New Reefer Big Problem

[TL44]

Hello all. I’m new here and just navigating in search of some answers.
I started a new 40 gallon reef. I’m in week two and just added two chromis. 5 days later, one appears to have the dreaded Uronema. I’ve read a bunch of info and I’m still hesitant on what to do. If I remove both into a QT and offer proper care, is my Primary Display Tank doomed ? I appreciate all / any info.
Regards,
Tom

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R!

You have come to the right place for answers! Good luck with the 40g.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This fish has uronema which is common with Chromis. Treatment of choice is a 45 minute formalin bath (Quick Cure), followed by transfer into a new or clean QT. Once in Quarantine, it is important to do follow up treatment to assure all of the parasites have been eliminated. This can be accomplished by soaking food in metronidazole ( Seachem Metroplex) for 10 days.

 

[TL44]

thanks for your reply! I’m prepared to perform this method. While the fish are bathing in their QT tank, is there any required maintenance or removal of any kind in my primary?
it’s still new so there’s no corals just live sand and rock. I’m currently using a shark ADV Filtering system with a standard sponge and Matrix Carbon media.
Again, I appreciate all feedback.
Regards,
Tom

 

[TL44]

@Jay Hemdal - Thank you for writing a great article on Urenoma.
Would you recommend starting over on a relatively new tank without corals or other fish ? If not , how long would you wait before introducing a new species to maintain a proper nitrogen cycle in the tank?

 

[Shirak]

I would read Humblefish write up on Uronema. Unfortunately he is no longer part of r2r community but is highly knowledgeable about fish diseases and treatments. From what I understand there is no way to eradicate the disease from the tank once it is there. He also no longer suggests the Formalin/H2O2 and Metro treatment once the red sores are so evident. You can read more here. https://humble.fish/uronema/

 

[TL44]

I would read Humblefish write up on Uronema. Unfortunately he is no longer part of r2r community but is highly knowledgeable about fish diseases and treatments. From what I understand there is no way to eradicate the disease from the tank once it is there. He also no longer suggests the Formalin/H2O2 and Metro treatment once the red sores are so evident. You can read more here. https://humble.fish/uronema/

Thank you for your response and for the link.

 

[TL44]

Ah yes. This is one of the many articles I’ve come across. If I read 20, it’s split 10-10 as to what I (we) should do if we encounter this problem. I guess I’m just going to start over . It’s too risky it seems.

 

[Shirak]

Yes the jury is out on whether or not it's a problem for a healthy system and whether or not it's worth the effort to wipe/soak everything in bleach and start over. If you are going to do major QT of EVERYTHING that EVER goes into your tank it would mean starting over. I don't know how realistic it is in the long run to try and keep out all diseases/parasites etc for the life of the tank. I did a QT and 80day fallow period on my display tank after losing a bunch of fish. But it's difficult to never put anything in the tank that hasn't been through rigorous QT. Even just a tool that might have been in another tank at one time.

 

[TL44]

Gotcha…. Since then, are you rigorously QT’ing your fish now ? What did you have?
Someone suggested leaving the one healthy remaining fish to see if they become infected but I don’t think I’m going that route. It’s already failed the Guinea Pig phase so starting over seems more like a peace of mind as well.

 

[TL44]

That’s a good point . It seems exposure is almost imminent. My issue is the tank is so new that I could go either left or right with this. I’d hate to add corals and more expensive fish species to only discover im just cycling an infected tank with rock and sand. I guess I just answered my question lol

 

[Shirak]

I lost a a bristletooth tang, some gobies to what might have been velvet? or really bad Ich, not sure with maybe something else. I was able to save a yellow tang, 2 green chromis, and a 6 line wrasse in QT. I ran copper, and medicated food for parasites and general antibiotics in the water after the copper treatment. I have not added fish since doing the QT/fallow period. Everything is healthy and have not seen signs of any parasite or disease on the 4 fish after going back into the DT, which was about 8 months ago. I plan on QT of all fish if/when I add more. The whole thing is on hold kinda as I want to redo the DT with a new tank.

I am not good with QT snails and corals and things though. I scrub snails and dip corals. I flush in a couple containers of fresh salt water mix. Never add any water from the LFS or shipping water from the mail. I plan on sending out a tank DNA test to see if there is anything in the water. I don't run UV currently.

