URONEMA / BROOK/ OR VELVET?

[adroc718]

Newly cycled tank ( waterbox 20) dr tims fishless cycle
added 2 clowns a spotted goby and a firefish. everyine seemed healthy for the majority of the week (eating swimming exploring etc) then suddenly all perished within the week.
the larger clown appeared dusty looking one morning then it went away and a day later all the fish died. all had labored breathing before succumbing to whatever it was.

wondering what you guys think it might have been. Also what the best course of action moving forward would be.....going fallow or if Uronema then some kind of medicated treatment to the tank etc?
no corals or inverts in the tank.
thanks in advance for the insight.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Newly cycled tank ( waterbox 20) dr tims fishless cycle
added 2 clowns a spotted goby and a firefish. everyine seemed healthy for the majority of the week (eating swimming exploring etc) then suddenly all perished within the week.
the larger clown appeared dusty looking one morning then it went away and a day later all the fish died. all had labored breathing before succumbing to whatever it was.

wondering what you guys think it might have been. Also what the best course of action moving forward would be.....going fallow or if Uronema then some kind of medicated treatment to the tank etc?
no corals or inverts in the tank.
thanks in advance for the insight.

I see evidence of heavy aggression with tails and fins gone or shredded and the question is who is the aggressor in addition, I see what has been showing up on clowns which is the pink patching which I suspect to be bacterial but its also impossible to assess dead fish and conclude likely cause. rarely do clowns contract uronema.
With tank newly cycled, it may be water, ammonia spike or false readings during cycle.
How did you cycle the tank and for how long ?

 

[adroc718]

I see evidence of heavy aggression with tails and fins gone or shredded and the question is who is the aggressor in addition, I see what has been showing up on clowns which is the pink patching which I suspect to be bacterial but its also impossible to assess dead fish and conclude likely cause. rarely do clowns contract uronema.
With tank newly cycled, it may be water, ammonia spike or false readings during cycle.
How did you cycle the tank and for how long ?

I noticed the fins as well but there wasn't much aggression, he was actually the most aggressive out of the bunch. The goby had the same thing on his fins and he was last to go so he was alone in the tank and his fins were fine the night before and all tattered the next morning.
I cycled for a little over 6 weeks. Tank was started with Marco dry rock and dry sand. I used the Dr Tims Fishless Cycle method. I dosed with ammonia, tested daily and waited for cycle to take course and for ammonia to zero out. Then for about a week I would add @2ml of ammonia, test for a reading, it would register and the next day would read zero. I followed all that by an 80% water change waited a couple of days then bought the fish.
Drip and temp acclimated and in they went. All was well everything was well for a week until one morning the black clown appeared to be covered in dust. A day later he looked fine, then one by one they all died.
I tested for ammonia after the first clown died and it read zero. I then did a 10% water change, and the rest of the fish proceed to die one by one.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry to hear!
I see signs of major aggression as well, but I wonder if scavengers in the tank got to them before you did?
Off the cuff, this sounds like velvet/Amyloodinium. This causes rapid breathing and then death in short order.
You can’t treat for that in a tank with invertebrates, the best treatment is coppersafe in a treatment tank. Many people quarantine with copper right off the bat to try and avoid this (as well as ich).
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I noticed the fins as well but there wasn't much aggression, he was actually the most aggressive out of the bunch. The goby had the same thing on his fins and he was last to go so he was alone in the tank and his fins were fine the night before and all tattered the next morning.
I cycled for a little over 6 weeks. Tank was started with Marco dry rock and dry sand. I used the Dr Tims Fishless Cycle method. I dosed with ammonia, tested daily and waited for cycle to take course and for ammonia to zero out. Then for about a week I would add @2ml of ammonia, test for a reading, it would register and the next day would read zero. I followed all that by an 80% water change waited a couple of days then bought the fish.
Drip and temp acclimated and in they went. All was well everything was well for a week until one morning the black clown appeared to be covered in dust. A day later he looked fine, then one by one they all died.
I tested for ammonia after the first clown died and it read zero. I then did a 10% water change, and the rest of the fish proceed to die one by one.

I wonder if added ammonia had a play in this. Once ammonia zero'd out, there was no need to add more and you wanted 5 days of steady zero prior to stocking.

 

[adroc718]

I wonder if added ammonia had a play in this. Once ammonia zero'd out, there was no need to add more and you wanted 5 days of steady zero prior to stocking.

yes sir, it was about 3 days of constant zero with no added ammonia and an 80% water change the day before getting the fish.

 

[adroc718]

Sorry to hear!
I see signs of major aggression as well, but I wonder if scavengers in the tank got to them before you did?
Off the cuff, this sounds like velvet/Amyloodinium. This causes rapid breathing and then death in short order.
You can’t treat for that in a tank with invertebrates, the best treatment is coppersafe in a treatment tank. Many people quarantine with copper right off the bat to try and avoid this (as well as ich).
Jay

no scavengers in the tank to speak of, the tank was started completely sterile only additions were the 4 fish

 

[Jay Hemdal]

no scavengers in the tank to speak of, the tank was started completely sterile only additions were the 4 fish

Well, not sure what did that to the fins then. Did any one fish have good fins? If so, the most likely scenario is that fish tore up the other ones and then they all developed velvet (ugh).

The best course of action would be to let the tank run fallow for 60 days, with just invertebrates in it. You should consider quarantining the new fish or buying pre-quarantined fish, to try and reduce the chance of this happening again.

Jay

 

[PocketGoose]

For a young tank that could have been too heavy of a bio-load initially. "Ghost" ammonia spikes are definitely a possibility and can happen without the tester ever seeing a reading. I know you had mentioned that the ammonia you added would readily be consumed, however the amount of waste produced by 4 fish added all at once may have exceeded the current export potential of the tank. Dry rock starts take a long time to mature and facilitate biological processes too IMO. Just a thought. Sorry about your loses