Why did my Green Chromis die???

kelldog4

kelldog4

Member
About a month ago I bought 2 new percs and added them to my tank. I only had two Green Chromis and a velvet damsel. Everybody seemed to get along just fine but then one of the chromis started staying all day with his nose in the top left corner of the tank.
He would still eat, his color was vibrant, and I didn't see any fungus, bacteria, ich on him. After he stayed in the corner for about a day the other Chromis and the Damsel started picking on him. Then he started breathing heavy and his pupils got huge. By the next morning he was dead. I checked my water params at that time and everthing was good.
Now about two weeks later the second chromis did the same thing except that I never saw any of the other fish pester him.
One thing that I have noticed from the search is the chromis have lots of hiding places. I Have very little live rock - aboout 27lbs (4 pieces) in my 60gal.
PH - 8.2
ammonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
temp 80
salinity 1.022
Thanks for your input.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
I've seen that behavior before. I'm not sure what causes it though. Internal parasite maybe that stresses them out. Maybe someone else knows. I do know green chromis will bed down in whatever hole they can wiggle into. I can attest to that. Mine do it.
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Are you sure the chromis didn't have any wounds, raised scales, ulcerations, etc...
When I first got Chromis, one of mine had just that, and exhibited the same behavior. It died about a week after placing him in the tank. I posted on it a long time ago. I'll see if I can't dig up that post. Beth knew exactly what was wrong with it.
 
madd catt

madd catt

Member
That damsel is also very agressive they are pretty but can or will attack green chromis being he was in your tank first, there are not too many docile damsels and if that chromis had a problem and the velvet picked up on this it would make matters worse.
 
kelldog4

kelldog4

Member
Thank Buzz:
I have only been keeping a Saltwater tank since November 02 so I'm still pretty new at it. But - I did not notice any outward signs of disease at all. Color was great and the fins did not look damaged in any way.
Matt et. al - one of my big questions is should I go ahead and dump my velvet Damsel. I didn't really see him do too much pestering But........
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Beth and Terry B. both helped me in my post. I found what Terry B. termed it.
This is a quote from that post.
There are two different pathogens that appear like this and are common to chromis. Uronema which is a very tiny parasite and a particular strain of vibrio (bacterial). Uronema is quite contagious and unlike most bacterial infections so is this particular bacteria. Fortunately both can be treated with nirtofurazone if caught early.
Terry B
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Possibly or the Chromis got stressed enough and existing strains took over.... I don't know much about disease life cycles though. I would get rid of the velvet damsel. They get big and ugly eventually if they are the ones im thinking of.
 
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