Killing Uronema

[LifeIsGreat]

This is the second time I've seen a uronema infection, so I was able to spot the symptoms in my clown right away: fin rot on the tip of its tail and on the ends of pectoral fins, loss of appetite, and frantic endless swimming into the tank's strongest current. I got to the clown within a day of contraction, which was good because I've seen this kill within three days. I dipped the clown in fresh tap water so that the mix of fresh water and chlorine would kill any bacteria on the surface, in the mouth, and in the gills. The dip lasted 4 minutes. I then put the fish in a saltwater untreated tapwater mix with a dose of Seachem MetroPlex, the active ingredient being metronidazole. I did an untreated tapwater dip every 12 hours to a total of three dips. I dosed Metro every day for three days, then I let the clown soak in the medicated water for a week and a half. During the first day after the tapwater dip and the medication bath the infection stopped spreading. The end of the tail died and fell off in pieces after a few days, so now the clown's tail ends just passed the last white band. The pectoral fins did better and just lost a bit around the edges. The clown started eating again after about 5 days in the medicated bath. After 1 1/2 weeks in the medicine I put the clown in a proper RODI salt water quarantine for a week to make sure the infection did not come back. He is back to his normal self now, eating like crazy, and guarding his rock.

I also had to do a total breakdown and disinfection of the display tank. Everything got soaked with disinfectant, and the coral, crabs, and snails all got the same tapwater/metro treatment as the clown. I boiled the old live rock and put it in my freshwater aquarium, and got new fully cured live rock from the LFS so I could start up quickly. Everything seems normal now with minimal loss.

[WarDog]

Great info, glad to hear the clown recovered.

[LifeIsGreat]

I’m two weeks down the road with the new setup and everything is normal. The clown is in perfect health, all the other life has zero health issues, there was no die off with any of the crabs, snails, or zoas. The zoas were unhappy about the process and did not open until after a week in the new system, and their polyps were shrunken to half size, but they are acting normal now albeit smaller. I added a blenny and it is doing well. No further sign of infection and no evidence that the uronema hitchhiked.

[Frogger]

Great perseverance, most people wouldn't have had the patience to do what you did.

Good luck hopefully everything works out. Uronema is as good a reason to quarantine new fish as any.

[LifeIsGreat]

You are absolutely correct, quarantine, quarantine, quarantine!

[LifeIsGreat]

The clown has now fully recovered and the end of the tail has partially grown back. The tail is shorter and less broad than normal, but it is no longer just a fleshy stub. Some of the orange skin and the thinnest semi-transparent part of the tail fin has grown back.

[Frogger]

That is good to hear

[scilover]

Good to hear that! Always always disinfect everything is your tank as uronema is a free living parasite which doesn’t need a fish host to infect. It’s always a good idea to maintain a clean tank regularly to minimize to chances of having the infection.