Wanting to purchase a blue green chromis but have concerns about uronema

[McCarrick]

Hello all! The title says it all.
I have a 29 gallon and it currently only has a black ray goby, red tux urchin, two peppermint shrimp, and chestnut cowrie. I've always thought that the blue green chromis was a beautiful fish and living in Woming, is one of the few fish that I can get considering the lfs situation is practically non existant. I've been reading a lot about uronema and am hesitant on getting the fish. The biggest QT tank I can set up is a 5 gal, but that should be fine since I only want one chromis and would prefer a smaller one to start. My overall questions are
1. How common is uronema really?
2. Once the fish is treated and has survived QT, are there risks of the disease showing up again?
3. In QT the chromis. It would seem to me that it would be wise to treat the fish by assuming it had uronema. If the fish is immediately treated, what would be the chances of it dying due to the disease?

Any feed back is greatly appreciated!!

 

[javisaman]

1. It's actually pretty common. Some fish like chromis/anthias are more affected by it than others but can be brought by anything wet.
2. With proper QT the risk is minimal. There is a chance that uronema is present, but the fish are healthy/unstressed enough not to be affected.
3. If you are not seeing symptoms the chances are good it'll survive. A bath in acriflavine and being placed in a QT with monitoring for a couple of weeks should be enough.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The thing to do is: BEFORE Purchase
Inspect the fish for:
Breathing
Overall health
How it gets along with others in the tank
ASK TO SEE IT EAT

Once you get it home, acclimate as normal and before introduction into display tank, give it a freshwater dip or formalin dip and it should do well

 

[Quietman]

Not a concern for me when I bought mine. If I saw signs I wouldn't buy it. If it shipped and arrived with sores I'd likely euthanize (after pics) and get another. I don't QT anymore or dip. Not starting a debate, just expressing my level of concern.

BTW - I have only one and it's been great for 2 years now all by itself. You hear of needing a school but it interacts well, is not aggressive and exhibits all the normal non-stressed behaviors.

 

[kenchilada]

Back in 2001, I bought six green chromis. They looked fine at the store but soon one got the red spot of death. It quickly wiped out all six. I never had another problem with uronema in that tank, although it is always present once it gets into your tank. Those were the last chromis I tried though.

If I ever try more, I would order from a good source and do prophylactic quarantine and observe them a long time before adding to the DT.

 

[McCarrick]

So I've heard of fw dips but have never tried one. What does that process look like? If the disease were to show up, how long would it likely take for it to show up? Between a fw and formalin dip, which would be better?
I'm glad to hear that they can do well on their own. I'm running a 29 gallon and simply dont have the space for a school.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So I've heard of fw dips but have never tried one. What does that process look like? If the disease were to show up, how long would it likely take for it to show up? Between a fw and formalin dip, which would be better?
I'm glad to hear that they can do well on their own. I'm running a 29 gallon and simply dont have the space for a school.

FW dips won't work for Uronema, they actually prefer lower salinity. Formalin works at 150 ppm for 45 minutes under good aeration as a daily bath, but for external Uronema only. Internal Uronema can't be treated, by the time you see symptoms the fish are going to die.

Personally, I'm suggesting everyone steer clear of green chromis from SE Asia right now - the mortality rate used to run about 50% after 45 days, but it is much higher now. I suspect that the supply chain has lengthened due to covid and these fish just can't stand up to the extra stress. Since you are looking at just getting one green chromis, I would recommend getting a larger one from Fiji, they are much hardier. The black axil chromis also seems to do better.

Jay

 

[McCarrick]

FW dips won't work for Uronema, they actually prefer lower salinity. Formalin works at 150 ppm for 45 minutes under good aeration as a daily bath, but for external Uronema only. Internal Uronema can't be treated, by the time you see symptoms the fish are going to die.

Personally, I'm suggesting everyone steer clear of green chromis from SE Asia right now - the mortality rate used to run about 50% after 45 days, but it is much higher now. I suspect that the supply chain has lengthened due to covid and these fish just can't stand up to the extra stress. Since you are looking at just getting one green chromis, I would recommend getting a larger one from Fiji, they are much hardier. The black axil chromis also seems to do better.

Jay

Thanks for the advise. I'll keep my eyes open and looking around. Luckily I'm adding things very slowly to my tank and so I have plenty of time to shop around. Is there any advice about adding a chromis before or after a pair of clowns?

