Uronema Treatment

Lostreefin · Apr 8, 2019

I received 11 chromis, 2 sunburst anthias, a starry blenny, and a diamond goby in the mail. I have had issues with chromis and uronema in the past, so I wanted to be smart this time. I liked the idea of putting my batch of fish straight into Metro treated water in my quarantine and that's what I did. I dosed the tank with 2 scoops of Metroplex per 10g, every 2-3 days for 14 days. That went well, and only lost one chromis at the beginning, the rest seem ok. I had been raising my copper level slowly over the past week as well, and it is at 1.75ppm now. Today I lost another chromis and noticed another has the trademark uronema red mark on its body, but is doing ok. Is it possible they still have uronema or could it just have the wound? I'm going to do the copper for 30 days, I could do metro again now or wait until the end, but I thought for sure I would have killed it. Thoughts, suggestions?

ngoodermuth · Apr 8, 2019

Did you do any type of dip or bath prior to QT? There have been accounts of metro alone, not quite cutting it with uronema...

I would give each fish a 90-minute bath in acriflavine or a formalin dip... and then transfer to a second sterile tank, and treat again with the metroplex. You can match the copper in your new tank to the current tank, and still dose the metro. You'll want to dose 2 scoops per 10 gallons every 48 hours.

I'd try to stick with the 48 hour intervals, three days would be a bit too much time between doses to remain effective... the medication will degrade quite a bit in that time.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 8, 2019

Lostreefin said:
I received 11 chromis, 2 sunburst anthias, a starry blenny, and a diamond goby in the mail. I have had issues with chromis and uronema in the past, so I wanted to be smart this time. I liked the idea of putting my batch of fish straight into Metro treated water in my quarantine and that's what I did. I dosed the tank with 2 scoops of Metroplex per 10g, every 2-3 days for 14 days. That went well, and only lost one chromis at the beginning, the rest seem ok. I had been raising my copper level slowly over the past week as well, and it is at 1.75ppm now. Today I lost another chromis and noticed another has the trademark uronema red mark on its body, but is doing ok. Is it possible they still have uronema or could it just have the wound? I'm going to do the copper for 30 days, I could do metro again now or wait until the end, but I thought for sure I would have killed it. Thoughts, suggestions?

Were you feeding metro while dosing the water for the 14 days? Internal treatment is just as important as external treatment for Uronema

Lostreefin · Apr 8, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
Did you do any type of dip or bath prior to QT? There have been accounts of metro alone, not quite cutting it with uronema...

I would give each fish a 90-minute bath in acriflavine or a formalin dip... and then transfer to a second sterile tank, and treat again with the metroplex. You can match the copper in your new tank to the current tank, and still dose the metro. You'll want to dose 2 scoops per 10 gallons every 48 hours.

I did not do a bath. You are suggesting I dip all of the fish or just the one showing symptoms? I don't have another tank right now, but could try to set up a whole different quarantine.

Lostreefin · Apr 8, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
Were you feeding metro while dosing the water for the 14 days? Internal treatment is just as important as external treatment for Uronema

I only fed them general cure and focus for about a week, I thought that would have been enough with the 14 days of metro in the water column.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 8, 2019

Lostreefin said:
I only fed them general cure and focus for about a week, I thought that would have been enough with the 14 days of metro in the water column.

No you need to match it, feeding metro and dosing in the water column for 14 days or you could fall short and get a reinfection. Possibly what your seeing now.

ngoodermuth · Apr 8, 2019

Lostreefin said:
I did not do a bath. You are suggesting I dip all of the fish or just the one showing symptoms? I don't have another tank right now, but could try to set up a whole different quarantine.

You'd want to dip all the fish, and I'll +1 to the food-soaking as well!

Lostreefin · Apr 8, 2019

Which one is better for the dip? I have to say everyone is doing ok right now and I hate to dip them and weaken them all, but if it will help that's what I'll do. I have plenty of metro and general cure which is better for food soaking and uronema?

ngoodermuth · Apr 8, 2019

Personally, I prefer ruby reef rally... Main ingredient is acriflavine, so very gentle, but does have a small amount of formalin which may make it a bit more effective as an anti-parasitic than just straight acriflavine. 90-minute bath in a separate container (I use a 5-gallong bucket with a small tetra heater and airline).

For food soaking for uronema specifically, I think I'd go with metroplex... as the concentration of metronidazole per scoop will be a bit higher.

Lostreefin · Apr 8, 2019

Thank you two for the help. I will do the dip and then transfer to a clean tank with copper at levels, then try another round of metro in the food and column. I want chromis so bad in my tank, but uronema is really nasty.

ngoodermuth · Apr 8, 2019

I agree, better to nip it in the bud now then possibly add it to your tank... eek... keep us posted!

Lostreefin · Apr 11, 2019

I did the 90min dip last night of RRR at 1tsp per gallon, and then into a clean tank dosed with metro and copper. They seemed ok this morning. I will start feeding metro tonight.

Lostreefin · Apr 25, 2019

Update:
I just completed the 14days of metro in the water column and in their food and all nine surviving chromis are ok. One of them that had the uronema red marks on its side has recovered and the redness is gone. I have another week of copper left but will do a water change then start prazi to make sure no flukes made it through. I am hopeful that all the fish will continue to do well. Thank you @ngoodermuth and @Frtdrmrose7 for the help.

Frtdrmrose7 · Apr 25, 2019

Lostreefin said:
Update:
I just completed the 14days of metro in the water column and in their food and all nine surviving chromis are ok. One of them that had the uronema red marks on its side has recovered and the redness is gone. I have another week of copper left but will do a water change then start prazi to make sure no flukes made it through. I am hopeful that all the fish will continue to do well. Thank you @ngoodermuth and @Frtdrmrose7 for the help.

Good news! You are very fortunate because usually when you see the telltale sore starting it’s typically too late to save that fish. Good job!

ngoodermuth · Apr 25, 2019

Lostreefin said:
Update:
I just completed the 14days of metro in the water column and in their food and all nine surviving chromis are ok. One of them that had the uronema red marks on its side has recovered and the redness is gone. I have another week of copper left but will do a water change then start prazi to make sure no flukes made it through. I am hopeful that all the fish will continue to do well. Thank you @ngoodermuth and @Frtdrmrose7 for the help.

Great job! And thank you for the update