Help Others With Fish Disease?

Lets get it over with. I try to help others when I can, by doing research online, and looking on forums. It goes 1/2 and 1/2. I'm right, or I'm wrong. I'm hoping to change that. I have been getting better with schools, and fish themselves. The one I struggle on is disease. I strive to give right info, but this is so touchy, and one thing is wrong? Something can die or get hurt. Any books or resources worth looking at? Any tips to solve this problem, answers to the whole problem, not just disease are also welcomed!

 

You just have to keep reading and examine a lot of pictures. The more information you have on something, you can know what's correct when most of them mention the same thing. There are also many ways to treat something, so you have to research all medications and treatment options that'll treat for that thing and suggest the best way of treatment for the person (Ex. There's a tank with velvet and velvet can be treated with a copper based medication, Paraguard partially contains Malachite Green which can treat velvet and is more gentle than something copper based and isn't easily overdosed). You also have to read reliable sources, I like to read things from Practical Fishkeeping. Not sure if this really helps.

 

I usually try to stay away from diseases, as I have only had to personally deal with fin rot and ich....and most of that info came from lurking on related posts here! For most, other than water changes, I am clueless...I would rather give out no info over bad info any day of the week.

 

I’m not very good with diseases either. But if I dealt with one successfully, and researched it excessively on my own, I will offer advice on it. And even then sometimes I stay away.

I also like to compare treatments being suggested by others with more experience with scientific findings. I use the google scholar function and look for scientific papers/studies.

Sometimes, though not always, even those who seem experienced may offer advice that isn’t quite right. So it’s always good to compare other sources.

It’s also worth noting there can be several different ways to treat a disease, so just because someone says differently, that doesn’t necessarily mean the way you learned to treat it through your own research is wrong. There can be many factors. Including even personal preference.

 

I usually stay away from these. I know what I would do with my fish but if someone's fish dies they blame you. Sorry but I didn't kill your fish. It happens. I'm not a vet.

 

I have done tons of research on aquarium diseases, reading several NIH articles especially with regards to mycobacteria(TB). With all the years of experience (30+) and the research, the truth is that it will always be a best guess. Our tanks are a soup of thousands of different bacteria, some more dangerous than others but still needed for a healthy environment. Mycobacteria has over 100 different strains with differing symptoms shared by many common diseases making a true diagnosis impossible without a lab. Columnaris also has over a hundred strains but we generally group them for ease by how fast they kill, but the reality is that they manifest in different ways. We just identify the most common symptoms and tell you the most successful ammunition. I say ammunition because the reality is we are frequently lobbing in a strong grenade and hoping that it kills the bacteria. Even a very common disease like columnaris is full of misinformation, like columnaris doesn't have any fuzz. The fuzz is actually a secondary fungus infection that develops on the cells killed by columnaris.
If you want to help with diseases, learn the common medications, antibiotics, difference between gram-negative/gram-positive, aerobic/ anaerobic, which bacteria falls in which categories, common parasites, and view lots of pictures. Just keep in mind that there is volumes of misdiagnosed information out there and the picture you may be viewing is actually something else. There is a webpage out there that does a good job of giving the 202 level version on meds but it was blocked by Fishlore last I checked. The information is good but the author is rather opinionated and posted some disparaging stuff on Fishlore years back. Do some searching and you should be able to find information and help more, but you will never be 100%. Also I tend to find it depressing and is one of the reasons I disapear for long periods.

 

I have been given permission by the moderators to share this as a simple guide to help people help themselves