Mar 26
Neon Tetra Disease
*THIS DISEASE IS NAMED AFTER THE FIRST FISH THAT IT WAS NOTICED ON. THIS DISEASE CAN APPEAR ON ANY FISH NOT JUST NEON TETRAS.
This disease is caused by the sporoza Plistophora Hyphessobryconis. It will appear as whits areas under the skin of the fish and will lead to muscle degeneration and abnormal swimming. The organism will form cyst which will burst and create more organisms. Eventually these organisms will get into the water and will be eaten by other fish and infect the entire tank.
There is no known treatment for this disease. It is best to destroy the infected fish and clean the aquarium.
Mar 25
Marine Ich (Cryptocarton Irritans)
Ich (also spelled Ick) is one of the most common maladies found in salt water aquariums. It is seen as white salt-like specks on the body and fins of fish. Other symptoms include excessive slime, problems breathing (because ich invades the gills), clamped fins and loss of appetite. The saltwater version of ich involves four stages of life compared to the three stages in freshwater.
In the trophont stage the parasites are growing in the skin and gills of the fish and appear as white nodules. Ich will usually spend 5-7 days in this stage depending on the water temperature. Once it reaches maturity, the parasite will leave the fish.
In the protomont stage the adult parasite spends several hours crawling around the tank and creating a sticky slime coating around its body. This sticky coating helps the parasite cling to the substrate or aqua-scaping where it goes into its cyst stage.
In the tomont stage (or cyst stage) there is a rapid cell division in the adult parasite. Each parasite will divide into hundreds of baby parasites. The stage will last anywhere from 3-28 days depending on water conditions and ends with the hatching of the new parasites.
In the theront stage the baby parasites going into a free swim mode and searches for a new host. The new parasites must find a new host within 24 hours or they will die. Once a new host is found the cycle starts all over again.
To rid your tank of ich it is recommended that you use a combination of chemicals, temperature and water changes. Remember that each stage of ich is shortened when you increase the temperature in the tank. The chemicals recommended for treatment include; copper, formalin and a combination of the two. Follow the instructions listed on the package for each medication.
To treat for ich using the water change method complete a 50% water change daily for 14 days. This change will not harm your fish as long as salinity and temperature are the same. There are other more complicated methods that involve placing the fish in a lower salinity but this method is risky because you have to re-acclimatize the fish to the higher salt content before you can reintroduce the fish to the tank.
Dec 27
Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis)
Ich (also spelled Ick) is one of the most common maladies found in both fresh and salt water aquariums. It is seen as white salt-like specks on the body and fins of fish. Other symptoms include excessive slime, problems breathing because ich invades the gills, clamped fins and loss of appetite. There are three life cycles that this protozoan goes through and despite other claims ich can only be treated in one of these three stages.
The adult stage finds the ich embedded in the skin or gills of the fish. In this stage the fish will show obvious signs of irritation as the protozoa feeds on red blood and skin cells. The ich will appear as white nodules in this stage. After a few days of this stage the adult protozoa bill burrow out of the fish and fall to the bottom of the tank where they will enter cyst stage.
The cyst stage involves rapid division of the adult protozoa, once this division has occurred the ich is in the final stage.
This third stage or free swimming stage is the stage where treatment is imperative to kill these protozoa. Each adult will divide to an estimated 1000 new protozoa that will start to swim to the surface looking for a host and start the cycle all over again.
The first step in treating ich is the easiest and most important. The average time that an ich protozoan goes through its three stages is 4 weeks with a water temperature of 70 degrees. By simply increasing the temperature to 80 degrees it speeds up the lifecycle of the protozoa and increases the lifecycle to only 5 days, thus increasing the speed in the transformation between stages. If the fish can stand it, increasing the temperature to 85 will be even better.
The second step in treating these free swimming ich protozoa is by using chemicals. Quinine hydrochloride is the preferred method at 30 mg per liter; however quinine sulphate can be used if hydrochloride is not available. These medications will make the water cloudy at first but this will disappear in a few days. Other medications that can be used are malchite green and copper.
Dec 26
Hexamita-
Hexamita are intestinal flagellated protozoa that attack the lower intestine. The first sign is a slimy, white mucous feces even though the fish is acting fine. The fish will start to hide in corners of the tank and swim backwards. Further signs are that the head will start to become thin and black above the eyes. These protozoa attack the lower intestine so another sign is the wasting away of the fish and the loss of appetite.
Two steps need to be taken to fight these protozoa. The first is to treat the food for the fish with 1% metronidazole, this will treat the protozoa that are in the stomach of the fish. The second step is to treat the water with the same medication at a mixture of 12 mg per liter; this will kill any protozoa that are still in the water. Treat the water every other day for three treatments to ensure the water is treated properly.
Hexamita is often confused with Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) or hole-in-head disease. Both Hexamita and HLLE are often seen at the same time. HLLE is seen as tiny holes or cavities in the head and is due to poor environmental conditions, while Hexamita is a thinning of the head and is caused by protozoa.
Dec 26
Costia:
Costia is a somewhat rare disease that is relatively easy to cure if your fish becomes infected. There are several treatments for this disease however two of the treatments have serious side effects. Costia causes the skin of the infected fish to become cloudy and milky. The first treatment is to raise the water temperature to 80-83 degrees. This treatment is not a 100% guarantee but it does not present any side effects to fish. The second method for treating Costia is by adding copper at a rate of 2 mg per liter of water. Caution needs to be used when using this treatment because overdosing can cause copper poisoning. Some species of fish are extremely sensitive to copper so make sure to research your fish and find out the level that your fish can tolerate. The third medication that can be used is Acriflavine (trypaflavine) at a rate of 1 ml per liter of water. This treatment can cause sterility in fish so following the guidelines is very important.
