Wow, the emotional highs and the lows....

[KWolfe81]

I just euthanized my first fish. :-(

Have nearly a dozen years of freshwater experience and, I suppose I always had good luck. I never had to euthanize before, came close, but they'd usually recover. Took a few years off from the hobby, decided to try saltwater. Spent the last 7 months building the tank & stand from scratch, had the tank cycling for the past month and finally, to the sheer excitement of my kids, finally added a few fish yesterday. 2 damsels and 4 Chromis. Experienced reefers probably know what's coming next.

All the fish were looking great, eating well, staking out their own corners, etc. Around lunchtime, today, took a look and noticed some damaged scales on one of the Chromis. 20 seconds of internet research pointed me to Uronema. Started setting up the QT (first fish, figured I could risk going straight to DT. incredibly poor decision, apparently). My old bubbler wasn't working, head to the pet store, grabbed some clove oil 'just in case' and by the time I got home, the scale damage had about doubled in size and he was gasping. Holy crap did this happen fast! Made the immediate call to euthanize.

Wow.

 

[Tbg299]

I just euthanized my first fish. :-(

Have nearly a dozen years of freshwater experience and, I suppose I always had good luck. I never had to euthanize before, came close, but they'd usually recover. Took a few years off from the hobby, decided to try saltwater. Spent the last 7 months building the tank & stand from scratch, had the tank cycling for the past month and finally, to the sheer excitement of my kids, finally added a few fish yesterday. 2 damsels and 4 Chromis. Experienced reefers probably know what's coming next.

All the fish were looking great, eating well, staking out their own corners, etc. Around lunchtime, today, took a look and noticed some damaged scales on one of the Chromis. 20 seconds of internet research pointed me to Uronema. Started setting up the QT (first fish, figured I could risk going straight to DT. incredibly poor decision, apparently). My old bubbler wasn't working, head to the pet store, grabbed some clove oil 'just in case' and by the time I got home, the scale damage had about doubled in size and he was gasping. Holy crap did this happen fast! Made the immediate call to euthanize.

Wow.

What kind of damselfish do you have? They can be extremely aggressive. I wouldn't be surprised if one them was nipping at your Chromis, and this injury caused an infection. I had 3 damselfish that had become extremely aggressive and killed my blenny. I had no choice but to give them to my LFS.

 

[KWolfe81]

What kind of damselfish do you have? They can be extremely aggressive. I wouldn't be surprised if one them was nipping at your Chromis, and this injury caused an infection. I had 3 damselfish that had become extremely aggressive and killed my blenny. I had no choice but to give them to my LFS.

We (I and the LFS) suspect Azure Damsels but he wasn't 100% sure. Same patterning, but the blues are darker than what I see online. I was wondering about the aggressiveness as well and indeed, one of the damsels is being protective of the most coveted (covered and protected) spot, but this is a 120 gallon tank and there should be plenty of room for all.

In a way, fingers crossed I was wrong and I didn't just infect the whole DT on day 1....

 

[Samz]

I just euthanized my first fish. :-(

Have nearly a dozen years of freshwater experience and, I suppose I always had good luck. I never had to euthanize before, came close, but they'd usually recover. Took a few years off from the hobby, decided to try saltwater. Spent the last 7 months building the tank & stand from scratch, had the tank cycling for the past month and finally, to the sheer excitement of my kids, finally added a few fish yesterday. 2 damsels and 4 Chromis. Experienced reefers probably know what's coming next.

All the fish were looking great, eating well, staking out their own corners, etc. Around lunchtime, today, took a look and noticed some damaged scales on one of the Chromis. 20 seconds of internet research pointed me to Uronema. Started setting up the QT (first fish, figured I could risk going straight to DT. incredibly poor decision, apparently). My old bubbler wasn't working, head to the pet store, grabbed some clove oil 'just in case' and by the time I got home, the scale damage had about doubled in size and he was gasping. Holy crap did this happen fast! Made the immediate call to euthanize.

Wow.

