With the exception of flukes, viruses, and Uronema, it is my understanding that almost all common marine fish diseases can be removed from a system by leaving it fallow for 6 weeks. Obviously, having healthy fish is most important. Nevertheless, I am interested in the preventative step to decrease risk. Risk of flukes may be removed by avoiding all mollusks. Viruses are too diverse and evolve too quickly for any treatment to be feasible, plus play a key role in viral shunt.
I am wondering what eradication steps can be taken to remove Uronema from a system. Uronema doesn't require a host and is usually a scavenger/decomposer so it can persist off detritus in a system indefinitely.
I have heard that it may be removed by a 14-day regimen of MetroPlex (metronidazole). Is this still the most up-to-date advice that people give? What are some alternatives? What strong evidence do people have that this actually works?
I know I have it lurking in one of my systems since a fish caught it after I introduced it. I was able to cure it using one initial brackish dip which briefly visually helped, a weak h2o2 dip a few days later that visually helped a bit but seemed to hurt the fish more, then finally two Ich-X dips a few days later spaced a few days apart that seemed to do the job, all while running UV in the tank after observing symptoms.
With the exception of flukes, viruses, and Uronema, it is my understanding that almost all common marine fish diseases can be removed from a system by leaving it fallow for 6 weeks. Obviously, having healthy fish is most important. Nevertheless, I am interested in the preventative step to decrease risk. Risk of flukes may be removed by avoiding all mollusks. Viruses are too diverse and evolve too quickly for any treatment to be feasible, plus play a key role in viral shunt.
I am wondering what eradication steps can be taken to remove Uronema from a system. Uronema doesn't require a host and is usually a scavenger/decomposer so it can persist off detritus in a system indefinitely.
I have heard that it may be removed by a 14-day regimen of MetroPlex (metronidazole). Is this still the most up-to-date advice that people give? What are some alternatives? What strong evidence do people have that this actually works?
I know I have it lurking in one of my systems since a fish caught it after I introduced it. I was able to cure it using one initial brackish dip which briefly visually helped, a weak h2o2 dip a few days later that visually helped a bit but seemed to hurt the fish more, then finally two Ich-X dips a few days later spaced a few days apart that seemed to do the job, all while running UV in the tank after observing symptoms.
i can speak from experience, uronema is its own beast. It can live outside host dispute treatment and trigger a viscous cycle. I had to go through virtually every aquatic treatment known to try to eradicate the parasite as best I could with help from my local fish store while trying to minimize the loss of life from a fish that was over treated with copper by seller to minimize any signs or lesions on his fish and ensure fast turn over to minimize signs of copper toxicity if he didn’t. It was real shady stuff he did and likely still does. My copper in the fowlr was at standard range. After dipping the fish, now I QT all fish, I acclimated him in, I did see any physical signs at the time he entered my tank. I know none of my other fish had it because this was the first addition in months I made after keeping the same fish for quite some time until I was confident in my ability to control parameters and correct them, It was my first tank and I the only chemistry I studied was in college and never on water or it’s impact on animals. So I relied on my LFS a lot and obviously google. But nothing prepared me for this and the owner of my store holds multiple marine bio degrees and broke it down for me in medical terms and spark noted the google research for me. Uronema is like a deadly mosquito, you can kill one but there are others that will take its place and continue biting you. You can decrease the load of the parasite but it can still live in live rock. I was told the conclusive way to rid it for good was to drain the tank remove all sand and live rock clear the sump and dump everything. Then let the tank sit dry for minimum of 1 -2 months. While it can live outside of its hosts, it still needs water to live and drying the tank to bones creates uninhabitable conditions for the parasites to continue to live and reproduce even if no outbreaks are apparent. The best you can hope for otherwise is catching it early and symptomatically treating and dosing tank.
During the active infection, Any and all anti parasitic my LFS carried we tried from prazipro to parashield to procure (which yes it has formalin in it) to kanaplex/focus and metro/focus, nitrofurozone and I’m sure I’m missing some because I looked up every pharmacopathway of the medications to try to better understand why despite treating the tank and the fish internally, the dussimeri (guaranteed I spelled that wrong) continued to have skin necrosis and ulceration down to bone. I remember documenting each stage of treatment to see if any improvement happened and it didn’t. The fish still ate and swam in the med qt water changes were done appropriately, even had the LFS home team come to my house to make sure I was doing it right and double check my levels. Added extra aeration. The owner reached out to marine and aquarium contacts to discuss this poor fish. The end result was death of all but 1 fish who I still have but resides in his own tank after I took the advice from the owner to bear bones dry the tank and will not mix that fish with any others in case he still carries the parasite but isn’t actively affected.
I was taught to intermittently dose the nitrofurozone in the tank along with proper water changes and treating with metroplex and focus on the food at same time. This would keep any of the parasites if the surviving purple tang did carry them at a controlled level and treat any active reinfection if present. For me it’s working well. The tank has extra aeration and since the original outbreak, he has only had a reinfection once where he had lesions and I immediately hit it hard and fast. It took time for the ulcerations and tissue to heal and reform a skin or fish skin barrier.
That’s my prophylaxis that is now routine and to figure out the routine I had help from people with marine degrees and their contacts who are marine experts and work in aquariums.
With regards to metronidazole (or metroplex) - i have a bottle in my hand. Despite metroplex being an animal/aquatic version of metronidazole for humans and I’m sure some mammals as well, this medication works internally to reduce parasitic infection, prevent propagation, spread and further involvement. It has the most activity in the GI system which is where uronema often first for lack of better term colonizes (I know they are not bacteria but similar concept of where the aggregate and spread) fish excrete uronema pathogens who then go on to find another host or wait until a suitable one comes along. The intercellular parasites remaining in the body go on to attack and consume the tissue of the host so they can survive and continue to replicate which is why it’s so destructive. It’s so hard to kill once it’s gotten past the critical stage where the medicine is overtaken by the parasite. Metronidazole would never be given for a skin infection as it has no activity or effect unless it is administered via oral ingestion with a binder of focus to make sure it is absorbed by the sick fish.
Using metro in the tank won’t kill an active parasite that’s awaiting a host bc it needs to be metabolized to active form. When the LFS owner explained how and where the parasite goes my medical knowledge of metronidazole and its areas of efficacy clicked and thus why he recommend intermittently tank treating the water at same time. Treating the tank with the agent of choice will kill live parasites that may exist outside hoist and were shed during an active infection.
Full disclaimer: I work in human medicine, so I can’t not say this important but. The advice shared is that if individuals who specialized in the marine aquatic field. But their opinions on treatment of this case of uronema do not constitute all the medical facts or treatments on this condition and this medical conjecture from personal experience and is not meant to be used solely for diagnostic or treatment purposes. a local expert in marine disease should be contacted for their opinion on best approach and after all known information has been gathered should the treating person render their decision on how to proceed. This is not meant to be used for the purpose of treatment on any human being (sorry it has to be said bc there are some people who need to be told that)
The way my fishstore worked with me and outsider consults from the owners friends may not be the way others would have treated their tanks. At the end of the day if you are able to abate an active infection and minimize loss and injury without causing further harm, IMO that would be the path I would take. We treated following that guideline the best we could but each time the parasite overwhelmed the medication and we ran the meds in order of increasing level of medicinal strength with each failure in symptom improvement. Idk if any of that will help or if it answers your question but i wish you the best of luck !
