Identify anthias issue, did I mess up :(

[steallife904]

I have for the second time tried anthias. I got 3 this time and keep in a small qt for only a few days. They are and looked fine so in DT they went.... all ate in DT for a week then one by one all got a small dark spot on side the grew by the day and died. I lost a mandarin dragonette during this time but not sure if it's related. All other fish seem fine, eating and no visible issues. Other fish are clowns, tangs and wrasses in a 150. Will post images of anthias. Please don't beat me up, already feel like crap and worried I'm going to lose everything.

 

[steallife904]

Well for some reason I can't attach pictures from my phone??? Swore I have in the past.
Well spots started as small dark (like black) dots on side of fish, seemed like it was inside it not outside. They grew by the day until death. One of them had a large hole in its side where spot was almost like something burst out of it!

 

[ThRoewer]

Sounds like Uronema, a opportunistic ciliate that primarily feeds of bacteria but also infects fish. Anthias are one of the fish families that are known to be highly susceptible to it (same goes for Chromis).
The fact that it is an opportunistic parasite means there is no fallow period to rid the system of it - it is in your tank for good now. The only way to get rid of it is to sterilize the system. Chloroquine Phosphate is one of the medications that kills Uronema but isn't reliable in a cycled system because bacteria will degrade it quickly. And if it works it will kill all algae and corals, so not really a reef safe alternative either.

 

[steallife904]

so pretty much stay away from anthias and chromis for now on? Any other fish I should avoid? Are my current residents ok?

 

[ThRoewer]

You don't need to avoid Anthias or Chromis, just quarantine them diligently for at least 2 months to make sure they are clean. Additionally you can treat them prophylactically with Chloroquine Phosphate (CP).

As for your current fish - they might very well be at risk if it was in fact Uronema that killed the Anthias. The issue with Uronema is that it is a opportunistic parasite that can be in a system and just live of bacteria. But at any time it may hop on an immune compromised fish and kill it. You may experience unexplained deaths of single fish, a full blown outbreak that kills all fish in the system, newly added fish dying, or just nothing... It all depends on how healthy the fish in the system are and what level of immunity they managed to aquire against this parasite.
If you don't plan on adding new fish you may just do nothing and wait and see while keeping the existing fish as healthy and stress free as possible.
Otherwise it might be a good idea to rid the system of Uronema by bleaching everything that can't be treated with CP and making sure that it never gets back in.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk