Uronema on green chromis? Help with ID

[Greenjeans]

I have one green chromis in a school of 5 that has a brown spot on his side that doesn't seem to be resolving itself. I also noticed some brown spots on the head, maybe missing scales?

Help a noob with ID please! Is this uronema? Should I try to catch the fish, QT, and treat with metroplex?

 

[Big G]

Spots on the sides of Chromis always give us pause. First thought is the dreaded uronema parasite which unfortunately is very common. Here's a link with pics and treatment advice:

Uronema marinum

Uronema marinum What You Need To Know: * These are the red sores most often seen on chromis damsels; however it can afflict any fish. * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute formalin bath (e.g. Quick Cure), followed by transfer into a new/sterile QT. * Once in QT, it is very important to do...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Greenjeans]

So...trap and euthanize? Trap and QT, observe till I can get a positive ID?

 

[Qasimja]

im pretty sure thats uronema if you have access to seachem metro you can use that to treat it but usually when it gets to that stage where its showing its too late

 

[Malifry97]

looks like it, your tank will need to be torn down and sterilized to eliminate the parasite @Humblefish @HotRocks

 

[Greenjeans]

The "Eradicate or Ignore" sticky seems to imply that a healthy tank should be able to resist it, and I won't need to tear down and sterilize everything...I guess unless this becomes an ongoing issue.

I'll at least be adding UV.

Uronema - Eradicate or Ignore?

Uronema seems to impact more fish today than it ever did before. Uronema is particulalry troublesome for many reasons. It is particularly deadly, when it's identified it is often too late to treat, and it's an internal and external parasite. Most alarming for many, is that it does not have a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Big G]

The "Eradicate or Ignore" sticky seems to imply that a healthy tank should be able to resist it, and I won't need to tear down and sterilize everything...I guess unless this becomes an ongoing issue.

I'll at least be adding UV.

Uronema - Eradicate or Ignore?

Uronema seems to impact more fish today than it ever did before. Uronema is particulalry troublesome for many reasons. It is particularly deadly, when it's identified it is often too late to treat, and it's an internal and external parasite. Most alarming for many, is that it does not have a...

www.reef2reef.com

Big decision for you for sure. The parasite cannot be starved out of the DT by going fallow. So later on when you add new fish they will be exposed to the parasites still existing in the tank if it is not sterilized. Best of luck. Keep us in the loop.

 

[Greenjeans]

The decision is honestly easy at this point - I cannot realistically catch and remove all fish and inverts (without euthanizing them all and separating epoxied rock work), it seems likely that my display will be okay even with the parasite present, and it seems unlikely that I wouldn't reintroduce the parasite at some point in the future. Most fish are resistant, and no other chromis are showing signs (8 chromis have been together in a 10gal QT for at least 2 weeks)

UV will arrive tomorrow to help keep the parasite load in the water column as low as possible, and I'll update this thread with any developments.

At this point it seems clear I need to remove and euthanize this one fish.

I guess my plan is to manage my tank in 'parasite mitigation' mode and assume uronema is present. UV, healthy fish, minimizing stress and aggression, etc.

If I continue to struggle with uronema I guess I'll consider sterilization down the road.

 

[kingjames_dc5]

Just curious as to how your issues turned out. Were you able to treat parasite or did you have to tare down tank.

 

[Greenjeans]

I did not tear the tank down and have not seen any resurgance of uronema. I currently have 3 green chromis and 5 anthias that are all happy and healthy.