Uronema in a Bellus?

[foxt]

This fish has been in QT for 2 weeks. When it first came it, it was not swimming normally, but it was eating. I have been watching it, but had to go away for the last couple of days. When I returned today, the fish was no longer eating, and has obvious signs of something going on.

I don't have any experience with uronema, and only know what I have read here. From pictures, it seems like it could be uronema, but this is a genicanthus, which would be rare? Plus, it would have had to come in with it (the QT was a fresh start, and as far as I know I do not have uronema anywhere else in the house).

So, what is it? And at this point, what do I do about it?

 

[Maritimer]

It does look like Uronema, which is a tough nut to crack. Genicanthus can absolutely come down with it - yours isn't the first one I've seen.

There's a terrific article on it (and Brooklynella) here: http://www.ultimatereef.com/articles/brooklynella/

And @Humblefish 's writeup on it is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/#post-2913295

Is the fish still alive?

Whatever the outcome, make doubly sure to disinfect (sterilize, even!) this QT setup before attempting another round of fish, as this bug can live freely - there is no "fallow" period.

~Bruce

 

[foxt]

Thanks. The fish is still alive, but I doubt for much longer. I did give it an acriflavine bath this afternoon, and it seemed to tolerate the bath ok, but was starting to lay on it's side a little while after the bath. I don't think there is anything else I can do at this point ...

 

[Maritimer]

I'm so sorry, Foxt . . .

Genicanthus are gorgeous, and none finer than a lovely lady bellus.

~Bruce

 

[melypr1985]

it's pretty hard to tell sometimes, but I would bet on it being a gram negative bacterial infection. It's pretty severe looking at this point and probably past saving unfortunately. For the best success you would have to spot the infection almost at onset. Acriflavin bath then treat with the "tripple threat" antibiotics (metroplex, kanaplex and Furan2) and hope that you got it in time. There are other antibiotics that are wide spectrum and could work as well, but those are my go-to's.

 

[Abhishek]

it's pretty hard to tell sometimes, but I would bet on it being a gram negative bacterial infection. It's pretty severe looking at this point and probably past saving unfortunately. For the best success you would have to spot the infection almost at onset. Acriflavin bath then treat with the "tripple threat" antibiotics (metroplex, kanaplex and Furan2) and hope that you got it in time. There are other antibiotics that are wide spectrum and could work as well, but those are my go-to's.

I would agree with whatever @melypr1985 said . But my first choice for gram negative infection would be NFG - Nitrofuracin Green, absolute best for bacterial diseases :-

http://store.nationalfishpharm.com/NFP-products-Nitrofuracin-Green-59584.Item.html

If not, then only go for B Furan 2 , Mteroplex and Kanaplex combo . I hope the Acriflavin brought some temporary relief but if any chance left, antibiotics need to be dosed like right now if at all possible to save it.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[foxt]

Sadly, it was too late to help this fish, it passed today.

I wish I had caught it sooner, but I was away. It progressed pretty quickly though, as I was away from Sat thru Monday - and it looked like this on Tuesday, and died on Weds.

I will be sterilizing the QT ...

Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[Abhishek]

Sadly, it was too late to help this fish, it passed today.

I wish I had caught it sooner, but I was away. It progressed pretty quickly though, as I was away from Sat thru Monday - and it looked like this on Tuesday, and died on Weds.

I will be sterilizing the QT ...

Thanks for all of the responses!

Sorry to hear the loss !! It's never easy .
I hope next time you are better armed with more medical ammunitions . You might have lost this battle but you will win the ultimate war with better preparation .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[foxt]

The frustrating thing, this time, is that I have the meds I would want to try (I have NFG, kanaplex, metro, furan all on hand), but it was too late. The problem was that it seemed to come on while I was away for a few days, and first chance I had to react was yesterday. The fish was probably too far gone at that point.

As both you and Meredith suggested, I would have had to catch this at the onset, and I was away when that happened. Perhaps I should have been more aggressive when I noticed the off behavior when the fish first went in to QT, but I don't like dosing antibiotics without more evidence beyond "swimming funny". The timing just worked out badly for me, and her.

 

[Abhishek]

As a matter of QT procedure, I have started giving all my fishes especially angels and any butterflies a 2 hour bath in NFG before even leaving them in the qt tank. Then I generally try and get them eating for a couple of days. Once done, I do a complete treatment of NFG first and then move to Prazi and others.
In my experience, nothing's worse than gram negative infection in qt as fishes hardly have any time left to recover once they get infected badly . Acriflavin can only buy some time to antibiotics to take effect but nothing more than that in my experience.

So , now no matter what fish, NFG treatment is my first step in qt and fingers crossed have been working well so far.

Regards,
Abhishek