Uronema?

[keithw283]

I lost a tomini tang after 3 days in observation QT. The fish looked healthy in the store and was eating but when I got it home and in the tank it was very skiddish. I figured it was just trying to acclimate to it's new home. The observation QT has been up for 3 months and I just took two clowns out of it in Sunday so it's pretty well established to hold a single fish. It's a 29 gallon tank with 11 pounds of LR to provide some biological bacteria and hiding spots. I also have 2 bio blocks I had in my sump for about 6 months for added filtration. Parameters and pic below
Temp 78F
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.2 (Hanna)
Phosphate .03 (Hanna)
PH 8.0-8.2 (hard time reading the chart for this one)

All numbers not labeled were tested with a red sea test kit

 

[keithw283]

Edit: I also did a 50% water change between adding the two fish and my salinity is 1.022 which I run it there because my LFS is 1.017 and my display is 1.026. I've run multiple fish through this salinity this way after a 1HR acclimation without issues but I am aware that's a pretty big jump. The red marks make me think salinity is not the issue but I'm not a disease expert in any way.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

While I prefer less of a rise than 1.017 to 1.022, that shouldn't have killed the fish outright.
Is the redness on both sides, or just the right side?
Did it eat for you at all during the 3 days?
Tangs don't succumb to Uronema very often, is there any chance the the LFS whacked it with a net when catching it?

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I see signs of bacterial than uronema which is rare for them and would have shown more of a road rash effect

 

[keithw283]

While I prefer less of a rise than 1.017 to 1.022, that shouldn't have killed the fish outright.
Is the redness on both sides, or just the right side?
Did it eat for you at all during the 3 days?
Tangs don't succumb to Uronema very often, is there any chance the the LFS whacked it with a net when catching it?

Jay

I didn't look at both sides tbh.
It didn't eat for me as it spent a lot of time hiding. As soon as I'd walk in the room I'd see it dart to it's little cave. Also, It was only in the tank for 2 full days so I wasn't all that worried about it hiding or not eating. The morning of day 3 It was dead on the bottom of the tank. I had some Nori on a clip and tied to a rock in the tank that it didn't touch either.
I guess there is a chance it got hit. I wasn't watching but they guy who caught it has worked there for a long time and he is normally pretty careful.
Edit: The redness wasn't there when it went in the tank. Not sure how long that would take to show up if it got whacked.

 

[keithw283]

I see signs of bacterial than uronema which is rare for them and would have shown more of a road rash effect

How long would it take between the redness showing up and death if it's bacterial? It was hiding quite a bit but the little bit I saw it yesterday I didn't notice any red marks at lights out.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I didn't look at both sides tbh.
It didn't eat for me as it spent a lot of time hiding. As soon as I'd walk in the room I'd see it dart to it's little cave. Also, It was only in the tank for 2 full days so I wasn't all that worried about it hiding or not eating. The morning of day 3 It was dead on the bottom of the tank. I had some Nori on a clip and tied to a rock in the tank that it didn't touch either.
I guess there is a chance it got hit. I wasn't watching but they guy who caught it has worked there for a long time and he is normally pretty careful.
Edit: The redness wasn't there when it went in the tank. Not sure how long that would take to show up if it got whacked.

Uronema protozoans live in the muscles of the fish and eat the cells. This produces redness. The trouble is, a bruise also causes this. In fact, Uronema was misdiagnosed for decades as "net injury" until we looked at the tissue and saw protozoans. But, as I said, tangs rarely get this.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

How long would it take between the redness showing up and death if it's bacterial? It was hiding quite a bit but the little bit I saw it yesterday I didn't notice any red marks at lights out.

Jay mentioned bruising which is whay I suspect as cause. As this has no time line can show up quickly or over a couple of days.
You can try treating in quarantine but will be a gamble based on the redness showing. Getting it to eat would help the cause

 

[keithw283]

Jay mentioned bruising which is whay I suspect as cause. As this has no time line can show up quickly or over a couple of days.
You can try treating in quarantine but will be a gamble based on the redness showing. Getting it to eat would help the cause

Unfortunately it was already too late and it was dead when I went to check on it this morning. I was just wondering what it could have been. Thanks for your responses guys.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately it was already too late and it was dead when I went to check on it this morning. I was just wondering what it could have been. Thanks for your responses guys.

My belief is high infection (bacterial)
If you dont always do- Quarantine is best

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Unfortunately it was already too late and it was dead when I went to check on it this morning. I was just wondering what it could have been. Thanks for your responses guys.

Rapid onset of death is a key diagnostic for Uronema.

Inter-cellular Uronema isn’t treatable, so there wasn’t anything you could have done for it.

Jay