CHROMIS ISSUES…

[TonyCagg]

Added a school of 7 Chromis to my 200gal tank about a week ago.

Chose healthy looking fish from LFS.
QTed them.
Added to tank

All looked great, eating very aggressively several times a day.

At no time did any one of them look “off” or slower than the school, not eating…literally nothing wrong that you could see.

Over the past week they are disappearing one by one.

I check tank at night and there are 7 Chromis.
Check the next morning…there are 6.

Couple of days later the same.
And again this morning.

I am down to 4, and I have not found a single dead fish.

I have searched the tank, cannot find any trace of them.

Only other fish in the tank are two small clowns and a 2” Blue Hippo Tang.

Also have some CUC.
2 pincushion urchins
2 emerald crab
2 peppermint shrimp
And a mix of small snails and hermits.

Any thoughts?

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

Sadly this happens a lot with Chromis. I’m wondering if your cleanup crew is eating the deceased before you find them.

They are notorious for uronema. If you find a dead one look for red on its body.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Added a school of 7 Chromis to my 200gal tank about a week ago.

Chose healthy looking fish from LFS.
QTed them.
Added to tank

All looked great, eating very aggressively several times a day.

At no time did any one of them look “off” or slower than the school, not eating…literally nothing wrong that you could see.

Over the past week they are disappearing one by one.

I check tank at night and there are 7 Chromis.
Check the next morning…there are 6.

Couple of days later the same.
And again this morning.

I am down to 4, and I have not found a single dead fish.

I have searched the tank, cannot find any trace of them.

Only other fish in the tank are two small clowns and a 2” Blue Hippo Tang.

Also have some CUC.
2 pincushion urchins
2 emerald crab
2 peppermint shrimp
And a mix of small snails and hermits.

Any thoughts?

How did you quarantine them? No losses during that time? Are you seeing any shiny spots/ lighter areas on the sides of any fish (that’s what damaged scales from fighting looks like).

 

[TonyCagg]

Sadly this happens a lot with Chromis. I’m wondering if your cleanup crew is eating the deceased before you find them.

They are notorious for uronema. If you find a dead one look for red on its body.

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

Maybe they are going into holes in the rocks?

 

[TonyCagg]

Added a school of 7 Chromis to my 200gal tank about a week ago.

Chose healthy looking fish from LFS.
QTed them.
Added to tank

All looked great, eating very aggressively several times a day.

At no time did any one of them look “off” or slower than the school, not eating…literally nothing wrong that you could see.

Over the past week they are disappearing one by one.

I check tank at night and there are 7 Chromis.
Check the next morning…there are 6.

Couple of days later the same.
And again this morning.

I am down to 4, and I have not found a single dead fish.

I have searched the tank, cannot find any trace of them.

Only other fish in the tank are two small clowns and a 2” Blue Hippo Tang.

Also have some CUC.
2 pincushion urchins
2 emerald crab
2 peppermint shrimp
And a mix of small snails and hermits.

Any thoughts?

How did you quarantine them? No losses during that time? Are you seeing any shiny spots/ lighter areas on the sides of any fish (that’s what damaged scales from fighting looks like).

I did the SRQT protocol from Serious Reefs.

No losses during QT. Everything went super smoothly.

I have seen them pick at one another, but nothing that I would call real bullying. Just here and there.

 

[TonyCagg]

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

Maybe they are going into holes in the rocks?

Perhaps, I have looked through as thoroughly as I can, but seems odd for 3 to do the same…but anything is possible

 

[Reef Wizard]

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

what did you do to treat Uronema? there isnt an official cure yet

 

[JumboShrimp]

Sad-- but a 'classic tale.' I think anyone who could escape the fate you suffered should win a Chromis Award.

 

[MnFish1]

Added a school of 7 Chromis to my 200gal tank about a week ago.

Chose healthy looking fish from LFS.
QTed them.
Added to tank

All looked great, eating very aggressively several times a day.

At no time did any one of them look “off” or slower than the school, not eating…literally nothing wrong that you could see.

Over the past week they are disappearing one by one.

I check tank at night and there are 7 Chromis.
Check the next morning…there are 6.

You did not QT them long enough - it is normally a 30 day process with copper followed by 2 treatments with prazipro 8 days apart - and many then observe for a time as well after that.

Couple of days later the same.
And again this morning.

As others have said - this happens with chromis - though the fact that you can't find them suggests they either jumped out, or were eaten. A school unless large often picks off the weakest one until either 1 or 2 are left. Additionally, they are terribly susceptible to uronema which can kill quickly

I am down to 4, and I have not found a single dead fish.

