Springeri Damsels

[baileejo40]

So I bought 6 damsels and put them in my QT. 3 have perished. I am honestly at a loss. I seem to be having a streak of bad luck with my new 75 gal and ANY fish I buy as of late but thats another rant (i bought damsels bc i thought to myself SURELY, of ALL the fish I have EVER owned, these are the hardiest). I'm just looking for answers as to what might have killed the damsels. And possibly some insight into why I'm having such a hard time keeping anything alive. I'm embarrassed and very discouraged at this point (there's been a few casualties). The QT is cycled, its actually a second one i bought bc i thought the first 10 gal was cursed, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, like less than 5 ppm nitrate, checked daily and has been running for like 2 months. Its honestly more of an observation/ hospital tank and its a 20 gal long. I did a 7 day Prazipro tx. I thought maybe it was a bacterial infection secondary from that. Maybe uronema? Maybe some outside factor im overlooking?

Tia

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

iMO 6 damsels in a 10 or 20 is way too much. Unless you have dividers it would likely be a hostile environment. I tried 3 times to keep 2 in a 20 and it didn’t work out.

 

[baileejo40]

iMO 6 damsels in a 10 or 20 is way too much. Unless you have dividers it would likely be a hostile environment. I tried 3 times to keep 2 in a 20 and it didn’t work out.

I didn't notice hostility but you could be right. I was thinking bc they were super small, like a little over 1", they would've been fine. Ugh, I hate this might actually be my fault :/

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I bought 6 damsels and put them in my QT. 3 have perished. I am honestly at a loss. I seem to be having a streak of bad luck with my new 75 gal and ANY fish I buy as of late but thats another rant (i bought damsels bc i thought to myself SURELY, of ALL the fish I have EVER owned, these are the hardiest). I'm just looking for answers as to what might have killed the damsels. And possibly some insight into why I'm having such a hard time keeping anything alive. I'm embarrassed and very discouraged at this point (there's been a few casualties). The QT is cycled, its actually a second one i bought bc i thought the first 10 gal was cursed, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, like less than 5 ppm nitrate, checked daily and has been running for like 2 months. Its honestly more of an observation/ hospital tank and its a 20 gal long. I did a 7 day Prazipro tx. I thought maybe it was a bacterial infection secondary from that. Maybe uronema? Maybe some outside factor im overlooking?

Tia

Sorry to see this and this fish is a victim of aggression and to be expected with multiple damsels who are territorial and need lots of hiding for best survival rate. Not uronema or bacterial and Prazi is a dewormer, not for issues you suspected

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I bought 6 damsels and put them in my QT. 3 have perished. I am honestly at a loss. I seem to be having a streak of bad luck with my new 75 gal and ANY fish I buy as of late but thats another rant (i bought damsels bc i thought to myself SURELY, of ALL the fish I have EVER owned, these are the hardiest). I'm just looking for answers as to what might have killed the damsels. And possibly some insight into why I'm having such a hard time keeping anything alive. I'm embarrassed and very discouraged at this point (there's been a few casualties). The QT is cycled, its actually a second one i bought bc i thought the first 10 gal was cursed, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, like less than 5 ppm nitrate, checked daily and has been running for like 2 months. Its honestly more of an observation/ hospital tank and its a 20 gal long. I did a 7 day Prazipro tx. I thought maybe it was a bacterial infection secondary from that. Maybe uronema? Maybe some outside factor im overlooking?

Tia

Did all three that died have lesions like this? This is advanced Uronema, an internal, untreatable protozoan disease. It isn’t super contagious, but fish in the same group often develop this as they acquire it during moving through the supply chain.
You could also be seeing Uronema (in this fish) mixed with other issues, like the aggression mentioned.

Did you see ripped fins on the fish?
Can you post a video of the remaining three fish?

