Possible Uronema in my QT Need Help

[michfish5]

Hello, I am new to this forum today. I was hoping someone on here could help me out. I got back into the hobby this past July after a 15 year hiatus. I have been taking it really slow and doing relatively well so far. I have a 65 gallon reef, sumpless, HOB skimmer (AquaMaxx), 60 lbs live rock, Aquaclear 70 (for running Phosguard primarily). Currently only 1 PJ Cardinal in the display tank with about five corals. All going well in there.

I quarantine all my fish before putting them in the DT. MY QT is a 20 gal with a Aquaclear 50 HOB and a powerhead. Right now the current QT inhabitants are an Ocellaris Clown and a Green Chromis. They have been in there for 12 days now. They have been eating very well and are very active. About a week into being in QT I noticed the clown flashing a little but not much. I also noticed a small dark spot near the dorsal fin on the chromis that sort of looked like a missing scale but I figured he had been beaten up at the LFS. I dosed Prazipro to start and they have been in that for 5 days now. I was getting ready to try something else like Cupramine or hyposalinity as a next step until today.

Today I noticed the Chromis was breathing extremely fast (about 3-4 breaths per second) and it's constant. It also opened it mouth very wide and he has been flashing. The clown flashes every now and then but not terribly. The clown does not seem to be breathing hard. Neither fish can be called lethargic, if anything the chromis swims around like crazy. There are no visible spots on either fish other than the dark spot on the chromis. After doing some research I am starting to think that the chromis may have uronema. I have read that most chromis coming in lately have this and t

it is probably best not to buy any chromis for a while. Of course I found this out AFTER I bought a chromis and put it in the same tank with the clown! So does anyone on here know what the best treatment, if any, will work for uronema? I was considering trying the Cupramine because I have it on hand but I am wondering if Paraguard may be better? Or can someone recommend something else? The clown seems to be in better shape than the chromis but he IS flashing, Any help would be very appreciated. Thank you in advance.

- Michele

[Planeden]

unfortunately, i have no answers for you. but wanted to say welcome to the site and good luck.

[Sascha D.]

Welcome

Uronema Marinum is a type of parasite and can be treated in the same way that other parasites in our system can be treated. A popular method is to freshwater dip your fish. I've personally never done it, but a lot of people on this forum have. You can treat with hyposalinity for three weeks. My preferred method is chemical. I've used Methyene Blue to treat this and Ich in the past with success. Malachite Green is supposed to be a good one as well.

[sifuentes31]

+1 On the freshwater dip. And Welcome to the sight.

[mFrame]

Welcome

Uronema Marinum is a type of parasite and can be treated in the same way that other parasites in our system can be treated. A popular method is to freshwater dip your fish. I've personally never done it, but a lot of people on this forum have. You can treat with hyposalinity for three weeks. My preferred method is chemical. I've used Methyene Blue to treat this and Ich in the past with success. Malachite Green is supposed to be a good one as well.

First off, welcome to the club!

In regard to dipping and treating, you're probably familiar, but for others who read this: do not treat your display tank. Chemical treatments are best conducted in a Quarantine or Hospital Tank.

[michfish5]

Thanks. And yes I only treat my QT, never the display. Today the Chromis seems a bit better. It's mouth and gills are moving quickly but not as bad as yesterday. The clown is just doing it's thing, seems fine. Both their colors are still good and still no spots. At this point I am not even sure if it is really uronema because I would have thought the spot on the chromis would have become worse and red by now but it is still just a dark spot, so maybe it IS a missing scale from being beat up by fellow chromi. Must be SOMETHING though or else they wouldn't be flashing right? The last time this happened, I tried hyposalinity but the fish died three weeks into treatment. It had made a rebound but got reinfected with whatever it had and stopped eating even though I was vigilant about keeping the specific gravity at 1.009 for two months. After doing more research, I decided to try Chloroquine Phosphate for treatment this time. I will let you all know how it goes.

As to the freshwater dips though, if I DID do a dip, would I have to put the chromis back into a different QT setup to prevent it from getting reinfected by whatever may be in the water column? Because I don't have another spare QT setup at the moment (and quite frankly if I set another tank up after having three already my husband will probably kill me!)

[Timfish]

I looked up Uronema marinum in the "Aquariology" book I have. It recommends the combination of parasiticides and freshwater dips. It adds multiple treatments may be necessary if the parasite has burrowed under the skin and antibiotics may be necessary for secondary bacterial infections. I would be treating the QT itself, Uronema is free living so leaving a QT empty won't work to remove it from the system like the obligate parasites "ich" Velvet or Brooklynella.

[Planeden]

Because I don't have another spare QT setup at the moment (and quite frankly if I set another tank up after having three already my husband will probably kill me!)

i know that feeling. i think that bookshelves take up too much room in the house and she thinks it's the tanks. i thought i found the perfect solution when i found a tank for sale here that sits on a bookshelf. she still disagreed. apparently the books to water storage ratio was too low. .