Fish diseases

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Fish are susceptible to diseases just as any other organism. There are hundreds of afflictions that can effect the health of fish. Fish disease has remained a rudimentary branch of veterinary medicine. The reasons are their miniature nature makes tests more difficult and low cost of most fish exceeds the expense of tests and medication. Fish diseases can be referred to as etiology organ/system most severely affected. Communicable disease can easily affect most fishes in the aquarium due to limited volume of water and increased number of fish compared to natural environments. Many diseases in captive fish are avoidable and preventable. Water conditions are important factors. In spite of all precautions, disease episodes may still occur in the aquarium especially when fish face environmental stresses.

“ Who hears the fish when they cry? ”
 
— Henry David Thoreau 1849

Contents

[edit] Prevention

Disease cures are almost always more expensive and less effective than simple prevention measures.

Precautions:

  • Avoid introducing infected stock into the water.
  • Avoid stressing the fish.
    • Keep fish in the ideal water conditions for their species.
    • Don't overcrowd the aquarium.
    • Don't overfeed the fish.
    • Avoid vessels that have no water movement or filtration, like fish bowls.
  • Don't introduce external disease sources.
    • Quarantine newly-bought fish, plants, and invertebrates.
    • Don't buy from shops with diseased fish.
    • If you cannot quarantine new fish, do not add the fish's transportation water into your tank. Instead, pour the fish and water through a net, and add only the fish themselves into the tank.
    • Carefully wash vegetable matter, like lettuce and cucumber, before feeding it to your fish.
  • Monitor the fish.
    • Look closely at the fish at least a couple of minutes a day to check for symptoms of stress or disease.
    • If a fish appears distressed, quarantine it immediately and monitor it until it seems healthy.
  • Avoid using unknown chemicals in your tank.
    • Never use soap or detergent when cleaning anything that will go in to the aquarium.
    • Never hit the tank for this may cause tramautization or stress towards the fish and could lead to death.

[edit] Fish disease etiology

Myxobolus cerebralis triactinomyxon
Myxobolus cerebralis triactinomyxon
Henneguya zschokkei in salmon beard
Henneguya zschokkei in salmon beard

[edit] Fish disease by affected organ system

  • Neurological Disorders
  • Body Cavity
  • Eye Disorders
    • Cloudy cornea
    • Blindness
    • Cataract
    • Black Spot
    • Pop Eye , exophtalmia
  • Fecal Disorders
  • Fin Disorders
  • Gallbladder
  • Gill Disorders
    • Gill flukes (Dactylogyrus )
  • Intestinal Disorders
  • Kidney Disorders
  • Liver Disorders
  • Locomotor Disorders
    • Spine
      • Scoliosis
  • Mouth disorders
  • Skin Disorders & Changes In Color
  • Swim Bladder Disease
    • Congenitally deformed
    • Tumor adjacent to the swim bladder
    • Constipation
    • Malnutrition
    • Chilling
    • temperature fluctuations
    • Serious parasitic infestation
    • Serious bacterial infection

[edit] Fish Disease treatment

[edit] Basics

If the disease cause is not obvious, check water conditions, including temperature, acidity/alkalinity (pH), General Hardness (GH), Carbonate Hardness (KH), Ammonia concentration (NH3), Nitrite Concentration (NO2), Phosphate concentration (PO4) and Nitrate concentration (NO3). Observe the fish for symptoms. Check any recent changes.

[edit] Hospital Tank/ Quarantine

Diseased fish should be isolated whenever possible so they are not likely to spread infections among other healthy fish in the tank. The best way to isolate sick fish is to set up a hospital tank. If possible move all sick fish to a hospital tank without sand, live plants or decorations. If the treatment is an antibiotic antiseptic or copper-based, remember to remove all carbon from the filtration system. Make sure the biological filtration in your aquarium, which cycles harmful ammonia and nitrites, is not destroyed by the drugs. The tank should be furnished with a reliable heater that will not permit much temperature variance. The tank should be furnished with an air stone. After treating the sick fish, disinfect the tank.

[edit] Baths

An alternative means of treating a fish is to give it a short bath in a bucket containing water and a medication or salt.

[edit] Salt bath

A salt bath is a good way of treating the fish without damaging the beneficial bacteria. It is a good antiseptic and fungicide. Most table salts may contain additives like magnesium sulfate to keep them from clumping and appear whiter, which might not be beneficial to fish. Aquarium salt is recommended, although Kosher salt or rock salt is satisfactory.

[edit] Heat Therapy

Heat therapy of raising the water temperature, can be administered to kill certain parasites. The temperature should be raised gradually. Sometimes diseased fish cannot handle such a temperature change, or the species can not tolerate high temperatures. Discontinue treatment if any side effects occur. Aeration is necessary since less oxygen is dissolved in warm water.

[edit] Medications

Commercial fish medications are not regulated by any government agency. This means that some commercial medications have not been tested for safety or effectiveness. Thus some medications may be completely useless and may be even harmful to aquarium inhabitants.

[edit] Treatment Options

  • Conservative treatment
    • Temperature modifications
    • Changing water conditions
  • Pharmaceuticals
    • Drug baths
    • Topical drugs
    • Feeding drugs
    • Injecting drugs
  • Surgery
  • Killing the fish

[edit] Example drugs used in Fish treatment

[edit] Complications

Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen cycle

[edit] References

  1. ISBN 1-56465-160-6 Manual Of Fish Health
  2. ISBN 1-58245-049-8 AZ of Tropical Fish Diseases & Health Problems, Peter Burgess
  3. ISBN 0-86622-703-2 Handbook of Fish Diseases, Dieter Untergasser
  4. ISBN 0-7641-1338-0 A Commonsense Guide to Fish Health - Fairfield

[edit] External links

  1. Help with Stress & Disease
  2. Journal of Fish Diseases
  3. The European Union puts in place a framework of measures to combat certain fish diseases effectively and to prevent their spread.
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