Uronema in display tank!

[Beans2000]

So today I pulled out 2 dead Chromis (the only fish in my future reef). The killer- Uronema! I wish I knew what I was looking at when it first showed, beginners mistake. But now I know, only thing is, my display now has no fish and has (probably) Uronema in the water column.

I have inverts and coral frags and I REALLY want to avoid breaking down the tank and restarting it.

What do I do!? There isn't fish but to my knowledge Uronema doesn't need a host and I'm guessing any fish I put in will fall to it.

Please help I have NO IDEA what to do!!

 

[ThRoewer]

With Uronema in the display tank you are royaly screwed. There is no fallow period or invert safe medication to kill it.

The things that can kill it are Chloroquine Phosphate, formalin or bleach.
CP will kill all algae and corals but crustacean may survive.
Formalin will harm if not kill all inverts and corals (if not, the dosage wasn't right.)
The safest option would be to bleach everything and start over.
Next time be sure to give all new fish a formalin bath before they go into the quarantine tank.
And stay clear of Chromis and Anthias as those are the usual suspects when it comes to Uronema infections. I would also be careful with the store where you got these fish. If they are not really good with their biosecurity all their systems may have it.

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[Sk8r]

A little research on the internet says that chloroquine phosphate can treat it.
This is a prescription drug that your vet can prescribe, and dosing it for the aquarium is going to take some internet research on your part. Jay Hemdal has a pretty good article that should turn up when you search for the drug name plus the word aquarium. You will have to calculate tank volume and dosage precisely. It may be able to rid your tank of the pest. You may lose some inverts, not necessarily all, and the bacteria in the sandbed should survive. Go to your vet, take him the Hemdal article if you can find it, plus a photo of your tank, and ask for a prescription.

 

[Beans2000]

A little research on the internet says that chloroquine phosphate can treat it.
This is a prescription drug that your vet can prescribe, and dosing it for the aquarium is going to take some internet research on your part. Jay Hemdal has a pretty good article that should turn up when you search for the drug name plus the word aquarium. You will have to calculate tank volume and dosage precisely. It may be able to rid your tank of the pest. You may lose some inverts, not necessarily all, and the bacteria in the sandbed should survive. Go to your vet, take him the Hemdal article if you can find it, plus a photo of your tank, and ask for a prescription.

Thanks I will see about going to the vet this weekend. I really hope you're right!! My tank is doing so well aside from this I'd hate to ruin it all...

 

[Sk8r]

He will have some medical/chemistry expertise that might help you with the calculations.

 

[ThRoewer]

Chloroquine Phosphate will kill off all algae, including coralline. It will also kill all corals and anemones.
Snails may or may not handle it.
Crustacean (pods, shrimp and crabs) should handle it relatively well.

Any coral that gets removed and stored in a separate tank during​ treatment of the DT to survive and later go back into the DT may reintroduce Uronema to the DT.

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[Sk8r]

True, and worth considering. THis is a relatively young tank, as I understand it, and the coral investment is not heavy. The pest apparently has a cyst stage immune to dips and it can survive for months. Apparently also, the pest is not as specific in its food requirement as ich is. This is an article on the topic, but the prognosis for an untreated tank looks like indefinite affliction with this parasite. http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.ed...=Adaptive_significance_of_polymorphic_lif.pdf

 

[Beans2000]

What about he possibility it's Brooklynella? To my knowledge they are very similar, the fish also never exhibited any signs of rapid breathing or a mucus.

 

[ThRoewer]

Brooklynella has a distinctively different appearance from Uronema.
Uronema infections usually manifest themselves with quite distinctive lesions and redish bordered ulcers.
Symptoms of Brooklynella are a whitish film on the​ fish's skin and​especially around the gills, clamping of fins and heavy breathing. At advanced stages the slimecoat will come off in strings.

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