Outbreak in quarantine. What I am doing wrong?

sniceley

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So here are pictures of three infected fish, two dead and one still alive.

Quarantine procedure

Fish shipped in from California distributor so acclimation as follows.

Quarantine salinity began at 1.012
pH adjusted to 6.5 to begin acclimation through CO2 injection via controller and brought up by .3 per day until at 8.1.
Bags floated to equalize temp, fish then freshwater dipped for 3-5 minutes in pH adjusted freshwater with methyl blue, removed if any sign of stress.
Treatment began day two with prazi dose 2.5mg/l and metronidazole at .25 grams per 20 gallons. Metro redosed every 48 hours for 5 total treatments. Chloroquine phosphate began at day 7 at 15mg/l single dose.

Water quality checked daily, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, pH 8.1, dKH 10 temp 76-77.

Quarantine system 12 tanks total plumbed together with two wet dry sumps and sponge filters in each tank. Upon first sign of disease tank is isolated from rest of system and treated additionally with enrofloxacin at 4 mg/l because initially suspected a bacterial infection. Redosed every 48 hours but saw no change in disease process. Any fish showing signs of disease died within 48 hours, usually within 24 or less.

One tank of 12 heniochus unaffected along with a tank with 36 engineering gobies and another with snowflake moray eels. 4 tanks with 100 damsels (yellow tails and Fiji blues) and 12 heniochus in another tank all came down with this and once one in the tank did the entire tank full slowly died out, even after being moved to new empty systems.

So anyone have any ideas? Also what do I need to do with the system now. Bleach it and start over? System is 300 gallons so would like to avoid that if possible restarting that much biofilter is not easy.

Thanks for your help.
 
Uronema marinum.

I would change the methylene dip to a formalin dip.

Also, I would feed metro laced food as the metro is more effective inside.
Also, metro should be every 24hrs (ideally 12 hrs) at 500mg per 10 gallons.

Chloroquine or metro alone is enough, no need for both.

Uronema also thrives in hyposalinity. Use normal salinity.
 
Uronema marinum.

I would change the methylene dip to a formalin dip.

Also, I would feed metro laced food as the metro is more effective inside.
Also, metro should be every 24hrs (ideally 12 hrs) at 500mg per 10 gallons.

Chloroquine or metro alone is enough, no need for both.

Uronema also thrives in hyposalinity. Use normal salinity.
Thank you for your help. How long do I need to keep up treatment?
 
I also found an article on Ultimate reef referenced by many on these forums that says treat brooklynella and uronema with metronidazole with a 34mg/l dose (single dose generally effective) which comes out to 1.85 grams per 10 gallons. You mention 12 hr dosing regimen, I can do that also if it is more efficacious. Any idea on the toxicity level of metro for marine teleosts? Thanks again.
 
Metro is not very toxic to the best of my knowledge. However, it causes film build up, so I prefer to treat in small tanks, since its easier to clean afterwards.
Should not be used long term as it has been reported to be cancerous in large amounts at long term.

Chloroquine causes more side effect in most fish and can't be used on wrasses.

Usually, when you see the sores, they are far too gone. You should start feeding metro when you get the fish.

Oh, and close the light. Metro and chloroquine are both light sensitive.
Formalin is more effective but more toxic, which is why I recommended the dip.
 
Are you a store owner?

In that case, I don't recommend you to treat. Its impossible to treat effectively, because once a group is treated, you will order a new batch which may be infected.
Incomplete treatment can lead to resistant organisms.

In that case, you should set up a efficient UV so it doesn't spread between tanks. Dip any new fish in formalin before putting them in the system.
 
Are you a store owner?

In that case, I don't recommend you to treat. Its impossible to treat effectively, because once a group is treated, you will order a new batch which may be infected.
Incomplete treatment can lead to resistant organisms.

In that case, you should set up a efficient UV so it doesn't spread between tanks. Dip any new fish in formalin before putting them in the system.
Not a store owner, but a business owner. I own and run a maintenance business which makes it necessary for me to quarantine fish for clients. Most of my clients are pretty hands off so I need to quarantine myself to limit the possibility of introducing disease into any of the display systems. One client has a 6000 gallon artificial reef which is a nightmare to treat if something gets in. A number of large reef tanks as well that wouldn't be much fun either.

