Post by angelminx on Mar 3, 2015 16:14:44 GMT -5
This is something I've never heard of before (at least I don't remember reading about it back when), and I couldn't find it listed in any of my books (I'll have to take a better look).
Last night I was going over my Nov. '05 Aquarium Fish Magazine, and in the Cichlid Forum, was a question about an angelfish that had some kind of "fungus stuff around its mouth". The columnist mentioned trying to do a wet-mount skin scraping as a diagnostic for "skin problems" and that "one relatively common pathogen that causes a disease that looks like fungus--but is actually a parasite--is Heteroplaria. It is a stalked ciliate that can form dense colonies that tend to take on the appearance of fungus, largely because it stands off from the surface of the fish and looks kind of fuzzy", so the fish could have fungus, or be affected with Heteroplaria. The "author" (2 people contribute to the column, but I don't know who answered this question) said that where fungus is usually a secondary problem, Heteroplaria "is more commonly seen on fish kept in less than optimal conditions in which water changes and filter maintenance have been neglected." He goes on to suggest that if a scraping cannot be done to 1st treat as if for fungus, and then if the fish shows no sign of improvement, to treat as if for Heteroplaria--it can be treated with salt, but following the recommendations of a good fish health book should do the trick.
Thought you all might be interested. Maybe Carl's heard of it before.
Angelminx
Last night I was going over my Nov. '05 Aquarium Fish Magazine, and in the Cichlid Forum, was a question about an angelfish that had some kind of "fungus stuff around its mouth". The columnist mentioned trying to do a wet-mount skin scraping as a diagnostic for "skin problems" and that "one relatively common pathogen that causes a disease that looks like fungus--but is actually a parasite--is Heteroplaria. It is a stalked ciliate that can form dense colonies that tend to take on the appearance of fungus, largely because it stands off from the surface of the fish and looks kind of fuzzy", so the fish could have fungus, or be affected with Heteroplaria. The "author" (2 people contribute to the column, but I don't know who answered this question) said that where fungus is usually a secondary problem, Heteroplaria "is more commonly seen on fish kept in less than optimal conditions in which water changes and filter maintenance have been neglected." He goes on to suggest that if a scraping cannot be done to 1st treat as if for fungus, and then if the fish shows no sign of improvement, to treat as if for Heteroplaria--it can be treated with salt, but following the recommendations of a good fish health book should do the trick.
Thought you all might be interested. Maybe Carl's heard of it before.
Angelminx
