Uronema Marinum will ruin your day

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We order them in at the LFS about 25 at a time, they usually drop pretty quit several a day.

When I put 10 in my DT they all quickly dropped 1 by one, definitely looked stress related as they were always quite scared to come out.

I eventually gave the FIJI hand netted chromis a try, which came in much larger than the others I had tried before. But of these still only one survived. He's still in the DT, I want to add more but until somthing gets figured as to how to increase their survivability.

I've QTd them with copper and they seem to stop dropping as fast after a few days. But still very finicky fish.
I'm trying to figure out if these fish are super finiky or if they are all truly infected. Like mentioned earlier in the thread, I had one that was swimming around and died instantly when I netted him.
 
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Pretty sure there is some type of uronema in most system if not all. So dont freak out and go breaking down and bleaching your whole system now. Most tanks have them and doesn't even know .it seems to only attack selected species.

I have tried everything there is so far and nothing works. Metro, formalin, fresh water bath, into CP at 80mg per gallon. The high concentration of CP worked for as long as it was active in the water. As soon as i filter it out the chromis start dropping with the tail tail wounds.
Very interesting. They all seem to do well at the LFS with known UM in the system. They do run copper with hypo in the system I believe, but neither copper or formalin seemed to be able to completely stop it when I was treating at home. Once they get stressed and into a smaller water volume, IMO the parasites multiple and start killing the fish one by one. I've even left a body on the bottom of the tank for 12 hours to see if they would feed on it as opposed to the remaining fish while the medication kicks in.
 

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They are opportunistic and normally feed on bacteria so they don't need a host to survive. What would stop them from getting into a tank by water, frags, rocks, invertebrate? QT of those items and fallow period won't work so therefore it's impossible to be sure it doesn't get into A tank. luckily they seem to be selective in what species they attack. I believe most tanks have some type of UM and these tanks can still be healthy, successful tanks.
 
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IMO, Uronema is one of the most difficult parasites to prevent. Especially if you like Chromis as I do. Logic and past experiences with UM tell me to give up on Chromis, but my heart says fight the good fight and buy a microscope and take it to the next level. There's very little information on UM. The information we do have is all very subjective. So it takes hobbist like us to do our own research and document treatments. We always should document our results with different medications and be as precise as possible. I always try to take decent pictures and video. The new microscope I'm fixing to purchase will be able take pictures and have good lighting with other great features.

My honest opinion about Chromis is that they have a higher O2 demand than other fish. I also believe they are very delicate little fish and may be dying due to stress or previous abuse because they're a cheap fish and people don't take the time to care for them as they would a purple tang. They're likely suffering from fighting during the shipment process and already so stressed that nearly anything more can push them over the edge.

Final thoughts...

It's either UM that's gonna show up on all the dead fish under my scope or they're simply dying from stress and fragility- possibly O2 starved. Either way I'm determined to get to the bottom of it and will be posting my findings.

BTW...I think with enough transfers and turkey baster we can blow off any UM that may be feeding on detritus, dead tissue, etc. So yes...IMO it's possible to have a 100% completely clean DT without UM or any other parasite.
 
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When i said impossible i meant extreamly difficult. Looking forward to your research.

Roger that. Very difficult. I've never seen a group of mature Chromis. I know it's not impossible but it's rare to see a large mature group. I know there's some out there, but if you pay close attention, you'll usually see only one or two adult Chromis in a tank. I hear they tend to pick each other off over a few years time. It's kinda odd to me because they seem to do so well together in the beginning. IMO...a larger system, increases the odds of keeping a group. Who knows...
 

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Roger that. Very difficult. I've never seen a group of mature Chromis. I know it's not impossible but it's rare to see a large mature group. I know there's some out there, but if you pay close attention, you'll usually see only one or two adult Chromis in a tank. I hear they tend to pick each other off over a few years time. It's kinda odd to me because they seem to do so well together in the beginning. IMO...a larger system, increases the odds of keeping a group. Who knows...

Does a trio of adult chromis count? The three in my show tank at work have been in there for years and are the biggest chromis I've ever seen... which is a hair over two inches. Anyway, if it does, you can add them to the "OMG I can't believe they lived that long" column. lol The tank is a 160 tall I believe
 
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Does a trio of adult chromis count? The three in my show tank at work have been in there for years and are the biggest chromis I've ever seen... which is a hair over two inches. Anyway, if it does, you can add them to the "OMG I can't believe they lived that long" column. lol The tank is a 160 tall I believe

Ha! I'm gonna go with no. :)

When most people buy Chromis, they buy 5-10+ because they're a schooling fish. :p
 

melypr1985

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Ha! I'm gonna go with no. :)

When most people buy Chromis, they buy 5-10+ because they're a schooling fish. :p

Well darn! I'm rather proud of my enormous chromis. That's ok. So far we had 25 come in on wednesday, put them in the FO copper system instead of the coral tank. Still lost about 8 so far, but that's way better than when they are in the coral system. We run CopperSafe and Prazi (once a week) in this system so I'm going to say it's helping.
 

