The aquarium hobby has been growing immensely across the world. Healthy maintenance of an Aquarium has thrown
up new challenges for an Aquarist. An Aquarist, quite often ponders, as to “How ??? Can he make his Aquarium a disease-free aquarium? Is there any possibility to have a disease-free environment in his Aquarium? Will his Fish Live happy ever after like all fairy tales. ? The Answer is Simple “NO”.Like most Fairy tail there is a witch, Here it is the Dreaded ‘Aquarium DISEASE’, to our good luck, many companies have been constantly researching various diseases and are providing
suitable water conditioners and medicines to help the budding hobbyist fulfill her goals to maintain a healthy Aquarium and one particular company comes to my mind is "SEACHEM"
Being a closed environment an aquarist has to do his regular maintenance, provide good filtration have excellent water conditions to create a healthy living for its beings, etc. Often, an Aquarist neglects the quality of food too for which he or she is feeding the fish. Most of the diseases in the aquarium come from the quality of water and the feed given to the fish. When performing water exchanges always treat tap water with a conditioner before adding it to your aquarium. We strongly recommend Seachem Prime which not only removes chlorine, and chloramine but also detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and Nitrate in the Aquarium. It also provides a slime coat to the fish to fight disease.
Mostly, the disease is related to stress which weakens their immune systems. Stress can be related to shipping, overcrowding, inadequate filtration, leaving lights 24/7, aggression from other fish, and improper water quality.
Quarantining the fish is also an important issue to be looked into while introducing the new fish to the tank. Quarantining with proper water conditioners ensures that the fish is disease-free. Most hobbyists and sellers across the world use Seachem Stress Guard to quarantine and while transporting their fish to their destination. These responsible sellers are like good Samaritans to the fish hobby and they follow good business ethics in providing healthy fish to the hobbyist.
It is better to take additional precautions while purchasing new fish and place them in a separate quarantine tank for at least 25 days to make sure they are not sick. Perform 25% water exchange and filter with Carbon for at least 48 hours before switching medications or introducing new fish to your quarantine tank.
It’s a good practice to have a separate net and other equipment while dealing with a quarantine tank and disinfect your hand with proper bacterial soap rinse your hand before moving the fish from the quarantine tank to the main display tank. Also, disinfect the equipment with bleach water.
Disease-causing organisms exist virtually in every aquarium. If it's kept at low levels it will not affect the fish, therefore, it becomes necessary for all to have a strict regime of maintenance ensuring good water quality and a stress-free environment.
There are many diseases such as fungal, bacterial, and parasitical. Some are internal and also external. We are going to touch upon very common diseases and how we can over overcome them with proper usage of the medicine.
The best time to observe your fish is during feeding time. If your fish exhibit abnormal behavior look out for these signs: Loot out for white spots, Cloudy eyes, Bloody patches, ragged fins and sometimes you will find fish gasping at the surface. They typically do this because of poor oxygenation, nitrite issue in the water, parasites, or damage to their gills. You will see the loss of color and loss of appetite in your fish. Also, you will see fish rubbing themselves on the substrate or even some on the decorations in the tank.
ICH: The most common parasite fish disease is ‘ICH’. This can be easily identified in the fish body. There are white spots that appear like salt sprinkled on a fish's body. This can happen due to sudden temperature changes in the water. Incoming fish can be the carriers of ‘ICH ‘ the indicators are rapid breathing, rubbing against the decorations or gravel, and Twitching around the aquarium.
Treatment:- Before treating any fish with any disease, you will have to remove any carbon present in the filter. Do at least 30% water change. Increase the temperature of the water while treating the disease (70° to 80° degrees F for Tropical fish). Vacuum cleans the gravel.
As we recommend seachem medicine, here is how to treat with antiparasitic medicine like Paraguard, Metroplex, or polyguard. Treat for at least 14 days; treat any system that an infected fish has touched; use an antiparasitic like Cupramine, ParaGuard, MetroPlex, or PolyGuard; don’t mix antiparasitics. Always mix the medicine with Seachem Focus which acts as a binder between the medicine and the Food. Use this technique, when mixing the medicine with the food.
Sunken Belly: This can be caused by internal parasites, but can also simply be a result of poor diet. Improve the diet (making sure to include more algae-rich foods if treating Malawi Mbuna) in case this is just a dietary issue. If this is a parasite, we recommend Seachem MetroPlex and Focus in a medicated food blend. Also Seachem Garlic Guard
can be added as an appetizer.
Malawi Bloat: This one can also be caused by internal parasites, but could also be an internal bacterial infection or a very poor diet. Improve the diet (this is especially important for any kind of bloat), and investigate for further symptoms. If the bloat is paired with white stringy waste or degradation of tissue on the face or lateral line of the fish, teat with MetroPlex (preferably in the food, but it’s fine to treat in the water). If there are no secondary symptoms, treat with Seachem KanaPlex. Sometimes people can be used to clear this out if it is determined that the bloating is specifically due to a bacterial infection of the intestines. In that case, Seachem NeoPlex can be put into a medicated food. However, Seachem NeoPlex cannot “pass through a membrane” to enter the bloodstream of the fish, so if the infection has spread to any other organs, Seachem NeoPlex will not be able to treat them.
Cloudy Eye/Fin Rot: Usually a bacterial infection, sometimes eye trauma, or just plain poor water parameters. Check water parameters (particularly KH and GH) or simply do a 50% water change every 2 to 3 days, ensure the fish are not fighting too much, and treat with Seachem SulfaPlex or Seachem KanaPlex. It should be clear. If this is not treated in due course of time the fish can become blind and eventually picked upon by other fish leading to stress and finally death. Fin Rot can also be treated in the same way,
Swim Bladder Disease: Fancy goldfish have weird truncated digestive systems that make them prone to swim bladder disease, especially when they are getting a diet without enough plant matter. Check water parameters (particularly GH); make sure they have a diet that is rich in plant matter (and maybe get them some elodea or duckweed to snack on); dose them with KanaPlex in the food or the water; wait for a while - fish take a while to heal from swim bladder damage, and the symptoms may not clear immediately upon finishing treatment.
Discus with Swim Bladder can be treated similarly but should get a diet rich in meaty easily-digested foods. Include some frozen fish foods, and maybe hold off on the beef heart for a bit if that is the primary food source.
Would like to thank seachem for providing me with certain information on their medicine. You can shop for the above-mentioned medicine with us on the below-mentioned link in India.
It certainly helps to keep fish medicine on hand. It is no point in running at the last minute. What if your fish is struggling to survive? Are you going to let it die without giving proper treatment? Care for your Fish and let it live happily.
For medicine in India, you can shop at https://www.aquafishcare.com/fish-medicines
For the Use of seachem medicines you can visit: https://seachem.com/medications.php
Author:- Sunil Dcosta for www.aquafishcare.com
Blog page :- www.aquafishcaretimes.com
