uronema marinum prevention in chromis

[bat21]

took this over from the check purchases thread

I am exceptionally leery of chromis because of their high propensity for uronema marinum. The vast majority of people do not have a robust enough quarantine protocol to insure this parasite does not enter their tanks.

Ok, well, if I know beforehand, and we assume it is not yet introduced to my DT, I don't have to worry about the fallow period. So I could just follow the freshwater dip protocol you laid out in this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388437

Would that be sufficent? I'm willing to go the extra mile here. Or would you think that treating a bare QT with flagyl might be the best route?

 

[snorvich]

took this over from the check purchases thread



Ok, well, if I know beforehand, and we assume it is not yet introduced to my DT, I don't have to worry about the fallow period. So I could just follow the freshwater dip protocol you laid out in this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388437

Would that be sufficent? I'm willing to go the extra mile here. Or would you think that treating a bare QT with flagyl might be the best route?

One of the most important things about a freshwater dip is that it will buy you some time to start another treatment or to set up a quarantine tank as even a very badly infected fish can lose most although not all, of its parasite in a few minutes and improve quite dramatically. Remember that many sources of fish (LFS, online) run a low level of copper in their system which can mask parasites including this one. A fresh water dip is a stop gap measure not a cure.

But (in the other thread) you wanted to know why I do not recommend chromis. I certainly would not do it for any of my tanks and I have a very thorough quarantine protocol.

 

[bat21]

One of the most important things about a freshwater dip is that it will buy you some time to start another treatment or to set up a quarantine tank as even a very badly infected fish can lose most although not all, of its parasite in a few minutes and improve quite dramatically. Remember that many sources of fish (LFS, online) run a low level of copper in their system which can mask parasites including this one. A fresh water dip is a stop gap measure not a cure.

But (in the other thread) you wanted to know why I do not recommend chromis. I certainly would not do it for any of my tanks and I have a very thorough quarantine protocol.

Ok, so then would a flagyl treatment be best? Is there a way to beat it, or is it all a crapshoot and nothing is actually a cure?

 

[snorvich]

Ok, so then would a flagyl treatment be best? Is there a way to beat it, or is it all a crapshoot and nothing is actually a cure?

I am not willing to take the risk. Uronema does not have an obligatory fish host as the other parasites do so that means that there is no fallow period to rid a tank of the parasite. It is a tank restart. There are other ways of getting "blue" in a tank. :spin2:

 

[bat21]

I am not willing to take the risk. Uronema does not have an obligatory fish host as the other parasites do so that means that there is no fallow period to rid a tank of the parasite. It is a tank restart. There are other ways of getting "blue" in a tank. :spin2:

Ok, I cant go against such a strong case. No chromis. What would be your best blue suggestions then? I'm seriously having trouble finding a fish that makes sense. Damsels are too aggressive, Dartfish are too shy. Neon gobies only live a year or so. The only other option I see is a pygmy angel, but I worry about aggression in my size tank.

 

[ThRoewer]

There are strong indicators that Chloroquine Phosphate will kill Uronema. While not scientifically proven (for whatever that's worth) the preliminary tests that have been done showed that higher CP doses kill Uronema.


I personally would never want any Chromis near my tank

If it is just for having something blue in the tank I could come up with a few fish I would prefer over Chromis (or tangs for that matter).

There are many nicely blue colored Chrysiptera damsels - some have even a stunning metallic blue under the right light conditions.
One of my favorite damsels would be Chrysiptera starki. If I can find them locally I will get a pair of them. Alone they can be a bit aggressive against others, but in the past I never had trouble with pairs or groups of them (they are too busy squabble among themselves).
Pomacentrus coelestis would be one of the metallic blue damsel species.

The next on my list would be one of the dwarf or pygmy Centropyge angles. Another fish family that does best in pairs or harems groups.

For a large tank one could also consider one of the predominantly blue large angel fish like Chaetodontoplus duboulayi, Pomacanthus navarchus,...

 

[Deinonych]

Have Uronema infections been observed in other Chromis species besides the C. viridis/C. atripectoralis complex? My understanding is that those species tend to be the problem. I spoke with Kevin Kohen at MACNA last year, and he suspects that collection methods and time of year increase the likelihood of Uronema infection in those species. I'm not so sure it's a problem that would affect an entire genus, but I suppose anything is possible.

 

[bat21]

If it is just for having something blue in the tank I could come up with a few fish I would prefer over Chromis (or tangs for that matter).

There are many nicely blue colored Chrysiptera damsels - some have even a stunning metallic blue under the right light conditions.
One of my favorite damsels would be Chrysiptera starki. If I can find them locally I will get a pair of them. Alone they can be a bit aggressive against others, but in the past I never had trouble with pairs or groups of them (they are too busy squabble among themselves).
Pomacentrus coelestis would be one of the metallic blue damsel species.

The next on my list would be one of the dwarf or pygmy Centropyge angles. Another fish family that does best in pairs or harems groups.

For a large tank one could also consider one of the predominantly blue large angel fish like Chaetodontoplus duboulayi, Pomacanthus navarchus,...

It's only a 66 gallon, and I have already witnessed damsel aggression and returned a yellowtail. So I was not looking to repeat that experience.

And I'm not totally opposed to a pygmy angel, but it being a 66 gallon, I definitely do not think it is big enough for a pair, and I am also worried about aggression from even one of them as they will be clearly the largest fish in the tank. My other fish besides my clowns are very docile and don't want to force them to hide any more than they do (especially the firefish and gramma).

I know I'm being picky, but I just want a very peaceful tank, so it really limits my choices.

 

[ThRoewer]

Of course you had aggression problems with a single damsel - it has nothing else to do than terrorizing other fish. But if you have a pair they are too busy with each other to care much about other fish.
I had pairs of starki damsels in 20 gallon tanks together with clownfish pairs and no problems at all.
I also had a harem group of pygmy angels (C. argi) in a 40 gallon tank and they were spawning every evening right before the lights went out.

As for a peaceful tank, that's what I have right now and it is pretty boring - not as boring for me as for the fish. Especially my first percula pair, most of the time they are bored out of their minds