I have searched the tank, cannot find any trace of them.

Only other fish in the tank are two small clowns and a 2” Blue Hippo Tang.

Those would be unlikely to do anything - except the clowns - depending on how small they are and whether they are a pair

Also have some CUC.
2 pincushion urchins
2 emerald crab
2 peppermint shrimp
And a mix of small snails and hermits.

Any thoughts?

The CUC may have cleaned up. If you don't have a lid, I wonder about jumping - or a fish that's gotten down the overflow/sump, etc

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

Generally speaking there is no treatment for uronema - and it's often in the display tank even if you treat for it. (I'm assuming you used metronidazole)?

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

Same here

 

[TonyCagg]

Thanks.

Treated for Uronema during the QT, and never saw anything at all right up until they disappear.

Generally speaking there is no treatment for uronema - and it's often in the display tank even if you treat for it. (I'm assuming you used metronidazole)?

If the cleanup brew is finishing them off like that I’m super impressed, would think there would be some signs of a dead fish with 3 having disappeared so far.

Same here

Yes, I used Metronidazole.

I also have a lid on the tank.

 

[TonyCagg]

Added a school of 7 Chromis to my 200gal tank about a week ago.

Chose healthy looking fish from LFS.
QTed them.
Added to tank

All looked great, eating very aggressively several times a day.

At no time did any one of them look “off” or slower than the school, not eating…literally nothing wrong that you could see.

Over the past week they are disappearing one by one.

I check tank at night and there are 7 Chromis.
Check the next morning…there are 6.

You did not QT them long enough - it is normally a 30 day process with copper followed by 2 treatments with prazipro 8 days apart - and many then observe for a time as well after that.

Couple of days later the same.
And again this morning.

As others have said - this happens with chromis - though the fact that you can't find them suggests they either jumped out, or were eaten. A school unless large often picks off the weakest one until either 1 or 2 are left. Additionally, they are terribly susceptible to uronema which can kill quickly

I am down to 4, and I have not found a single dead fish.

I have searched the tank, cannot find any trace of them.

Only other fish in the tank are two small clowns and a 2” Blue Hippo Tang.

Those would be unlikely to do anything - except the clowns - depending on how small they are and whether they are a pair

Also have some CUC.
2 pincushion urchins
2 emerald crab
2 peppermint shrimp
And a mix of small snails and hermits.

Any thoughts?

The CUC may have cleaned up. If you don't have a lid, I wonder about jumping - or a fish that's gotten down the overflow/sump, etc

I do have a lid and I checked the overflow and sump. No sign anywhere.

As several of you said, I would guess the clean up crew did their job on these.

 

[exnisstech]

I've tried groups of 7 twice and both times ended with 1. I never found any bodies but mine didn't disappear in days it was more like weeks maybe even months. Its been years so I can't remember exactly.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes, I used Metronidazole.

I also have a lid on the tank.

Oral metronidazole at 1 to 2% in the food by weight *may* work on Uronema, but the jury is still out on that, because once visible lesions are seen, it is too late. If you feed oral metro to fish before that, and they don't get Uronema, did it work, or did they just not have it? Metro in the water is ineffective against inter-cellular Uronema, as a bath, it just doesn't get into the fish's tissues. Same with formalin and chloroquine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m not convinced the case here is aggression between chromis because it was very fast.

 

[Tangdora]

I added like 18 to my tank like 6 weeks ago and I’m down to 11 now. Every weeks seem like I’m missing 1 despite them all collective swimming together. Swear they are playing survivor and sacrifice the weakest link each week.

 

[jthunderzzz]

I was nervous to get chromis because of hearing about this. I have a smaller tank than you but found something that is at least working for me. I got 5 chromis and one anthias that was a little bigger than them. He seems to be the boss and keeps
The chromis worried about him a lot of the time. My idea was for that to happens so they don’t bully each other. I was reading about them in the wild and they live in large groups to stay safe of the predator while
hiding in the acros. I’m sure this isn’t perfectly correct but in my head if they aren’t ’bored’ and have a threat/some stimulation I am thinking they don’t pick each other off. Has worked for me for a while but I could be an edge case .

 

[MnFish1]

I’m not convinced the case here is aggression between chromis because it was very fast.

I'm curious - what you think it is - disease? I mean that's also a possibility - but - except for velvet one would see more evidence, in my experience. And even with velvet one would see swimming into flow, flashing, etc.

To the OP - Are there any behavioral issues you're noticing?