What is wrong with my new Chromis?

TrishK · Jun 8, 2020

First off they arrived by UPS a day late and 1 of the six blue green chromis was DOA, day 2 one was found suctioned to a small powerhead that isn’t strong at all so I’m guessing besides the fact he was very little, he must’ve been sick because these suckers are fast and can’t imagine a healthy fish getting stuck to the side of the powerhead. He wasn’t injured at all and still had his fins but ended up dying a few hours I removed him. Same day (day 2) I noticed the largest of the 6 had an abrasion of sorts on his side. I thought maybe he just scraped himself on the bio rock. But the. Day 3 I see another little chromis with blood streaked abrasions on his side in same spot. Could this be hemorrhagic septicemia? I worry about my two Banggai Cardinal fish which are in the same QT tank. They all still have great appetites. I dosed the tank with furan but maybe I’m chasing the wrong illness. What do you think?

Rick.45cal · Jun 8, 2020

Maybe @Humblefish will know. If I had to venture a guess I would suspect Uronema, but I may be wrong.

TrishK · Jun 8, 2020

That’s what I was just reading about...ugh....I’ll carbon out the furan and start metro/focus. Will my cardinals avoid this or can they carry it to my DT after quarantine and infect my 4 clowns?

Rick.45cal · Jun 8, 2020

Humblefish is better equipped to answer that. It’s good they are in QT, I’ve had Uronema wipe out an entire shipment of fish so definitely don’t move anything to your display

. Fingers crossed for you.

TrishK · Jun 8, 2020

Yes they’ll be staying in the QT for months if need be. I do have a U.V. on my DT and heard that can kill them so hopefully if hubby used same tool or something in the QT then used in DT it would be okay. Each QT tank we have has its own feeder bulb and net etc but slip ups happen I know

TrishK · Jun 8, 2020

@Humblefish
Where do I go from here? The little chromis in the pic above died this morning. The bigger one is still very actively eating. I have soaked their food in Metroplex/Focus and dosed the tank with it too. Should I do a copper dip on all fish left (2 healthy small chromis, infected chromis and 2 Banggai Cardinal). Empty and sanitize their Qt with bleach water and refill with 75% DT water and 25% new water. Add nitrifying bacteria, and then put them back in and continue feeding them all the Metroplex? Anything else or different? We have another QT but we have a blue hippo tang and Kole tang and two clowns in it. We don’t have anything else to put them in other than their current QT.

ca1ore · Jun 10, 2020

Green chromis + body ulcerations = uronema ….. almost always. The only thing I have found that can be effective is CP; though once the body ulcerations appear it is almost always too late. The 'good' news is that only certain fishes (chromis, damsles, anthias) seem suceptible.

AcroNem · Jun 10, 2020

Sorry about this, definitely Uronema, but it's good you have them in a quarantine as has been stated. CP is effective, Formalin (bath and transfer to QT) is effective. Metronidazole is supposedly effective as well but that isn't one I can personally say I use to treat Uronema, although I believe it can be internal as well so Metronidazole soaked foods may be helpful.

Zionas · Jun 10, 2020

That’s typical uronema. Thank goodness it’s not until your DT. It’s the marine fish version of the Black Death. Unfortunately from what I understand, quite common in Chromis these days. I heard dosing Methylene Blue might help but don’t take my word as gospel.

TrishK · Jun 10, 2020

Surprisingly the original Chromis that had the lesions on his side is still alive and thriving. His sore looks better and he's eating the Metro soaked foods 2-3 x a day. We did a dip on all 3 Chromis and the 2 Cardinal fish and put them in a brandnew QT tank which I am dosing with Metro as well. Think all of these guys will stay in QT for at least 2 months or longer as I don't want to take any chances. I put my credit towards a new wrasse I've been wanting and he'll go in one of the other clean QT we have as I pushed shipping out a few weeks.

omykiss001 · Jun 13, 2020

You might look at this thread too.

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

TrishK · Jun 13, 2020

Okay so I had purchased 6 Chromis. The biggest one is the one that showed a bloody type lesion first. One small one did as well eventually. None of the others ever did but 5 have died but the original big one is still kicking and is lesion is just red now (treating with metro both in water and food) he has a huge appetite. I have a few questions...

1) Do all fish with this parasite that dies, die with their mouth open? I have looked at a TON of pictures of dead fish all with their mouth open and none of the 5 that died of ours had an open mouth.

2) these were all QT with 2 Banggai Cardinal fish. What do I do with them? Right now they are still in QT with the lone Chromis. I don’t know if they are infected or can get infected or if it’s even Uronemia. I feel bad medicating them too if they’re fine. Should I put them in a different QT tank with no meds? They’ve been on meds since the 5th I think. I couldn’t find Formalin anywhere and didn’t know what to dip them in so I just did a Rodi dip before putting them all in a new Qt tank.

any suggestions for the Cardinal? And is this Lone Chromis going to make it? I’m scared to ever put him in my 180g

the first chromis (first pic) was DOA

TrishK · Jun 13, 2020

I mean, is it possible the big chromis had been picked on in the tank he was in and his lesion (first OP) came from that? I always keep lights off when I acclimate and use my phone light to see by so I didn’t notice anything wrong with him until next day. Could he then began pecking at each of the smaller fish until they were all dead? Only one besides him ever had marks on them and none of them died with open mouth.....and if Metro isn’t very effective how is he still alive after 8 days?

Big G · Jun 14, 2020

Sorry for your losses. Happens way too frequently with Chromis.

Metro is pretty effective but more as a secondary treatment to copper or CP.

I'd be concerned about moving the remaining fish over to my DT as well. You want to be sure it's OK.

I'd strongly consider setting up a fresh QT and dosing with CP. I know it is hard to find these days but there is a blended form of CP + Chloroquine Phosphate with some Pyrimethamine, called Marex. Treat as directed on the package.

American Aquarium Conditioners

Aquarium treatments that work including wonder shells, SeaChem, Aquatronics, and more

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

TrishK · Jun 14, 2020

Big G said:
Sorry for your losses. Happens way too frequently with Chromis.

Metro is pretty effective but more as a secondary treatment to copper or CP.

I'd be concerned about moving the remaining fish over to my DT as well. You want to be sure it's OK.

I'd strongly consider setting up a fresh QT and dosing with CP. I know it is hard to find these days but there is a blended form of CP + Chloroquine Phosphate with some Pyrimethamine, called Marex. Treat as directed on the package.

American Aquarium Conditioners

Aquarium treatments that work including wonder shells, SeaChem, Aquatronics, and more

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

I searched Marex and couldn’t find that either. All I have is Cupramine, Paraguard, metro and focus and kanaplex, ick meds and prazipro and Furan2...I think cupramine only has 7% of the formaldehyde in it.

TrishK · Jun 14, 2020

Should I put this infected chromis to sleep (I hate saying that but scared to ever put him in my DT) and put the two Banggai in a clean tank and just QT and watch them for a few months before ever putting them in my DT? I feel like they are being punished because this one chromis has symptoms and I don’t really know what to do for him anymore, especially if the Metro isn’t going to work