Pigmy Anthis

[Kven]

I purchased 4 anthias about a week ago along with a six line wrasse. My wrasse died yesterday. He had been doing well until 24 hours before he died. Now today, one of my anthias is on the bottom, breathing fast, and has brown on one side of its body. Does anyone know what this could be and if there is anything I can try to help this little fish? I forgot to mention, they are in a quarrantine tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I purchased 4 anthias about a week ago along with a six line wrasse. My wrasse died yesterday. He had been doing well until 24 hours before he died. Now today, one of my anthias is on the bottom, breathing fast, and has brown on one side of its body. Does anyone know what this could be and if there is anything I can try to help this little fish? I forgot to mention, they are in a quarrantine tank.

I would place a focus on water/water quality.
How are you testing the readings?
Additionally, are you using any tap water for mixing or top off?
Any unusual signs like scratching, darting, heavy breathing, gasping at surface and loss of appetite?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I purchased 4 anthias about a week ago along with a six line wrasse. My wrasse died yesterday. He had been doing well until 24 hours before he died. Now today, one of my anthias is on the bottom, breathing fast, and has brown on one side of its body. Does anyone know what this could be and if there is anything I can try to help this little fish? I forgot to mention, they are in a quarrantine tank.

Hi, we need more information to try and help you out - this post explains all that:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Kven]

I would place a focus on water/water quality.
How are you testing the readings?
Additionally, are you using any tap water for mixing or top off?
Any unusual signs like scratching, darting, heavy breathing, gasping at surface and loss of appetite?

Thanks for responding. I'll try to answer all your questions.
Water Quality- I have been performing a 20-50% water change every 3-4 days, matching the temp and salinity.
I use RODI water to mix, which is the same as my DT. I only use RODI.
I did not observe any darting or hanging around the top of the tank, but I did notice heavy breathing about 24 hours prior and loss of appetite.
I have a 20-gallon QT tank and use a hang-on-the-back filter, a small powerhead pointed toward the surface, a heater, 3 PVC joints, a heater set to 78, a Sechem hang-on ammonia, and a pH tester. Salinity is at 33.5. I have another anthias that is not alive this morning.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for responding. I'll try to answer all your questions.
Water Quality- I have been performing a 20-50% water change every 3-4 days, matching the temp and salinity.
I use RODI water to mix, which is the same as my DT. I only use RODI.
I did not observe any darting or hanging around the top of the tank, but I did notice heavy breathing about 24 hours prior and loss of appetite.
I have a 20-gallon QT tank and use a hang-on-the-back filter, a small powerhead pointed toward the surface, a heater, 3 PVC joints, a heater set to 78, a Sechem hang-on ammonia, and a pH tester. Salinity is at 33.5. I have another anthias that is not alive this morning.

See the dark linear area leaning forward on the fish that is out of the water? That looks like Uronema.

Here is an article I posted about this disease:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Kven]

See the dark linear area leaning forward on the fish that is out of the water? That looks like Uronema.

Here is an article I posted about this disease:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you for this article. It was very interesting and spot on. The red bands were very noticable in the orange anthias before it died. I am very new at this hobby, within my first year and help like yours, recognizing and sharing knowledge of disease is very helpful and encourages me to forge on. I appreciate the help.

 

[Steve D.]

Nice to hear from you on the status of your 350 even if the news is not good. Sorry for your loss. I was somewhat surprised by your "20-50% water change every 3-4 days". That seems enormous to me. I don't have your experience but I'm surprised that frequency doesn't unfavorably impair your water chemistry. Could that have impacted your fish? After all, you quarantined them! And the speed with which your fish fell ill and died was daunting. On the other hand, I read that Anthias are not an easy species and based on your experience, I think I'm going to avoid them. My 350 peninsula project has been slightly differed pending the renovation of my kitchen and dining room which the peninsula is going to separate. But your 20-50% comment freaked me out because I'm trying to build an infrastructure that, once up and running, is capable of surviving 10 days or even two weeks in my absence. I don't know if that's realistic. Best of luck with your live stock.

