SickIcarus
New member
Hello reefers,
I am just getting started in reefing. I picked up a used 155-gallon bow-front and have been setting things up and just got everything cycled and ready for fish!
To start things off, I picked up 7 blue-green Chromis from liveaquaria.com. I acclimated them over the course of about an hour by replacing a half-cup of water every 5 minutes, then placed them into a 10-gallon quarantine. The QT tank is running a filter that I had set up in the sump of my display tank while it cycled. I removed its carbon and replaced with filter floss, so it's well colonized with bacteria. I've been testing the water a couple of times a day and ammonia and nitrites are holding at zero.
Once the Chromis were in the QT I was able to check them out - they were all swimming and eating and looking good, except for one who had a dark patch on his right side behind his top fin. By the first night he had stopped eating and wasn't looking good at all. He did not survive the first night.
The following morning the other 6 fish were swimming and happy and eating. However, one had developed a spot - looked the same, in the same place, but his behavior seemed fine.
I performed a partial water change, just because.
And broke quarantine.
I used the same siphon to remove water from the QT tank, then replaced it with water from my display tank, then refilled the DT with premixed salt water. I wasn't thinking, and now I feel retarded. And a little panicked.
Fish #2 was dead by the afternoon.
Frantic Googleing has lead me to suspect I am dealing with Uronema marinum. Great. I am not well prepared to deal with this. I do not have a 2nd quarantine tank.
I do have some meds on hand - kanaplex, furan 2, paragard, and cupramine. I haven't started any treatments yet.
My questions are:
What are the odds my siphon mistake infected my DT? If the odds are good that it's now infected, what is my best course of action?
The good news is my DT is currently barren - no corals or CUC to worry about yet, so I can medicate if needed without worry there. What I'd like to avoid, if possible, is a complete tear down, bleach, and restart - but if that's what's required, now would be the time.
The flip side is, I've read that most tanks already have Uronema marinum and its not a big deal if the fish are healthy. That it's difficult to keep it out anyways as it can come in on invertebrates, or be carried in on other fish that aren't susceptible to it the way green Chromis are, even through quarantine.
The next thing is, if I am indeed dealing with Uronema marinum, what if the remaining 5 fish survive quarantine? Do I still add them to the DT?
Today the remaining fish all look good - no spots, good behavior. I've increased feeding from 3x per day to 5x to try and strengthen them up.
At this point I just don't know. My head is swimming and I need some direction.
Thoughts?
I am just getting started in reefing. I picked up a used 155-gallon bow-front and have been setting things up and just got everything cycled and ready for fish!
To start things off, I picked up 7 blue-green Chromis from liveaquaria.com. I acclimated them over the course of about an hour by replacing a half-cup of water every 5 minutes, then placed them into a 10-gallon quarantine. The QT tank is running a filter that I had set up in the sump of my display tank while it cycled. I removed its carbon and replaced with filter floss, so it's well colonized with bacteria. I've been testing the water a couple of times a day and ammonia and nitrites are holding at zero.
Once the Chromis were in the QT I was able to check them out - they were all swimming and eating and looking good, except for one who had a dark patch on his right side behind his top fin. By the first night he had stopped eating and wasn't looking good at all. He did not survive the first night.
The following morning the other 6 fish were swimming and happy and eating. However, one had developed a spot - looked the same, in the same place, but his behavior seemed fine.
I performed a partial water change, just because.
And broke quarantine.
I used the same siphon to remove water from the QT tank, then replaced it with water from my display tank, then refilled the DT with premixed salt water. I wasn't thinking, and now I feel retarded. And a little panicked.
Fish #2 was dead by the afternoon.
Frantic Googleing has lead me to suspect I am dealing with Uronema marinum. Great. I am not well prepared to deal with this. I do not have a 2nd quarantine tank.
I do have some meds on hand - kanaplex, furan 2, paragard, and cupramine. I haven't started any treatments yet.
My questions are:
What are the odds my siphon mistake infected my DT? If the odds are good that it's now infected, what is my best course of action?
The good news is my DT is currently barren - no corals or CUC to worry about yet, so I can medicate if needed without worry there. What I'd like to avoid, if possible, is a complete tear down, bleach, and restart - but if that's what's required, now would be the time.
The flip side is, I've read that most tanks already have Uronema marinum and its not a big deal if the fish are healthy. That it's difficult to keep it out anyways as it can come in on invertebrates, or be carried in on other fish that aren't susceptible to it the way green Chromis are, even through quarantine.
The next thing is, if I am indeed dealing with Uronema marinum, what if the remaining 5 fish survive quarantine? Do I still add them to the DT?
Today the remaining fish all look good - no spots, good behavior. I've increased feeding from 3x per day to 5x to try and strengthen them up.
At this point I just don't know. My head is swimming and I need some direction.
Thoughts?