 

[TL44]

I lost a a bristletooth tang, some gobies to what might have been velvet? or really bad Ich, not sure with maybe something else. I was able to save a yellow tang, 2 green chromis, and a 6 line wrasse in QT. I ran copper, and medicated food for parasites and general antibiotics in the water after the copper treatment. I have not added fish since doing the QT/fallow period. Everything is healthy and have not seen signs of any parasite or disease on the 4 fish after going back into the DT, which was about 8 months ago. I plan on QT of all fish if/when I add more. The whole thing is on hold kinda as I want to redo the DT with a new tank.

I am not good with QT snails and corals and things though. I scrub snails and dip corals. I flush in a couple containers of fresh salt water mix. Never add any water from the LFS or shipping water from the mail. I plan on sending out a tank DNA test to see if there is anything in the water. I don't run UV currently.

Ahh man…. Well at least it sounds like you had a good handle on it from the jump and applied the best method of recovery.
I took the quarantine option for granted.
I’ll never do that again. Best of luck going forward!

 

[brandon429]

once you fallow the tank, it'll prepare the dt as well as can be done. you can still keep the dt in place

pull fish, re fallow, add back only qt fish.

nice thread, this really represents the challenge most cyclers face its not in the ammonia and nitrite, those are easy to control nowadays.

 

[TL44]

once you fallow the tank, it'll prepare the dt as well as can be done. you can still keep the dt in place

pull fish, re fallow, add back only qt fish.

nice thread, this really represents the challenge most cyclers face its not in the ammonia and nitrite, those are easy to control nowadays.

Agreed ! When you say to only put the QT fish back; If by chance these little guys don’t make it, (I lost one this afternoon, one remains) how long should I wait until I introduce new fish since the length of the fallow process is also a big debate amongst reefers.

The thought of starting over is demoralizing. It has nothing to do with being lazy, I just want to learn and apply the best method as a new hobbyist.

Regards,

 

[brandon429]

Humble fish fallow recommend, 76 days

Updated time from Jay, 45 days

if it were me, ninety lol no joke let’s starve the buggers. This is why I do pico reefs, by physically excluding fish I never get the joy of owning some lol. But a pico reef can do everything fast, so there’s that.

 

[TL44]

Oh wow. Ok, I’ll sleep on this and apply the best method. I appreciate you’re input. It’s like having a 2nd job ! But in a good way.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi folks,

Just weighing in here. There is no fallow period for Uronema, it can be isolated from most marine tanks. It normally feeds on bacteria. For some reason, it will sometimes infect newly acquired chromis, anthias and wrasse. These are deep-seated infections and typically cannot be treated with any medication. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've been able to cure this issue, typically only in seahorses and seadragons (it grows more externally on these fish). I have NEVER been able to cure it on a chromis or anthias once the red lesion erupts to the surface.

Luckily, by avoiding the problem fish, you can avoid this issue: no green chromis, yellow wrasse or small squampinnis anthias. That will reduce your issues by about 80% right there.

In a case where Uronema has hit some fish in a tank, I generally wait 30 days from the date of the last symptoms before adding any new fish - I've seen a couple of cases with severe Uronema in chromis that then transmitted to some parrotfish added to the tank a short time later.

Jay

 

[brandon429]

excellent clarification thank you much.

 

[TL44]

Hi folks,

Just weighing in here. There is no fallow period for Uronema, it can be isolated from most marine tanks. It normally feeds on bacteria. For some reason, it will sometimes infect newly acquired chromis, anthias and wrasse. These are deep-seated infections and typically cannot be treated with any medication. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've been able to cure this issue, typically only in seahorses and seadragons (it grows more externally on these fish). I have NEVER been able to cure it on a chromis or anthias once the red lesion erupts to the surface.

Luckily, by avoiding the problem fish, you can avoid this issue: no green chromis, yellow wrasse or small squampinnis anthias. That will reduce your issues by about 80% right there.

In a case where Uronema has hit some fish in a tank, I generally wait 30 days from the date of the last symptoms before adding any new fish - I've seen a couple of cases with severe Uronema in chromis that then transmitted to some parrotfish added to the tank a short time later.

Jay

Jay, thank you.

this site has helped immensely in a short period. The more data to collect , the better. I’m going to absorb all of this and report back with any new info.