 

[Rickybobby]

I had first pic of a fresh batch of chromis. None showed any signs. Brought a bunch home. Only took less than a week to see the spot. However in a nice size qt tank and copper nothing has spread and the fish in question does have a lesion but has been going strong for 6 weeks

 

[kenchilada]

FW dips won't work for Uronema, they actually prefer lower salinity. Formalin works at 150 ppm for 45 minutes under good aeration as a daily bath, but for external Uronema only. Internal Uronema can't be treated, by the time you see symptoms the fish are going to die.

Personally, I'm suggesting everyone steer clear of green chromis from SE Asia right now - the mortality rate used to run about 50% after 45 days, but it is much higher now. I suspect that the supply chain has lengthened due to covid and these fish just can't stand up to the extra stress. Since you are looking at just getting one green chromis, I would recommend getting a larger one from Fiji, they are much hardier. The black axil chromis also seems to do better.

Jay

So we can’t prophylactically treat for uronema? How long would you have to observe a fish to know if they carry it in quarantine? Or is there no way to prevent it from getting into the display?

 

[Idoc]

If getting chromis, I would definitely quarantine and monitor for at least 45 days prior to putting in your display tank!

 

[Idoc]

the fish in question does have a lesion but has been going strong for 6 weeks

I think it's safe to say that your fish doesn't have uronema if the red spot has been present for 6 weeks. Uronema kills in a few days once that red spot shows up!

The red spots can also be indicative of injury or a bacterial infection... which could progress much more slowly.

 

[kenchilada]

So we can’t prophylactically treat for uronema? How long would you have to observe a fish to know if they carry it in quarantine? Or is there no way to prevent it from getting into the display?

I guess this thread below answers my question. I wasn’t aware of this thread and the older quarantine guides I’ve been following don’t portray uronema as quite so untreatable.

Prophylaxis for chromis (and other Uronema prone fish)

Enough is enough! After encountering recent failures to eradicate uronema via metronidazole, acriflavine and FW dips; I highly recommend using formalin to pretreat any chromis and other Uronema prone fish. Anthias are also very susceptible, but I sometimes see Uronema on damsels, clownfish...

www.reef2reef.com

It seems to me that unless you do a 45-60 formalin bath on every fish before you put them into QT, you are bound to end up with uronema in your tank permanently. Why? Because if your LFS ever had chromis or another infected fish in their system, uronema is in THEIR system and the chances of you bringing it home are high. Does that sound correct?

I have my first batch of fish finishing quarantine now, but I’m wondering if I should do the formalin bath on them all first. What would you do @Jay Hemdal ?

This video shows (suspected) uronema from internal samples of a chromis. This guy has several interesting videos I hadn’t seen yet.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the advise. I'll keep my eyes open and looking around. Luckily I'm adding things very slowly to my tank and so I have plenty of time to shop around. Is there any advice about adding a chromis before or after a pair of clowns?

I don’t see any difference in adding chromis before or after the clowns, unless there is going to be a size difference, then get the smaller fish first is the general rule.
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I guess this thread below answers my question. I wasn’t aware of this thread and the older quarantine guides I’ve been following don’t portray uronema as quite so untreatable.

Prophylaxis for chromis (and other Uronema prone fish)

Enough is enough! After encountering recent failures to eradicate uronema via metronidazole, acriflavine and FW dips; I highly recommend using formalin to pretreat any chromis and other Uronema prone fish. Anthias are also very susceptible, but I sometimes see Uronema on damsels, clownfish...

www.reef2reef.com

It seems to me that unless you do a 45-60 formalin bath on every fish before you put them into QT, you are bound to end up with uronema in your tank permanently. Why? Because if your LFS ever had chromis or another infected fish in their system, uronema is in THEIR system and the chances of you bringing it home are high. Does that sound correct?

I have my first batch of fish finishing quarantine now, but I’m wondering if I should do the formalin bath on them all first. What would you do @Jay Hemdal ?

This video shows (suspected) uronema from internal samples of a chromis. This guy has several interesting videos I hadn’t seen yet.

Yeah that’s Uronema.

As long as your fish don’t have active Uronema infections, you don’t need to really worry about it, you can isolate it from virtually every mature aquarium. Nobody really knows why it gets out of control sometimes, but it is almost always seen in new fish of the commonly affected species, or fish being treated in hyposalinity. I’ve never seen it in fish that have been in a stable tank longer than around six months.
Jay