Dieing Green Chromis'

[MediaOne]

I bought 4 Green chromis the other day and put them in my 90 gallon with 30 pounds of live rock to cycle the tank.

The chromis all have areas of their body where there is no colour now. It looks like a fungus growing on them. They were all dipped in methyleneblue to help control that when they came in, but now they all have it.

What can I do... if anything.
What disease is this?

 

[Anonymous]

Why on earth would you put 4 chromis in a tank that hasn't cycled????????

Get them into some stable water ASAP!!!

 

[JPG]

I purchased five Green Chromis a couple of months ago. I lost three in three days. The other two are doing very well.

There has been some discussion that many Chromis are now captured using cyanide and the high mortality rate is the result.

John

 

[MediaOne]

With 30 pounds of live rock there is not going to be much of a problem in terms of ammonia. But anyway that's not the problem.. as of yet water quality is perfect. the 4th.. and only remaining.. has good colour and is eating again.

The thing that gets me is that if this is a fungus, it should have been killed in my methylene blue dip!

 

[Joggins]

Fungal Diseases are hard to control, let alone eliminate. And not common besides. Don't trust that Methylene Blue is going to get rid of fungal infections even if you do have a certain diagnoses. Also I find that chromis are not ideal for a non-cycled tank and are often fragile. Cycling does more than just establish the nitrogen cycle...Are you filtering your water before you mix in the salt? Chlorine and Chloramines could be very high or other constituents such as lead or copper could be present due to contamination. I use Vancouver water as well and I don't trust it in buildings that are old. What is the Oxygen concentration? Good luck.

 

[MediaOne]

I am not prefiltering my water. It is simply entering into a saltmixer where it turns for about a week (so no chorline or chloramine)... than once in my system there is activated carbon there to suck up the contaminants.

so I don't know!... I don't have a diagnosis on the fungus... I know they are rare.

Oxygen level I should check.. but there is no heavy breathing.

 

[SPC]

Media, I have 150 lbs of live rock cycling in my 180 right now and the ammonia level is off the scale. I just want to make sure someone new dosen't read your comment about the 30 lbs of new live rock in your tank making everything ok. If I were you I think I would double check with another test kit just to be sure, your fish sound to me like they could be suffering from ammonia poisoning.
Steve

 

[jaydse]

i have 1 green chromis that gets like that once in awhile like he's loosing his scales then he's ok after awhile .but i don't belive they can handle a high ammonia either.

 

[reefworm]

Somehow we have got to disable this ubiquitous fiction that fish are the means of choice to cycle a tank.

Why stress live animals when patience and a dead shrimp from the fish market will accomplish the task?

 

[Anonymous]

If you're curing live rock you don't even need the dead shrimp. I'll admit the tank is going to be ugly for a month, but I think it's even uglier with a half dead fish in there with the algae.

 

[slojmn1]

I cycled my 120g with "cured Live Rock" from Harbor Aquatics and nothing else. I had the typical cycle without adding anything to the tank. My cycle was short, about 2 weeks. I agree, cycling with live fish should be on its way out these days. The word just needs to get out to the general public who don't frequent the boards that there are other more humane ways to accomplish this task. MediaOne, I hope your little guy or guys make it through this fungal problem. Probably would not want to add any other fish for a while till you figure this out.

 

[eaglet]

Well i been on lookout for mantis. even baited a few nighs to see. Found I have lots f copods and A rock crab I did not know I had. But never a mantis. Could be the old gal(maroon) I will keep my eyes peeled.
E-Man

 

[Anonymous]

I would point to the Maroon as well. In the evening the chromis will find a crevice to hide in for the night. If one gets too close to the clown I'll bet it gets attacked...

 

[eaglet]

You know what I started about 6 years ago fish only tank. Always wanted a schole
of these fish. Well I now have a 92 corner reef and bought 5 of them. All other fish(
maroon clown,canary blenny, lawnmower,royal gramma, sally light foot,
cleaner shrimp) been passive and thriving for close to a year. I introduce these 5 and
BAM!!!! 1 dead 2 days later then 5 days later another. Now the 3 left are bruised
and battered and I see no one picking on them at all. Bought 4 more bam 2 more
dead and 2 on way out. I am ready to pull them all out permanently. These fish must
be sick from the get-go. All other fish doing very well. I am frustrated to say the
least. E-Man

[ June 22, 2001: Message edited by: eaglet ]

 

[fishfarmer]

I had problems with green chromis recently as well. I was putting 6 into a new 120 gal setup, water params were fine. I had two from one store and four from another. One of the four was dead on the way home. I put five in the tank, they were dieing one by one every couple of days. I still have one which is doing great for over a month now.

 

[reefworm]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by eaglet:
<STRONG> I introduce these 5 and
BAM!!!! 1 dead 2 days later then 5 days later another. Now the 3 left are bruised
and battered and I see no one picking on them at all. E-Man

</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Eaglet,
I'd suspect your maroon clown when you're not looking - they're quite aggressive and territorial. Or, if not that, you may have a mantis shrimp lurking in the LR. Do you hear any clicking/popping sounds for which you can't account?

 

[Goldmoon]

Hi, Did it looked something like that?
http://public.fotki.com/Goldmoon/fish_diseases/domino.html

By the way, why is everyone jumping on the guy because he started with fishes? I know NOW that there is better ways to do it, but HONESTLY do you think he will ever come back to get answer to his problems? Or he will probably find another board that will try to solve his problems FIRST and then explain to him WHY it should be done other ways. I don't see how it is going to save his damsels by saying you should not have put them there. As for returning them to a LFS, that is also why so many fishes from those places are sick. Because people return them there at the first sign of troubles. I have read messages with people telling others to return the fishes that did not look too bad to the LFS to get their money back before they would die. Great for the next person like MediaOne that buys them and gets kicked because they die in his aquarium.
In my humble opinion, his fishes did not die because of cycling but because they were sick when he bought them.
(Getting ready for the avalanche of rocks that will be thrown at me

)

[ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: Goldmoon ]

 

[myaquarium]

I would point to the Sally Lightfoot. These things are quick and I recently removed mine after seeing him attack other fish. He took out 4 of my green chromis, 2 skunk clowns and a perc before I could figure it out. Then one night while wathching the tank without lights on , I saw the sally lightfoot chasing fish, latching on to them and nipping at them. Near the end he was taking a fish a night. Since I got rid of him, I am good to go. Only other things I had in the tank was a bangai, 1 yellow tang and 1 blue tang that is always hiding, some small hermit crabs and snails. I would look at the Sally Lightfoot a little closer.

--Andy