That's the worst part of keeping fish, imo. Sorry that you had to go through that.

 

[Lyss]

I just euthanized my first fish. :-(

Have nearly a dozen years of freshwater experience and, I suppose I always had good luck. I never had to euthanize before, came close, but they'd usually recover. Took a few years off from the hobby, decided to try saltwater. Spent the last 7 months building the tank & stand from scratch, had the tank cycling for the past month and finally, to the sheer excitement of my kids, finally added a few fish yesterday. 2 damsels and 4 Chromis. Experienced reefers probably know what's coming next.

All the fish were looking great, eating well, staking out their own corners, etc. Around lunchtime, today, took a look and noticed some damaged scales on one of the Chromis. 20 seconds of internet research pointed me to Uronema. Started setting up the QT (first fish, figured I could risk going straight to DT. incredibly poor decision, apparently). My old bubbler wasn't working, head to the pet store, grabbed some clove oil 'just in case' and by the time I got home, the scale damage had about doubled in size and he was gasping. Holy crap did this happen fast! Made the immediate call to euthanize.

Wow.

I'm so sorry! I know the feeling -- I had a betta once when I was newer to keeping fish that I messed up with and he just got more and more sick until I had to euthanize him with clove oil. I cried so hard -- it was awful!

It looks like you added four fish. Did you add all four at once? Or how far apart did you add fish? Aside from QT, it might also be best to start with only one, or two small fish.

 

[KWolfe81]

I'm so sorry! I know the feeling -- I had a betta once when I was newer to keeping fish that I messed up with and he just got more and more sick until I had to euthanize him with clove oil. I cried so hard -- it was awful!

It looks like you added four fish. Did you add all four at once? Or how far apart did you add fish? Aside from QT, it might also be best to start with only one, or two small fish.

Yup, all at once. Lesson learned.

 

[Tbg299]

We (I and the LFS) suspect Azure Damsels but he wasn't 100% sure. Same patterning, but the blues are darker than what I see online. I was wondering about the aggressiveness as well and indeed, one of the damsels is being protective of the most coveted (covered and protected) spot, but this is a 120 gallon tank and there should be plenty of room for all.

In a way, fingers crossed I was wrong and I didn't just infect the whole DT on day 1....

Honestly, I would get rid of the 2 damsels if possible. They will terrorize peaceful fish like Chromis down the road.

 

[homer1475]

Yup no damsels other then clowns will ever be in any tank I own ever again. Murderous little jerks! I swear to god they are sociopaths, if not just straight up psychopaths.

If no other fish has any indication of infection by now, it was not uronema. That kills very fast(usually in 24 to 48 hours), and it is a disease that will be in your tank forever. Luckily it only effects damsels(chromis to be specific are known carriers) as other fish seem to be immune to it.

 

[Radman73]

Welcome to salt. My first time trying to "real" QT was 6 dispar anthias. Only after they all died within 1.5 weeks, thankfully in the QT, did I realize it was urenoma. My next batch was 6 lyretails and I lost 3 of those to urenoma even being "prepared" for it. I treat prophylactically now. It'll get better, so stay with it.

 

[TnFishwater98]

We (I and the LFS) suspect Azure Damsels but he wasn't 100% sure. Same patterning, but the blues are darker than what I see online. I was wondering about the aggressiveness as well and indeed, one of the damsels is being protective of the most coveted (covered and protected) spot, but this is a 120 gallon tank and there should be plenty of room for all.

In a way, fingers crossed I was wrong and I didn't just infect the whole DT on day 1....

Springer Damsel?

 

[TnFishwater98]

I had to to tear apart my first tank to get my first damsel out. He was not being nice to the other fish. I swore I’d never get a damsel again but I bought a Springer Damsel for my frag tank. He is the only fish in that tank but helps keep it clear of some pest.

 

[TnFishwater98]

As you were hinting towards, Chromis are damsels so more than likely you’re going to have a glass cage match going on. Also everytime I’ve added more than one chromis (like they tell you to do) I end up with one. What size tank do you have?