Yellowpeel Mimic Tang

[pkth]

Hi There,

can anyone tell me what a little red mark on my Lemonpeel could be? She’s only been in the tank for 48 hours and this has just appeared. She has 2 Maine mocha clowns and a Flame Angel as tank mates - all are eating and swimming well.

Would attach a photo but can’t work out how!

 

[pkth]

Hi There,

can anyone tell me what a little red mark on my Lemonpeel could be? She’s only been in the tank for 48 hours and this has just appeared. She has 2 Maine mocha clowns and a Flame Angel as tank mates - all are eating and swimming well.

Would attach a photo but can’t work out how!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Appears to be post-injury and healing. Do keep an eye on it to assure its doing just that and not becoming infected

 

[pkth]

Appears to be post-injury and healing. Do keep an eye on it to assure its doing just that and not becoming infected

Hi - I’m not sure the photo is particularly good… hoping this is better - kinda freaking out over here! If you could confirm that it’s an injury I would be over the moon!

 

[pkth]

Appears to be post-injury and healing. Do keep an eye on it to assure its doing just that and not becoming infected

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Looks like injury to me as well… maybe someone nipped her since she’s new to the tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The location and size of the spot could mean that it is Uronema. I hope not, as there isn't any good cure for that. Lemonpeels are prone to it (and are pretty delicate fish all the way around).

Uronema is a protozoan that lives between the muscle cells of newly acquired fish of certain species. When they grow in population, the erupt to the surface of the skin. By the time you see the lesion, the damage is already done.

Is the fish eating well?
Has the flame angel been fighting with it? I normally don't mix two angels in a small tank.

Here is an article I wrote about this issue:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

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Jay

 

[pkth]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The location and size of the spot could mean that it is Uronema. I hope not, as there isn't any good cure for that. Lemonpeels are prone to it (and are pretty delicate fish all the way around).

Uronema is a protozoan that lives between the muscle cells of newly acquired fish of certain species. When they grow in population, the erupt to the surface of the skin. By the time you see the lesion, the damage is already done.

Is the fish eating well?
Has the flame angel been fighting with it? I normally don't mix two angels in a small tank.

Here is an article I wrote about this issue:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Hi Jay,

Thank you so much for your message, this is what I was worried about. They were tanked together at J&L and seemed pretty good mates, they are still still interacting playfully - not fighting or nipping - if anything she’s the dominant one and the flame angel is submissive. They sleep together at night too. Looking at the mark today the redness has gone and if anything looks like it’s healing - but I don’t feel out of the woods yet.

I have a 75g, all 4 fish (lemonpeel, flame, 2 Maine mochas) are all eating/swimming very well, she definitely isn’t docile or hiding away - if anything she’s becoming more confident hourly, coming to the glass when I come up to the tank etc.

My partner had to rearrange something in the tank shortly before we noticed the red mark and think he maybe spooked her and she could have scraped herself?

I’m really hoping that’s what happened

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes - it is hopefully just a minor scrape, Uronema wont turn less red like that.
Jay

 

[pkth]

Yes - it is hopefully just a minor scrape, Uronema wont turn less red like that.
Jay

So, it turned out to be Uronema
Overnight the wound went from what looked like it was healing and definitely less red to what you can see in the photo. We took her out immediately and put her in the QT and did what we could to treat, including FW dip. Sadly she died the following night.

The other 3 fish and all inverts are looking great, no signs of anything going on both physically and behaviourally. I know this tank is now effectively toast and we will need to restart. We plan to do a bit of a shuffle, move them into another tank and won’t ever introduce anything else (probably our QT and buy a new QT as it is probably infected now too). As for the DT, we plan to bleach and fully break it down and start again.
Question is the LR and inverts… I’ve read that they can’t carry Uronema and that a good rinse off should get rid of anything that may be ‘attached’ and to possible bleach the LR??!! I’ve also read completely contradictory info too I’m a little lost here!

Any advice would be so appreciated!

Side note - J&L took full responsibility, admitting that the Uronema came from them and have likely lost a fair few fish now too (I’m not sure if they filter multiple tanks on the same system)? Either way - definitely avoiding them now so if you have any recommendations on suppliers we would love to know!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So, it turned out to be Uronema
Overnight the wound went from what looked like it was healing and definitely less red to what you can see in the photo. We took her out immediately and put her in the QT and did what we could to treat, including FW dip. Sadly she died the following night.

The other 3 fish and all inverts are looking great, no signs of anything going on both physically and behaviourally. I know this tank is now effectively toast and we will need to restart. We plan to do a bit of a shuffle, move them into another tank and won’t ever introduce anything else (probably our QT and buy a new QT as it is probably infected now too). As for the DT, we plan to bleach and fully break it down and start again.
Question is the LR and inverts… I’ve read that they can’t carry Uronema and that a good rinse off should get rid of anything that may be ‘attached’ and to possible bleach the LR??!! I’ve also read completely contradictory info too I’m a little lost here!

Any advice would be so appreciated!

Side note - J&L took full responsibility, admitting that the Uronema came from them and have likely lost a fair few fish now too (I’m not sure if they filter multiple tanks on the same system)? Either way - definitely avoiding them now so if you have any recommendations on suppliers we would love to know!

Sorry to hear. Yes, that is full blown Uronema, ugh.

What fish are still in the tank?

Internal Uronema is actually pretty specific, it only attacks certain species, and then, almost always only on newly captured fish.

Uronema is actually a common free-living protozoan, It normally feeds on bacteria. You can isolate it from about 25 to 50% of long established aquariums. There is no need to tear your tank down.

In some rare instances, I've seen Uronema transmit to other fish, but those we new acquisitions also, so I can't confirm that they weren't already carrying it.

What I would do is wait 30 days, just to see if your current fish remain free of Uronema, and then proceed, but avoid the common victims of this malady: green chromis, yellow wrasse, orange anthias and some Centropyge angels.

Jay

 

[pkth]

thanks so much for your reply Jay. In the tank there is 2 Maine mocha clowns and a flame angel, the flame angel seems to have a darkened (looks black) patch between two of his stripes on his right side - ( picture two stripes connecting) but we can’t work out if it has always been there and we are being overly observant now and paranoid or it’s a new development. He is eating great, behaving normally, but so did the lemonpeel before she passed.

If we are still in the clear in 30 days and avoid the main carriers that you listed would we be back in a position to introduce new fish after they have QT?

Also, is there any meds you recommend to treat the entire tank in the meantime… we are in Canada so have limited access frustratingly.

Thanks again!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

thanks so much for your reply Jay. In the tank there is 2 Maine mocha clowns and a flame angel, the flame angel seems to have a darkened (looks black) patch between two of his stripes on his right side - ( picture two stripes connecting) but we can’t work out if it has always been there and we are being overly observant now and paranoid or it’s a new development. He is eating great, behaving normally, but so did the lemonpeel before she passed.

If we are still in the clear in 30 days and avoid the main carriers that you listed would we be back in a position to introduce new fish after they have QT?

Also, is there any meds you recommend to treat the entire tank in the meantime… we are in Canada so have limited access frustratingly.

Thanks again!

Ugh - bad call on my part in the last post. What I wrote is TRUE for managing Uronema, but I wasn't thinking bigger picture. These are new fish, right? They can be harboring other parasites. Waiting 30 days helps ensure active Uronema is settled out, but these fish should also be treated with coppersafe and praziquantel, or other full quarantine method for other possible diseases.

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay