What is going on with my Dispar Anthias

[RussC]

Guys, ordered the Anthias thru mail. It arrived, seemed okay, swimming and active. But it won't eat. I have tried numerous types of food. Over the last few days I e noticed what I would describe as a weakening fish. Which makes sense since I really haven't seen it eat. Now it's hunkered down in the rocks, breathing heavy, and showing signs of distress on its body.

I've read a good bit over the last few days. I've since learned that Anthias are a bit more trouble to keep than I originally knew. Finicky eaters, shy, etc. many threads on RC talking about this. So what's yalls thoughts?

You can see what I'm talking about regarding the stressed side of the fish in the image.

 

[Reefpuck]

Did any of your other fish show any aggression towards it?

 

[Jdub968]

This looks like bacterial or uronema bacterial treat with Kanaplex furon2 and metroplex. Uronema copper and metroplex I'll tell ya it don't look good the fish may be to infected to save if you have any antibiotics on hand you could give him an Acriflavin bath then dose the antibiotics in a qt

 

[RussC]

I didn’t see any aggression at all towards it. I don’t have any bacterial treatment.

 

[RussC]

He didn’t make it thru the night

 

[jimbau]

Sorry

Sorry

Sorry to hear about your Anthias. For the future, when you buy any kind of saltwater fish you need to quarantine and have appropriate medication on hand. Most fish are received with problems that you must deal with. Anthias can be somewhat hard to get eating. I usually start with pods and either live or frozen brine shrimp. They will eat other things over time but you have to get them healthy and relaxed first.

Here is my QT procedure but there are many variations;

I have had a tank setup for the last five years. In the beginning I lost a whole tank of fish to Ick and have quarantined ever since. Here is my process;
1. Drip acclimate fish to quarantine tank water ( I check SG of water fish came in and QT tank to determine length of time for acclimation). I usually try to drop my SG in the QT before getting the fish since most fish tend to come in lower SG water, I have seen down to 1.020.
2. Day 1 - Leave lights off and let fish relax for first day and observe for any immediate concerns.
3. Day 2 - Add dose of prazipro.
4. Day 6 - Do 50% water change and start copper.
5. Day 7 to 28 - raise copper slowly over a couple of days, test copper level every other day, monitor ammonia and do water changes as needed. Feed well. Determine what the fish like to eat.
6. Day 28 - 50% water change and add second dose of Prazipro.
7. Day 32 - Add to main tank. During this whole time I slowly match the QT and display tanks SG and temp so I just drop the fish into the DT.
8. If during this time I notice any infections or fungus I use Kanaplex for 6 days. I use this with Copper and haven't had any issues.
Since doing this I have not lost a single fish, everyone is healthy and happy in the DT and I have been able to add hard to keep fish such as a powder blue tang.
Also, have not lost a fish in Quarantine either. MUCH better track record than just adding fish straight to the DT.

 

[RussC]

This was my first and only fish order through the mail thus far. Disappointed it didn't pan out. I became concerned after a couple days and the fish wasn't eating. That's when I really started digging into the care of Anthias and realized they are more fickle than I originally anticipated. I tried so many different foods and am currently hatching a batch of live brine shrimp. Too little too late on that hatch. The rest of the tank is in for a treat.

 

[JustinM]

Anthias are very prone to uronema. Acriflavine is a great bath to give new fish right away. Others will say the same for formalin. They both have their advantages but both take care of uronema and brook.

When a fish is too sick, most the time they won’t eat. Another thing to note is the SG of the tank they came from. Not too many people check for this and it causes osmotic shock. Where did you order from?

 

[JustinM]

After looking at the picture, you definitely had uronema.

 

[RussC]

Uronema is a new one on me. Thanks for identifying it. I love Anthias. Beautiful fish. I'll be better prepared for my next go 'round with them. I got this from liveaquaria. Corals are doing great. This was the only fish I bought.

SO HERE IS THE IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!

Is Uronema contagious? Are my other fish at risk? Tank?

 

[RussC]

OMG. Uronema sounds like something from the devil himself. Am I done? This stuff sounds incredibly bad.

 

[Jdub968]

Sorry to hear about your Anthias. For the future, when you buy any kind of saltwater fish you need to quarantine and have appropriate medication on hand. Most fish are received with problems that you must deal with. Anthias can be somewhat hard to get eating. I usually start with pods and either live or frozen brine shrimp. They will eat other things over time but you have to get them healthy and relaxed first.

Here is my QT procedure but there are many variations;

I have had a tank setup for the last five years. In the beginning I lost a whole tank of fish to Ick and have quarantined ever since. Here is my process;
1. Drip acclimate fish to quarantine tank water ( I check SG of water fish came in and QT tank to determine length of time for acclimation). I usually try to drop my SG in the QT before getting the fish since most fish tend to come in lower SG water, I have seen down to 1.020.
2. Day 1 - Leave lights off and let fish relax for first day and observe for any immediate concerns.
3. Day 2 - Add dose of prazipro.
4. Day 6 - Do 50% water change and start copper.
5. Day 7 to 28 - raise copper slowly over a couple of days, test copper level every other day, monitor ammonia and do water changes as needed. Feed well. Determine what the fish like to eat.
6. Day 28 - 50% water change and add second dose of Prazipro.
7. Day 32 - Add to main tank. During this whole time I slowly match the QT and display tanks SG and temp so I just drop the fish into the DT.
8. If during this time I notice any infections or fungus I use Kanaplex for 6 days. I use this with Copper and haven't had any issues.
Since doing this I have not lost a single fish, everyone is healthy and happy in the DT and I have been able to add hard to keep fish such as a powder blue tang.
Also, have not lost a fish in Quarantine either. MUCH better track record than just adding fish straight to the DT.

You have a solid program but FYI your prazipro treatments are to far apart. You need to dose prazi then 5-7 days later redose it to kill the eggs that hatched and kill them before they mature (10days) and relay eggs

 

[Jdub968]

Once uronema is in the DT there's only one way to get rid of it and that's a total tear down sterilize everything and start over. Most fishes immune system will protect them from uronema however when they get stress this is the time the uronema can infect them. Damsels , Cromis , anthias are more susceptible to uronema for some reason.

 

[JustinM]

I wouldn’t say you’re screwed entirely. I just wouldn’t take a chance with anthias and chromis. Most fish have no issue fighting it off, it’s when the get injured in can wreak havoc.

 

[RussC]

I’ve got two chromis. I guess time will tell.

 

[JustinM]

Though you wouldn’t eradicate it out of your system, some are saying to treat uronema with Metroplex bound with focus. 1 scoop metro, 1 scoop of focus, 1 tablespoon of frozen food and let it sit for 20 min then feed to your chromis.

If it were bacterial, this would help somewhat as well. Uronema is free swimming. If a fish was to get injured from fighting or scratching against a rock, this is usually how it attacks the fish.

I really hoped this was a bacterial infection but from the pictures, it looks like Uronema and being that it’s an anthias too. Best of luck with whatever route you take.