Unknown Cause of Death for Green Chromis

[ReefChiefSpender]

Hi all,

I'm a bit sad that this is my first post on the forums, but anyways. I came home from work and noticed that my green chromis had some irregular swimming patterns than usual. I come to expect my fish and I see that it is missing a large chunk from its lower body. I was surprised to see it because it looked fine yesterday. Could it have been one of my tank mates or maybe a parasite? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

My current set up has
- 1 blue reef chromis
- 2 nano clownfish
- 1 banghai cardinal fish
- 1 randall's goby
- 1 cleaner shrimp
- 1 emerald crab (female)
- 1 pistol shrimp
- Various snails and hermit crabs

My parameters are within optimal range as well.

 

[najer]

Welcome to R2R, let's get some help here.
@ReefSquad ?

 

[ReefChiefSpender]

A closer image of the fish

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

While that indeed looks like a wound, it is more likely to be a protozoan infection common to green chromis, known as Uronema. How long have you had the fish? This normally only shows up on newly acquired chromis. I'm sorry, but it isn't treatable at this stage. The good thing is that it is also not likely to spread to your other fish, as long as conditions are good.

In the off chance that it is a wound, the likely culprit would be one of the crustaceans - but really, unless the green chromis has some other predisposing issue, a shrimp or a crab isn't going to be able to grab it to cause a wound like that.

Jay

 

[ReefChiefSpender]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the info! I've had the green chromis for about a week and a half so far. So the protozoan infection does make sense, as I find it hard to belive the crustaceans were able to trap the chromis. And although my water conditions are good at the moment, are there any reef safe precautions I can't take to ensure that no other fish gets infected.

 

[ScottR]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the info! I've had the green chromis for about a week and a half so far. So the protozoan infection does make sense, as I find it hard to belive the crustaceans were able to trap the chromis. And although my water conditions are good at the moment, are there any reef safe precautions I can't take to ensure that no other fish gets infected.

Sadly, Uronema can’t be permanently killed off. Even in a fallow (fishless) tank, they can continue to thrive. IME, this parasite seems to only affect very few fish. Chromis being the main target.

 

[ReefChiefSpender]

Sadly, Uronema can’t be permanently killed off. Even in a fallow (fishless) tank, they can continue to thrive. IME, this parasite seems to only affect very few fish. Chromis being the main target.

I see, does this mean it is recommended that I avoid adding any type of chromis to my tank for the foreseeable future?

 

[ScottR]

I see, does this mean it is recommended that I avoid adding any type of chromis to my tank for the foreseeable future?

I’m not sure. It’s just that this parasite doesn’t seem to die off like typical ones do during a fallow period. They can feed off of things like detritus and don’t need a fish host. However, it doesn’t seem very prevalent in my experience.