Uromena?

[RoboRabbit89]

Hey all, So my LFS does a quarantine for all their fish. I really like them and trust their procedures. But last Thursday I went and picked up some Chromis. I wasnt paying attention to the guy catching the fish(new employee) but noticed he was using his hand to catch them fairly aggressively. Then they put all 4 Chromis in a small bag. Needless to say when I went to acclimate them one was pretty banged up right off the back. He was swimming with his nose down in circles with a curve in its spine towards one side which right at the tail joint area had a red spot, the other side also had a spot right at the joint but it was smaller. The spot has seemed to calm down and turned more purple-ish but the fish is still swimming strangely with the curve in its spine. It is definitely eating like a champ and does not seem to be gasping or panting and is not scratching itself on rock or anything. All is normal except the spots that look like bruises and the odd swimming.

The store did say that they dont do Formalin baths but do use the medicated food that is supposed to help with Uromena. They also offered me a replacment fish but told me to not bring the other one back which makes me paranoid. Biggest problem now is that I cant catch it, it has no problem darting around and getting away from me, and then even if I do catch it I have no way of knowing if it is Uromena or not, since the LFS doesnt want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. I read that there is no fallow period so I dont want to be down the road 6 months about to put in some expensive clowns with my fingers crossed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have one good picture where you can see the spot on the tail, and might be able to get another but this guy moves a lot and getting pictures is tuff.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hey all, So my LFS does a quarantine for all their fish. I really like them and trust their procedures. But last Thursday I went and picked up some Chromis. I wasnt paying attention to the guy catching the fish(new employee) but noticed he was using his hand to catch them fairly aggressively. Then they put all 4 Chromis in a small bag. Needless to say when I went to acclimate them one was pretty banged up right off the back. He was swimming with his nose down in circles with a curve in its spine towards one side which right at the tail joint area had a red spot, the other side also had a spot right at the joint but it was smaller. The spot has seemed to calm down and turned more purple-ish but the fish is still swimming strangely with the curve in its spine. It is definitely eating like a champ and does not seem to be gasping or panting and is not scratching itself on rock or anything. All is normal except the spots that look like bruises and the odd swimming.

The store did say that they dont do Formalin baths but do use the medicated food that is supposed to help with Uromena. They also offered me a replacment fish but told me to not bring the other one back which makes me paranoid. Biggest problem now is that I cant catch it, it has no problem darting around and getting away from me, and then even if I do catch it I have no way of knowing if it is Uromena or not, since the LFS doesnt want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. I read that there is no fallow period so I dont want to be down the road 6 months about to put in some expensive clowns with my fingers crossed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have one good picture where you can see the spot on the tail, and might be able to get another but this guy moves a lot and getting pictures is tuff.

Did your LFS *define* quarantine? Obviously their definition doesn't match because you've got sick fish on your hands. Most don't really follow quarantine/hospital procedures due to costs. I have an online special order in with TSM Aquatics https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...st-saltwaterfish-store-in-the-country.748121/

Can't clearly see spot details, but able to tell that spot is BIG

You didn't use a QT at your home, you went straight into DT. If that fish does have Uromena then your DT has Uromena. Hopefully, its something else.

Recommend get a 5g Petco setup if you you don't already have a QT/HT setup. It comes with everything needed except maybe a heater.

Hopefully this all works out but either way it is a great lesson in having your own QT tank for observations before acclimating fish into your DT.

 

[RoboRabbit89]

So they do a full on procedure, they went through it in detail with me once. They run copper, the medicated food and a few other meds. All the other fish I have gotten from them have been bulletproof. The spot was worst on day one for sure(when the picture was taken), although right now looking at the fish it has faded a good bit, and his fins are pretty ruffed up which is making me lean towards this just being a bruise from fighting in that small bag. Thoughts?

With none of the other symptoms, the spot starting to fade, and with none of the other Chromis showing any signs do you think it is ok to see how it goes a few more days? I had originally planned on running a UV in the future, maybe I should move that time frame up.

I do have a QT tank at home but after a lot of research and listening to various opinions I did not want to take a fish right out of quarantine in the shop and directly into another one as I figured the added stress would do more harm than good.

 

[RoboRabbit89]

the blues are a bit high for the camera but you can see how much the spot has faded. And can also see his weird swimming.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

So they do a full on procedure, they went through it in detail with me once. They run copper, the medicated food and a few other meds. All the other fish I have gotten from them have been bulletproof. The spot was worst on day one for sure(when the picture was taken), although right now looking at the fish it has faded a good bit, and his fins are pretty ruffed up which is making me lean towards this just being a bruise from fighting in that small bag. Thoughts?

With none of the other symptoms, the spot starting to fade, and with none of the other Chromis showing any signs do you think it is ok to see how it goes a few more days? I had originally planned on running a UV in the future, maybe I should move that time frame up.

I do have a QT tank at home but after a lot of research and listening to various opinions I did not want to take a fish right out of quarantine in the shop and directly into another one as I figured the added stress would do more harm than good.

SO you are saying in past 45 minutes between original post and now fish is doing better ??

If so then yes wait and see... Fingers crossed!!!

 

[RoboRabbit89]

He is the same all day today, but since last Thursday and today the spot has faded a lot. He has never had any other symptoms though and eats like a champ. His swimming has just been super off from the start, like he has the fish version of vertigo.

I am also hyper paranoid because 15 years ago I had a tank that had endless problems. So I really wanted to nip this in the bud.

also forgot to mention as part of their QT they keep the salinity low.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Uromena wouldn't be getting better on its own - good luck

 

[RoboRabbit89]

Thanks for all the replies Pink! I have been super paranoid about it and hope that it is indeed just a fighting bruise, fingers crossed for sure!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for all the replies Pink! I have been super paranoid about it and hope that it is indeed just a fighting bruise, fingers crossed for sure!

That chromis is swimming really oddly, seems like a neurological problem. I've never seen Uronema get better on its own, so that likely isn't the problem. However, many people with a green chromis that gets Uronema are heard to say; "its just a bruise, the guy catching the fish was too rough".

Here is a link to an article I wrote on this disease:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[RoboRabbit89]

That chromis is swimming really oddly, seems like a neurological problem. I've never seen Uronema get better on its own, so that likely isn't the problem. However, many people with a green chromis that gets Uronema are heard to say; "its just a bruise, the guy catching the fish was too rough".

Here is a link to an article I wrote on this disease:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

This article was highly helpful, THANK YOU!

right off the back this had me feeling more easy since you state that the fish becomes lethargic, develops rapid breathing, stops eating and then usually dies within 3 days. Since none of these are true in my case and the mark seems to be fading I feel a lot better.

So if it is neurological would that most likely mean this is trauma related?

from day one I was fairly sure this fish was on its way out and am really surprised it has made it almost a week, my biggest concern was having a parasite in the tank with no fallow period, I think I may have dodged a bullet but am strongly thinking of hooking up a UV sooner rather than later for piece of mind.