 

[baileejo40]

So I bought 6 damsels and put them in my QT. 3 have perished. I am honestly at a loss. I seem to be having a streak of bad luck with my new 75 gal and ANY fish I buy as of late but thats another rant (i bought damsels bc i thought to myself SURELY, of ALL the fish I have EVER owned, these are the hardiest). I'm just looking for answers as to what might have killed the damsels. And possibly some insight into why I'm having such a hard time keeping anything alive. I'm embarrassed and very discouraged at this point (there's been a few casualties). The QT is cycled, its actually a second one i bought bc i thought the first 10 gal was cursed, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, like less than 5 ppm nitrate, checked daily and has been running for like 2 months. Its honestly more of an observation/ hospital tank and its a 20 gal long. I did a 7 day Prazipro tx. I thought maybe it was a bacterial infection secondary from that. Maybe uronema? Maybe some outside factor im overlooking?

Tia

Did all three that died have lesions like this? This is advanced Uronema, an internal, untreatable protozoan disease. It isn’t super contagious, but fish in the same group often develop this as they acquire it during moving through the supply chain.
You could also be seeing Uronema (in this fish) mixed with other issues, like the aggression mentioned.

Did you see ripped fins on the fish?
Can you post a video of the remaining three fish?

Yes, they all had the pale area with a little red in the center. I got them all from an online distributor and the 3 that died came with the pale spots, the red didn't develop, or i didnnt notice it until after their deaths but they all looked the same. I inspected each closely and saw no ripped fins. I did feed them metroplex bound with focus hoping it would help as well. I can post a video this evening.

 

[baileejo40]

So I bought 6 damsels and put them in my QT. 3 have perished. I am honestly at a loss. I seem to be having a streak of bad luck with my new 75 gal and ANY fish I buy as of late but thats another rant (i bought damsels bc i thought to myself SURELY, of ALL the fish I have EVER owned, these are the hardiest). I'm just looking for answers as to what might have killed the damsels. And possibly some insight into why I'm having such a hard time keeping anything alive. I'm embarrassed and very discouraged at this point (there's been a few casualties). The QT is cycled, its actually a second one i bought bc i thought the first 10 gal was cursed, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, like less than 5 ppm nitrate, checked daily and has been running for like 2 months. Its honestly more of an observation/ hospital tank and its a 20 gal long. I did a 7 day Prazipro tx. I thought maybe it was a bacterial infection secondary from that. Maybe uronema? Maybe some outside factor im overlooking?

Tia

Did all three that died have lesions like this? This is advanced Uronema, an internal, untreatable protozoan disease. It isn’t super contagious, but fish in the same group often develop this as they acquire it during moving through the supply chain.
You could also be seeing Uronema (in this fish) mixed with other issues, like the aggression mentioned.

Did you see ripped fins on the fish?
Can you post a video of the remaining three fish?

Yes, they all had the pale area with a little red in the center. I got them all from an online distributor and the 3 that died came with the pale spots, the red didn't develop, or i didnnt notice it until after their deaths but they all looked the same. I inspected each closely and saw no ripped fins. I did feed them metroplex bound with focus hoping it would help as well. I can post a video this evening.

The 3rd refused to make an appearance, he was hiding in the pvc but he appears healthy with no pale spots, very similar to the other darker blue one. The bigger damsel with a lot of pale discoloration, is my new concern.. it looks like his lesion has errupted. I tried to video him from all angles to capture it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes, they all had the pale area with a little red in the center. I got them all from an online distributor and the 3 that died came with the pale spots, the red didn't develop, or i didnnt notice it until after their deaths but they all looked the same. I inspected each closely and saw no ripped fins. I did feed them metroplex bound with focus hoping it would help as well. I can post a video this evening.

Metroplex and Focus isn’t really effective against Uronema, but some people report that it works. Trouble is, it needs to be dosed at 1% to 2% by weight in the food. Too high and the fish won’t eat it, too low and it doesn’t help.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The 3rd refused to make an appearance, he was hiding in the pvc but he appears healthy with no pale spots, very similar to the other darker blue one. The bigger damsel with a lot of pale discoloration, is my new concern.. it looks like his lesion has errupted. I tried to video him from all angles to capture it.

That does look like Uronema. One other diagnostic is that fish that die from this often do so with their mouths wide open….im not sure why that is, but we see it a lot.