My quarantine system is 12 tanks (nine 20 highs and three 40 breeders all with sponge filters plumbed together sharing two wet dry sumps). The way I have it plumbed I can separate the two sections of the system if I need to, for example if I have wrasses I can keep from chloroquine and treat them with copper or formalin if necessary.

I do an all in all out type regimen with fish. The segregation of my system also allows me to hold some fish if I don't have a place for them at a client's tank for whatever reason or am selling them to other customers which does happen from time to time. I also have a coral and inverts holding system as a last resort for holding. Not easy to catch fish in that system so not a fan of putting fish in there unless I don't have a choice.

Should I nuke the system after every batch regardless of outcome (bleach it)? Don't want to really as getting the bacterial up at high level takes some time.

Thanks again for the help.
 
I would Clorox the tank and dry it out (So yes, nuke it). Preferably dry it in the sun.
Sunlight kills mycobacteria which is another potential cause for open sores.

I'm personally paranoid, so I like to wash my tank with peroxide, alcohol or iodide after drying.


Personally, I would make it a requirement for my clients to purchase a 10-20 gallon quarantine and you would treat for them without any extra cost to yourself It can be part of your service fee..

In your current system, it would be difficult, if not impossible to eradicate disease.



Not a store owner, but a business owner. I own and run a maintenance business which makes it necessary for me to quarantine fish for clients. Most of my clients are pretty hands off so I need to quarantine myself to limit the possibility of introducing disease into any of the display systems. One client has a 6000 gallon artificial reef which is a nightmare to treat if something gets in. A number of large reef tanks as well that wouldn't be much fun either.

My quarantine system is 12 tanks (nine 20 highs and three 40 breeders all with sponge filters plumbed together sharing two wet dry sumps). The way I have it plumbed I can separate the two sections of the system if I need to, for example if I have wrasses I can keep from chloroquine and treat them with copper or formalin if necessary.

I do an all in all out type regimen with fish. The segregation of my system also allows me to hold some fish if I don't have a place for them at a client's tank for whatever reason or am selling them to other customers which does happen from time to time. I also have a coral and inverts holding system as a last resort for holding. Not easy to catch fish in that system so not a fan of putting fish in there unless I don't have a choice.

Should I nuke the system after every batch regardless of outcome (bleach it)? Don't want to really as getting the bacterial up at high level takes some time.

Thanks again for the help.
 
I would Clorox the tank and dry it out (So yes, nuke it). Preferably dry it in the sun.
Sunlight kills mycobacteria which is another potential cause for open sores.

I'm personally paranoid, so I like to wash my tank with peroxide, alcohol or iodide after drying.


Personally, I would make it a requirement for my clients to purchase a 10-20 gallon quarantine and you would treat for them without any extra cost to yourself It can be part of your service fee..

In your current system, it would be difficult, if not impossible to eradicate disease.
Issue with that suggestion is one client has a 6000 gallon artificial reef. Tried many times using their 200 gallon as a qurantine. I just can't be there daily so it doesn't work well if something goes wrong.
 
I'd santitize and start over. Maybe just dumping a bunch of bleach in and letting it run through and then draining the system would work? Might be a good idea to add another wet dry and plumb it so its 4 tanks per wet dry and not have them systems connected. At least then if something does infect one system it won't be as big of a loss. With the way it is now it would seem like by the time you saw a problem on a fish the entire Qt system will be contaminated so separating them at that point might not do much good.
 
I would strongly recommend to keep the QTs separated - if you have an outbreak in one tank you don't want it to spread to all. Best would be to keep some distance between them too.

I would also recommend a formalin dip on all incoming fish.
 
I would strongly recommend to keep the QTs separated - if you have an outbreak in one tank you don't want it to spread to all. Best would be to keep some distance between them too.

+1

Separate rooms is best. I keep my QTs in a completely separate area of the house.
 
My quarantine system is in the basement in a back room to minimize stress from movement outside the tank, and to hide it as it is functional but not attractive.
 
I can't get a full shot of the system due to where it is tucked in at. There are a total of three of those sections with three 20 gallons high and one 40 breeders each. Plumbing is such that each tank can be isolated from the rest, I just have to add a heater if I do that. They all have their own sponge filter massively oversized but there are still two wet dry sumps with a total of about 20 gallons of bioballs.

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