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It makes me confused that you have so much trouble with Uronema in the US.
When I recieve Chromis they are often very thin and in bad condition.
I take down the salinity in the quarantine to about the same as in the shipping bags and dim the lights.
Then i put the bags in a big tank to get correct temperature. With correct temperature i put them in a bucket with an air stone.
A few waterchanges to the quarantine water and then over to the quarantine. I dump the water in the bucket. It is imperative to have very low light so the fishes are sleeping.
If they are awake and very thin they can die in panic but not if they are asleep. (specially Chromis and wrasses)
In the quarantine i have 3 turnover an hour through UVC. That takes ich. In case of heavy Brooklynella i have to do freshwater dips.
Uronema is best to ignore. It dont pass the UVC so it is never in more than one tank. If the fishes survive the first 24 hours it will decrease and disappear.
Good feeding is very important for chromis. I use frozen Cyclops. It has a high fat content so the Chromis can at least double their weight in 2 weeks.
I have the lights of until the next day or at least a few hours if the fishes arrive around noon.
I only medicate for flukes. Before transfering the fishes to the shop i rise the salinity over a few days to about 32 ppt as in the shop.
For the sand dwelling wrasses i have two tanks with fine sand. I have no other fishes there because the ich can stay in the sand surface. But the wrasses sleep in the sand and the parasites dont dig. And the parasites only search for new hosts when the light is out.
If the tank looks good i can transfer the fishes to the shop after 8 days. (Or 8 days after last sign of one parasite). It happens that I can spot parasites in the shop but not every year. And in that case i just move the fishes back to the quarantine, clean the bottom and sides of the tank an have the tank empty until i put the fishes back.
I have UVC in the shop too so it dont spread between the tanks. (1 turnover per hour)

Important: Clean the tanks before the next arrival. Absolutly nothing on the bottom of the normal quarantine tanks. It will only give a spot of low circulation where the parasites can survive. And low light to keep the fishes calm. I have about 6 watt leds for 40 gallon tanks. Give good food and give just a little the first feeding and then increase. If you do fasting and dont eat for a week you will only get sick if you begin with a big steak and its the same with fishes.
 

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Old thread, but here is my take if anyone is looking for advise. I don't think every tank has fish-killing uronema but it is common. Many uronema species are involved in breaking down rotting organics, so even a RTNing SPS frag likely will have uronema species hanging out eating at the buffet.

IME things that help prevent deaths when uronema is present:
  • low nutrient levels - probably less bacteria for the uronema to eat, thus many fewer uronema floating around and much reduced chance to land on a susceptible fish
  • low stocking levels - probably less stress, less aggressive behavior thus fewer bite/scratch injuries, also lower nutrients
  • tank full of coral - I don't know why, maybe the coral eats/poisons uronema or it is just a less stressful place for fish. FOWLR/FO/QT/new tanks have much more problem IME

Things that hurt:
  • carbon dosing(vinegar, vodka, and biopellets) more bacteria in water column is more food for uronema, might be just enough to push the floating population up enough to overwhelm the fish
  • dirty tanks
  • stressed fish(new, overstocked, underfed, bad diet)

IME among common fish, anthias and chromis are most easily affected, and oddly enough, tangs/rabbits are least affected.

I don't use or have experience with UV or ozone to make any observations, but I suspect that ozone definitely reduces uronema populations and UV could help manage outbreaks if it is sized properly. More because they reduces floating bacteria than any direct effect on the parasite.

For medication, I found metro to be the most immediately effective treatment for neighbor fish to prevent spread when a fish become sick. CP seems to slow it down, but doesn't seems to eradicate it from the tank. No opinion on copper. Formalin dips, and moving to a STERILE QT helps for neighbor fish - for fish with open wounds this is a death sentence.
 
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Nothing. It is a “free living” parasite which does not require a fish host. Once a fish with Uronema has been introduced, the tank must be broken down & sterilized in order to eradicate it. So, the best way to treat Uronema is to treat the fish itself. It's a numbers game. You keep giving the fish repeated formalin baths in order to reduce the number of parasites on it's body, but also keep moving the fish to a different QT (post bath) so it doesn't keep getting reinfected. Treat the QT with a lower concentration of formalin to keep the pressure on the disease. Eventually you will eradicate all the parasites in one of the baths and then transfer the fish to a "clean QT." Mission accomplished!

Of course, all of the above is a lot of work. Especially for a $5 fish. ;) So, I found that a high dose of CP (80mg/gal) cleanses the fish all in one shot and then all you have to do is transfer him to a clean QT. :)
Hello I just cycled a tank and put 2 Chomis in that have developed some freckles. Parameters are stable and the fish seem healthy. But I am watching closely to see if this is really the start of Uronema. If so I will be kicking myself for not setting up a QT before dumping new fish into my DT. That being said if it is Uronema I will need to steralize the tank, rock, media and equipment. Please what the simplist and safest tank sterilization procedure. As i would love to do a few flushes and spin it right back up again to start another cycle please? Thank you...
 
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