Uronema marinum

[snorvich]

Yeah, that's why I said "larger tanks". That refers to the tank size.

Thanks, I picked up on that.

 

[Perth_reefer]

Give it two years.

Well at $7 each I'd be more than happy if the school lasted 2 years.
Again 2 years is a very general statement though, what is the minimum size tank for 7 chromis? And are you suggesting there are no other factors involved other than tank size? Regular feedings, presence of other schooling fish, high flow, presence of a perceived threat are all factors that could encourage chromis to school long term.
It's not a linear trend as to how many chromis you can successful keep per number of litres, as with almost everything in the hobby there are many variables.

 

[alprazo]

Uronema is not really a parasite but rather a scavenger that normally feeds on detritus, leftover food or dead tissue. The last point is how it usually infects fish, which in general means a fish needs to have some tissue damage in the first place, usually paired with a compromised immune system.
You can have uronema in your tank and never get an outbreak as long as you keep your fish fit and healthy.

I agree with this statement. I believe it is an opportunistic infection and is only seen in fish with compromised immune systems, or in terrible environmental conditions. The chromis being the exception. Im not sure why there is a predilection for the chromis but there is. IMO the solution to Urenoma is a simple one: give up on chromis. I agree with Snorvich 95% of the time, but here is the rare example where my 30+ years of saltwater experience tells me otherwise.

 

[snorvich]

I agree with this statement. I believe it is an opportunistic infection and is only seen in fish with compromised immune systems, or in terrible environmental conditions. The chromis being the exception. Im not sure why there is a predilection for the chromis but there is. IMO the solution to Urenoma is a simple one: give up on chromis. I agree with Snorvich 95% of the time, but here is the rare example where my 30+ years of saltwater experience tells me otherwise.

Actually, I try to discourage the choice of chromis in all occasions where they are being considered. Primarily because of Uronema and the lack of understanding why they are a propensity for bringing it in.

 

[ThRoewer]

I don't think Chromis are truly an exception. Steve Robinson of Baja Reef told me the reason for Chromis being affected so often is that they are handled wrong on the supply chain. They are small fish and get treated and packed that way but actually have a much higher oxygen need than many other fish of their size. Also they usually get ganged up with many individuals together during transport to the exporter and there also kept all together in large holding tanks - they are cheap fish so hardly anyone makes an effort to keep them separated from each other. This causes injuries from fighting. Due to these factors they get stressed comparatively more than most other fish. Finally here they get again ganged up which allows the ones that got sick to infect all the others...
Not that most fish get babied on the way to us anyway. Those that make it here alive are already the ones that were the fittest and strongest.

 

[Perth_reefer]

Actually, I try to discourage the choice of chromis in all occasions where they are being considered. Primarily because of Uronema and the lack of understanding why they are a propensity for bringing it in.

I have noticed this, and it is a shame because many people keep them successfully and they're an excellent choice for a reef aquarium.
You discourage the choice of chromis but strongly encourage the use of a QT. Surely buying chromis and quarantining for an appropriate period is a sufficient precaution against infecting a DT with UM.

 

[snorvich]

I have noticed this, and it is a shame because many people keep them successfully and they're an excellent choice for a reef aquarium.
You discourage the choice of chromis but strongly encourage the use of a QT. Surely buying chromis and quarantining for an appropriate period is a sufficient precaution against infecting a DT with UM.

And I have noticed that you seem to always want to disagree with my recommendations. No problem, that is always your choice as was not choosing to enter into a dialog as to why you had parasite problems with your tank. Quarantining properly is doable but most people including yourself probably don't do it properly/sufficiently; uronema is one of the most difficult parasites to prevent.

 

[Perth_reefer]

And I have noticed that you seem to always want to disagree with my recommendations. No problem, that is always your choice as was not choosing to enter into a dialog as to why you had parasite problems with your tank. Quarantining properly is doable but most people including yourself probably don't do it properly/sufficiently; uronema is one of the most difficult parasites to prevent.

I disagree with a lot of your comments because they seem very generic and not specific to individual cases. Your posts about TTM are very informative and have helped a lot of people, however posts discouraging people from chromis because they might carry uronema is very focussed towards implying that most chromis have this disease, whereas in fact a great amount of people have these fish in their tank with no problems and they make a wonderful addition.
As I said before you champion quarantine as a necessity (and rightly so) but you don't suggest that as a control measure when buying chromis.
I have had parasite problems in my tank, one after incorrectly trusting that a fish was healthy, my fault. Then on your recommendation I went fallow for 72 days and somehow ich was still present, there are numerous examples of this happening on this site, but the explanation is always that it is 'user error' and not that the test done may not be accurate for every strain of ich. Now the term 'go fallow for 72 days' seems to be the default from people if ich is in a tank, with no regard to individual cases.
That coupled with contradictions in some of your posts means that I do question your recommendations from time to time, but I think that you are mistaking being argumentative with trying to gain further information about what you are saying.
You seem to be a knowledgable guy but no one knows everything and your abruptness with some people does come across as arrogance which is why I sometimes question what you are saying. No offence intended there, it's difficult to read how people are saying things on the internet sometimes.

 

[Newms118]

I thought I would give an update, in case someone else runs across a similar situation.
I took all the livestock and placed them into 5 gallons new seawater with 2 measures of Metroplex. The shrimp was looking sketchy, so I stopped at 2 hrs.
In the meantime, I sterilized their 20gl QT and all equipment with bleach, and refilled it with new seawater.
After moving the livestock back to their QT, they returned to normal appearance quick enough. The shrimp was very lethargic at first and I thought he'd be a goner, but recovered after an hour or so. The corals were mostly closed up from the agitation of being handled and lighting changes. There was also an xlarge Nassarius Snail, which showed no negative effects.
I went out and picked up 3 Chromis, freshwater dipped them for 3 minutes, and dropped them into the QT. They have been in there for 5 days now, are eating like piranhas, and looking as good as any Chromis I've ever had. Previously, most fish have died within 3 days of being exposed to the Uronema. Aside from watching them for signs of infestation, I'm not sure what else to do to ensure that it has been eradicated.
The main point of stating all this is to illustrate that Metro appears to be effective against uronema marinum and is safe for inverts, based on what I have observed. However, because of the limited scope of this experience, I can't recommend using it at a high concentration for an extended length of time in a valued reef display, unless you observe carefully and have somewhere to quickly move distressed animals to if need be.

So how much metronidazole did you use? I will be receiving metroplex soon and I believe I have a chromis with uronema in my QT tank. Its filled with 15 gallons of water. Should I then use 6 measures? And what is a measure? How many milligrams did you add to your water? I plan on treating my entire QT tank so Im wondering how long I should treat? Only fish are in my QT by the way.

 

[JohnnyB in SD]

I used "see chem" MetroPlex, they include a tiny spoon and call it a measure.The recommended dosage on the package is 1-2 measures per 10 gallons. The package has instructions to use over a period of 3 weeks. As I intended to use it as more of a "dip therapy", I increased the dosage and limited the time.
I am convinced it worked for me. The Chromis are still alive to this day, I've never had them last that long before.

 

[photoblepharon]

I have handled and shipped several different species of Chromis from overseas myself and then acclimated them to tanks in the US. If they're handled well they don't get Uronema. It's not a problem with Chromis; it's a problem with the way the aquarium industry treats Chromis.