Post by Carl on Sept 15, 2018 16:44:03 GMT -5
A very important read for ANY aquarium keeper.
www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2016/09/how-to-treat-sick-fish.html
Excerpt:
When you are asking others for help, whether it be online or at your local fish store, make sure you ALWAYS provide background first; including ALL water parameters (mineral Cations too), filtration, maintenance, feeding, & fish kept. Past fish treatment history is important too.
As an analogy; your personal Doctor always has your history, takes your vital statistics, etc., so why should we expect those we are asking to help us with our sick fish to guess, especially when one considers we often are asking others to help us sight unseen and with far less tools at our disposal than a Doctor would have?
Make sure ALL water parameters are as they should be. This includes well known and obvious parameters as well as less obvious parameters. This is part of the "background issues I mentioned earlier.
INCLUDING:
* Ammonia; under .5 ppm (best 0 or less in most circumstances)
* Ph; stable within the generally accepted target range of the fish to be kept (if the target range is 6.5 to 7.5, stable at any number there-in)
* KH; this too can vary depending upon fish kept, but generally anywhere from 50 ppm to 150 ppm
KH (carbonate hardness) can keep an aquarium from pH crashes and knowing your KH on a regular basis can also tell you if it drops rapidly even after adding buffers that your bio load is too high and/or water changes are not adequate.
Further Reading:
Aquarium Chemistry; KH (Carbonate Hardness)
* Flow and oxygen levels; most persons do not have an oxygen test kit, so having a water flow turnover rate of 5 times for an average non-planted freshwater aquarium usually will indicate adequate oxygen levels
* Bio Load & Decomposition & DOC; a high bio load, often compounded by decomposition of organic and high dissolved organic compounds will often be a breeding ground got Aeromonas and Saprolegnia. Fixing this is as important as any treatment regimen.
High Nitrates (over 40-50 ppm) can also be a symptom of this issue too.
Further Reading;
*Bio Load in Aquarium or Pond
*Aquarium Nitrates
* Redox and Mineral Cations; this is an aspect of fish care that continued research both in and out of the hobby/industry is proving to be key.
In diseases such as Columnaris, having a less than optimum Redox whether it be the electromagnetism of the water, missing mineral Cations, low water rH, low or non existent GH, or simply too many free radicals (oxidizers) making for an unbalanced Redox; this is a major aspect in whether you will be successful in treating or just as importantly not have this disease present in the first place (since it is an opportunistic infection).
Other diseases such as HLLE have a direct relation to Redox (or a Redox quality/balance measurement called Relative Hydrogen aka rH). In freshwater, rH should be 23 to 26, otherwise your aquarium may not be as conducive to good health as it could be.
As well GH is a measurement many forget the importance as it has a direct relation to osmoregulation, mineral Cations, Redox & more. For most FW aquariums your GH should be at least 150 ppm, but much higher is still OK and with some fish such as livebearers, puffers, Lake Malawi Cichlids and more; a higher GH is called for.
Further Reading; Aquarium Redox
Carl
www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2016/09/how-to-treat-sick-fish.html
Excerpt:
When you are asking others for help, whether it be online or at your local fish store, make sure you ALWAYS provide background first; including ALL water parameters (mineral Cations too), filtration, maintenance, feeding, & fish kept. Past fish treatment history is important too.
As an analogy; your personal Doctor always has your history, takes your vital statistics, etc., so why should we expect those we are asking to help us with our sick fish to guess, especially when one considers we often are asking others to help us sight unseen and with far less tools at our disposal than a Doctor would have?
Make sure ALL water parameters are as they should be. This includes well known and obvious parameters as well as less obvious parameters. This is part of the "background issues I mentioned earlier.
INCLUDING:
* Ammonia; under .5 ppm (best 0 or less in most circumstances)
* Ph; stable within the generally accepted target range of the fish to be kept (if the target range is 6.5 to 7.5, stable at any number there-in)
* KH; this too can vary depending upon fish kept, but generally anywhere from 50 ppm to 150 ppm
KH (carbonate hardness) can keep an aquarium from pH crashes and knowing your KH on a regular basis can also tell you if it drops rapidly even after adding buffers that your bio load is too high and/or water changes are not adequate.
Further Reading:
Aquarium Chemistry; KH (Carbonate Hardness)
* Flow and oxygen levels; most persons do not have an oxygen test kit, so having a water flow turnover rate of 5 times for an average non-planted freshwater aquarium usually will indicate adequate oxygen levels
* Bio Load & Decomposition & DOC; a high bio load, often compounded by decomposition of organic and high dissolved organic compounds will often be a breeding ground got Aeromonas and Saprolegnia. Fixing this is as important as any treatment regimen.
High Nitrates (over 40-50 ppm) can also be a symptom of this issue too.
Further Reading;
*Bio Load in Aquarium or Pond
*Aquarium Nitrates
* Redox and Mineral Cations; this is an aspect of fish care that continued research both in and out of the hobby/industry is proving to be key.
In diseases such as Columnaris, having a less than optimum Redox whether it be the electromagnetism of the water, missing mineral Cations, low water rH, low or non existent GH, or simply too many free radicals (oxidizers) making for an unbalanced Redox; this is a major aspect in whether you will be successful in treating or just as importantly not have this disease present in the first place (since it is an opportunistic infection).
Other diseases such as HLLE have a direct relation to Redox (or a Redox quality/balance measurement called Relative Hydrogen aka rH). In freshwater, rH should be 23 to 26, otherwise your aquarium may not be as conducive to good health as it could be.
As well GH is a measurement many forget the importance as it has a direct relation to osmoregulation, mineral Cations, Redox & more. For most FW aquariums your GH should be at least 150 ppm, but much higher is still OK and with some fish such as livebearers, puffers, Lake Malawi Cichlids and more; a higher GH is called for.
Further Reading; Aquarium Redox
Carl