Disease Prevention in Aquarium Fish.
Almost all novice aquarists are “infected” with an irrepressible desire to treat their fish. Considering the fact that in ninety cases out of a hundred, the cause of disease and death of fish in an aquarium is not infectious diseases, but diseases caused by improper actions of the aquarist (improper maintenance and feeding), it is most often sufficient to maintain healthy, stable conditions, a state of biological equilibrium in the aquarium, and follow other rules so that the fish do not feel depressed and their bodies find the strength to resist the impact of infectious disease pathogens. If you do not maintain the aquarium in good condition, you choose the path of therapeutic procedures, and this path is the worst and does not always end well. Diseases, of course, must be treated, but it is better to prevent them. This rule is fully applicable when keeping fish in an aquarium.
The most effective remedy against a possible outbreak of fish diseases in an aquarium is prevention. The key to good fish health is maintaining optimal conditions for feeding, keeping, aquarium water quality, and many other factors affecting fish health. Optimal conditions help fish resist diseases and strengthen their immunity. We cannot control the balance between fish and parasites, and therefore we must follow hygiene rules and avoid stressing the fish. Learn proper aquarium handling and do not spare time for its maintenance—this approach always pays off. By maintaining optimal conditions for keeping fish and treating them with care and attention, you can avoid diseases or at least localize them in a timely manner.
The quantity and quality of dissolved substances in water (salt composition of water) not meeting the requirements of the fish kept in the aquarium, violation of the temperature regime, inappropriate acidity and hardness, lack of oxygen, water pollution by the waste products of aquarium inhabitants, harmful emissions from certain plants, especially when trimming them in the aquarium, etc. Poor water quality, including a very high level of nitrites and other types of toxic substances.
Overfeeding, feeding with inappropriate or low-quality food, insufficient water changes, suboptimal hydrochemical conditions, improper equipment operation, incorrect fish transportation, adding all sorts of unnecessary things to the water, including abuse of medicinal preparations. Such violations of the optimal habitat can lead to disease or intoxication of the fish organism. Therefore, if your fish is feeling unwell, first of all, try to provide it with normal living conditions. There is no need to treat a healthy fish.
Among aquarists, there are people with varying backgrounds, but almost all of them have encountered the problem of fish diseases and experienced all the difficulties associated with treatment and diagnosis, especially early diagnosis and determination of the condition of kept and acquired fish. Any disease is much easier to treat in its initial stage.
Therefore, the slightest deviations from the behavior characteristic of a given species, the physiological state of the fish, and minor changes in external body integuments noticed in a timely manner greatly contribute to the early diagnosis of the disease. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to identify and isolate sick fish and thereby prevent the spread of an infectious disease and the possible death of the entire aquarium population. Close observation of fish is necessary, as they themselves serve as an early warning system for emerging diseases.
External and internal fish diseases are distinguished. External diseases, which usually manifest on the fins and skin, are detected in the early stages and can be cured in time. Internal diseases are not so easy to identify, but most of them cause unnatural fish behavior that immediately becomes noticeable upon close observation. With regular and careful observation, many diseases can be detected in the early stages. In this case, the infected fish is not yet weakened, and the likelihood that healthy fish will not become infected is high. Taking prompt action significantly increases the chances of a full recovery. This is especially important in the case of infectious diseases.
Non-infectious diseases, or illnesses not caused by pathogens, include various poisonings, oxygen deficiency, temperature regime violations, shifts in pH and dH values, and monotonous feeding. Non-infectious diseases can be acute, temporary, and usually disappearing after the elimination of their cause, or chronic, sometimes irreversible, leading to the curvature of the caudal peduncle, internal organ obesity, dystrophy, and infertility. In non-infectious diseases, immunity is weakened, so non-infectious diseases can be accompanied by secondary infectious diseases.
Dropping some chemical preparation into the water at random is not only stupid but also unacceptable. There is no point in treating an unknown disease by the arbitrary use of chemical medicines in the hope of accidentally hitting the right cure. Many medications are toxic to fish to one degree or another and can cause exacerbation. Combining different chemical preparations (when different drugs are applied sequentially without destroying the traces of previous treatment through partial water changes) is a very effective way to destroy fish through poisoning. In addition, one must remember that there are no universal medicines for treating just any single species of fish; rather, there are medicines for specific diseases.
In order to preserve the health of aquarium inhabitants, prevent aquarium fish diseases resulting from violations of maintenance rules and the introduction of infection through various channels, and create a normal ecological environment in it, the following rules are recommended:
• It is necessary to create optimal keeping conditions for aquatic organisms (fish, plants, mollusks, etc.) in the aquarium, maintain established biological balance, control hydrochemical and temperature parameters, lighting, organize proper and varied feeding, perform partial water changes, etc.
• Prevent overcrowding of the aquarium with fish and mollusks, or better yet, limit to a minimum or completely avoid keeping the latter in aquariums with fish. Avoid unreasonable and frequent fish transfers. To prevent fish from jumping out of the aquarium, it must be covered with a cover glass;
• Maintain the optimal temperature recommended for specific fish species in the aquarium, excluding the possibility of sharp temperature drops and hypothermia;
• Systematically perform weekly aquarium cleaning combined with replacing 15-30% of the water volume;
• Prevent the introduction of disease pathogens from natural water bodies into the aquarium along with live food, aquatic vegetation, substrate, mollusks, and water. Perform mandatory sorting of live food with the removal of ichthyophages: leeches, dragonfly larvae, water beetles, bugs, mollusks, and other animals. Aquarists should be especially attentive to fish during the spring-summer period, when pathogens multiply most intensively in natural water bodies where live food is harvested, thereby increasing the possibility of their introduction into aquariums.
• Strictly monitor the quality of fish food and ensure its proper storage. Follow the feeding regime, do not leave fish hungry for a long time, and avoid overfeeding;
• When feeding fish with live hydrobionts, avoid getting the water containing the live food into the aquarium. Feed the fish using tweezers (tubifex, bloodworms, etc.) and separate nets without lowering them into the aquarium water.
• Prevent the transfer of disease pathogens from troubled aquariums. Special attention should be paid to mandatory quarantine and therapeutic-prophylactic baths for newly acquired fish before placing them in the general aquarium.
• Promptly isolate sick and suspected fish from the general aquarium and keep them in a quarantine tank until an exact diagnosis is established. This will reduce the risk of infecting healthy fish in the general aquarium and allow for freer treatment of the sick fish without worrying about how the treatment methods might affect other inhabitants of the general aquarium. Remove dead fish from the aquarium.
• Do not place objects in the aquarium that could cause poisoning or injury to the fish;
• Ensure reliable transportation of fish, using soft, sufficiently voluminous carriers that prevent fish injury. In winter, use thermos containers for transportation, and special insulated boxes for large fish and a large number of fry;
• Allocate separate breeding equipment for each aquarium: nets, thermometers, siphons, rubber hoses, scrapers, air stones, feeders, etc. Equipment used to service sick or quarantined fish must be thoroughly disinfected;
• When treating fish with medications and chemical preparations, strictly observe the dosage to avoid poisoning.
Health to you and your fish!