 

[Kven]

Nice to hear from you on the status of your 350 even if the news is not good. Sorry for your loss. I was somewhat surprised by your "20-50% water change every 3-4 days". That seems enormous to me. I don't have your experience, but I'm surprised that frequency doesn't impair your water chemistry unfavorably. Could that have impacted your fish? After all, you quarantined them! And the speed with which your fish fell ill and died was daunting.
On the other hand, I read that Anthias is not an easy species, and based on your experience, I think I'm going to avoid them. My 350 peninsula project has been slightly differed pending the renovation of my kitchen and dining room which the peninsula is going to separate. But your 20-50% comment freaked me out because I'm trying to build an infrastructure that, once up and running, is capable of surviving 10 days or even t

Nice to hear from you on the status of your 350 even if the news is not good. Sorry for your loss. I was somewhat surprised by your "20-50% water change every 3-4 days". That seems enormous to me. I don't have your experience but I'm surprised that frequency doesn't unfavorably impair your water chemistry. Could that have impacted your fish? After all, you quarantined them! And the speed with which your fish fell ill and died was daunting. On the other hand, I read that Anthias are not an easy species and based on your experience, I think I'm going to avoid them. My 350 peninsula project has been slightly differed pending the renovation of my kitchen and dining room which the peninsula is going to separate. But your 20-50% comment freaked me out because I'm trying to build an infrastructure that, once up and running, is capable of surviving 10 days or even two weeks in my absence. I don't know if that's realistic. Best of luck with your live stock.

Hi Steve. Your renovation and peninsula tank sounds exciting. Good luck to you, and I pray you can tolerate the dust.

Let me explain my water changes. I have been going slow and trying not to rush the process. I waited about seven weeks to turn on the lights. After the lights were on, just at 15%, I had an outbreak of, I assume, algae. My parameters have been off: alkalinity is low, phosphates fluctuate, etc. I read several responses here, and the suggestions pointed to significant water changes every 3-4 days to help. I am about to do my 3rd water change to monitor parameters, and I hope this will help.

About the anthias, I had them in a 20-gallon QT tank. It all seemed to happen so fast. After having them a week, I started losing them every couple of days. It is hard to lose these little guys as I grow attached to them quickly, but I know I have a significant learning curve and will have to learn as I go. I am very thankful that I found this site. I do not have a mentor, and my city does not seem to have a large saltwater aquarium hobbyist population. The information and shared expertise here are beneficial and appreciated. I will try to post updates and pics as soon as i can figure out the camera and tank lighting!

 

[Steve D.]

Hi Kven, Wow! After having them a week?! They must have been infected at purchase. 20 gallons seems like a nice size for QT tank. I think five and ten gallon tanks are the norm here. And you use your 20 G QT for one fish? Or you QT the same bunch purchased on any given day? (I think I'm going to increase the size of my QT tank based on your comment.) I hope your Anthias recover from this. They're neat to look at but your situation does not motivate me to buy them. btw, I also have absolutely no one to mentor me although I recently linked up with a guy in the Paris region (via this site!) who has been very helpful. Otherwise, I have driven over 10 miles in greater Paris traffic to a couple of the very few fish stores here to pump them for information and advice. (One of them is going to come to the house to install the tank.) There are incredible aquarium equipment and fish stores in Germany and the Netherlands but the French are not leaders in this hobby. And there is so much I don't know. I have a question for you; We travel quite a bit and for that reason, I'm going to try and build a system which is self sustaining for at least 10 or 14 days. In that context, I'm going to install a fairly significant Culligan water purification system in a kitchen cabinet right next to the tank to faciltate water changes. There are also quite a few teenagers in the neihborhood and I'm going to try and find a teenage guy to train to do some house visits during my absences. Do you think this is realistic? or am I crazy. I know that during the start up process it would probably not be realistic. But after the tank is primed? say after the first six month period? What do you think?