate in the corner of the tank where I had put the aggressive damsel. The other one died about 2 or 3 month later, I do not know why.
I have never quarantine, only buy from same reputable LFS and so far had no problem with disease. IMO you put a lot of medication all at once, which must be very stressing for the fish.
You could check if the non-sold chromis left in the LFS are ok, or if they got sick. It will help you determine if your treatment was too aggressive, or on the contrary necessary.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Yeah, I'm done with trying to QT chromis for the time being... Every single one dies of uronema within days, doesn't matter what process I've tried. They all seem to have uronema. That is why I went with an overly aggressive treatment this time, which didn't work either. So I'm done with chromis. Every one my LFS has seems to get uronema.

I broke down my QT, bleached it, started over. No more chromis for me.

Decided to go with some anthias instead. I've had much better luck QTing anthias. I have a pair in QT now that just finished their 30 days in copper/prazi. Will hold for a couple more weeks with no meds.

 

[Harold999]

Humblefish Uronema

It's a last resort medicin, not precaution stuff during quarantaine.
Formalin is a dangerous carcinogen (causes cancer). If your fish survives the treatment he will likely die from the use of formalin within 2 years.

Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk

A fact sheet that discusses formaldehyde and its possible association with cancer. Includes resources for more information.

www.cancer.gov

 

[LeftyReefer]

LOL, this thread is a month an a half old, and all the chromis died of uronema. Not sure why Harold decided to start replying to this thread now. All these fish are long gone.

 

[Harold999]

LOL, this thread is a month an a half old, and all the chromis died of uronema. Not sure why Harold decided to start replying to this thread now. All these fish are long gone.

Because you decided to use formalin just as a precaution during quarantaine.
Formalin is not only causing cancer in fish, also if you inhale the stuff yourself. It's very dangerous stuff and you should only use it as a last resort in case fish show clear symptoms of brook or uronema.

So it was just to inform.

 

[LeftyReefer]

These fish had uronema and formalin was a suggested treatment for uronema.
For the formalin bath, I used Ruby Rally Pro, which only contains some formalin. it wasn't a true formalin bath, because I agree with you, I prefer not to use it either.

 

[Backreefing]

All that was way to much
You will always have a lot of cycling problems dropping 4 fish in a aquarium that is not cycled . And to aggressive with the meds .
only use if needed . Poor fish

 

[Chrisv.]

A formalin bath is not all that uncommon as an intake step. Check out the product Safety Stop, which Marc Levenson (melevs reef) uses.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Darn!, you’re not shy about using meds… one on top of another, on top of another.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Yes. I tred being very aggresssive with these (4) $3 fish that all had uronema at the LFS.
They were all dying as it is.

 

[LeftyReefer]

All that was way to much
You will always have a lot of cycling problems dropping 4 fish in a aquarium that is not cycled . And to aggressive with the meds .
only use if needed . Poor fish

Who said anything about an ucycled tank? The tank had been cycled for weeks.

 

[JumboShrimp]

One tip for the future— if you live within an hour or so of your LFS, and have a flexible schedule— would be to ask them to order them for you and call you the minute they come in. Don’t let the LFS take them out of the bag and put them into their tank system. In other words, bring them home still in the bag right from the wholesaler. Also they tend to aggressively pick each other off; you might need to order as many as 5-7 to end up with 3.

 

[LeftyReefer]

One tip for the future— if you live within an hour or so of your LFS, and have a flexible schedule— would be to ask them to order them for you and call you the minute they come in. Don’t let the LFS take them out of the bag and put them into their tank system. In other words, bring them home still in the bag right from the wholesaler. Also they tend to aggressively pick each other off; you might need to order as many as 5-7 to end up with 3.

I thought of that and would definitely do that next time, but I doubt there will ever be a next time.
I think they are just too problem prone for me to try them again. just not worth the hassle.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Do you like Talbots or Azures? I think you’d have much, much better success. I wouldn’t QT with anything more than General Cure unless a problem developed.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Do you like Talbots or Azures? I think you’d have much, much better success. I wouldn’t QT with anything more than General Cure unless a problem developed.

I've already successfully QT'd another batch of fish since losing that batch of chromis to uronema. Ultimately, I decided to nix the idea of having chromis and went with anthias instead.

Yes, they proved much much easier to get through a 30 day QT than the chromis. not a single loss.

I also QT'd a single springer damsel, so I'm probably good on damsels now too.