Ich And Other Disease Falsities And Misconceptions

As well all know, fish disease is something that is quite common in almost all of our tanks.
Whether it is ich, columnaris, dropsy, or even anchor worms or other parasitic worms.

I'm going to try to go over as much as possible.
It seems lately, a lot of people are spreading false information on diseases, treatments, and other products used in aquaria for example fertilizers.

As we know, many people find extremely conflicting information on diseases online.
So I feel it is very important to have as accurate as possible, truthful, unbiased advice on treating diseases.

This is going to be a massive post where I try to cover the most common disease, the best non medical treatments for each that I have found, tested and researched.
As well as I will provide links, personal photos and a lot more information and quotes from other sources.
I will post the source and my agreement or argument against it.


Ich

Shoot I messed up and posted on accident far too early gg me

Symptoms

Ich takes on the form of very small salt or sand like specks on a fish, it often is confused with start of bacterial diseases, or just sand in general.

Cycle

Ich has both host and environmental life cycles. The Ich trophont feeds within the fin, skin, and/or gills of the host fish. After feeding, Ich breaks through the fin, falls off the host, and forms a reproductive cyst (tomont).
The tomont secretes a sticky capsule that sticks to substrate.
Binary fission occurs up to 10 times within the tomont to produce tomites. Tomites next break through the nodule while differentiating into motile, infective 20 × 50 μm theronts.
Over 1000 theronts can be produced from one trophont. The life cycle of Ich lasts 3–6 days at 25°C (77F) and increases in length as water temperature decreases (Noga, 2010; Dickerson, 2006).

Epizootiology and Transmission
Mortality associated with this disease is high.
It is an external parasite that is commonly found in Ornamental fish and the pet fish trade.
Outbreaks are usually associated in salmonids at high or low temperatures, or in overcrowded conditions (Noga, 2010).

Pathogenesis
After differentiation from tomites, trophonts swim in the environment and attach to the surface of a host, where they penetrate to the basal layer of gill or skin within 5 minutes.
As the parasite enters the skin, it becomes substantially larger and eventually creates a tissue space in the layers, which appears as a 1 mm white spot on the skin surface
(Noga, 2010; Dickerson, 2006).

Clinical Signs
Affected fish develop multifocal, raised, white, 1 mm in diameter mucoid nodules on the skin and gills. The nodules contain trophont stage parasites. Other clinical signs include excessive mucus production, labored breathing, and lethargy
(Kent et al., 2012b; Noga, 2010).**

**source Tomont - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

The name Ichthyophthirius multifilis translates to "fish louse with many children", a title that fits well, as each parasite may produce more than a thousand offspring. Although the is the equivalent of a skin infection, ich can easily be fatal to a fish stressed by poor diet or habitat.**

**fun fact courtesy of,

However the disease itself, is not caused by these factors, and can only be brought into a tank via an infected fish or item used in the tank containing water that has an ich outbreak.
It will not just show up, without first having been introduced.

I found that out the hard way when I didn't quarantine my first fish.
I had many issues starting in this hobby, flashing, wobbling, possible parasites, bacterial infections AND ich.
14 fish passed the first round, since then I honestly stopped counting, though I do collect all bodies. Some must be returned to stores.
All treated, finally peace of mind and healthy fish.

As a lot of us more seasoned keepers know, ich can be treated various ways.

Treatment

Salt

Not the most ideal method for treating ich, and should not be used directly in the tank.
Too much salt, or too long in a salty solution can cause more damage

Temp

Only temps over 86 degrees will harm ich parasites, anythingnlower will only speed up the life cycle rather than end it or kill it.

Salt/Temp

Not ideal either, the more types of treatment you add, the more likely the fish is to come down with another illness.

Temp/Meds

Again, not ideal, but a better solution than salt and high temps.

Meds

Shouldn't always be the go to with sensitve fish, some of those fish will be listed below.

The most highly recommended meds for ich contain Formalin, a form of formaldehyde, a chemical created by all beings, only toxic at higher levels.
The secondary ingredient in majority of ich meds, should be Malachite/Victoria Green.
Or a dye labeled as green.
Malachite goes under many names in different trades.
This will stain your acrylic seal blue, but it is worth not suffering the loss of fish.

If you cannot find medication using Formalin as it's main ingredient, then you can use the other ich killing substance, Acriflavine
This is available in a wide variety of meds, and in fact Fungal Cure contains both of these ingredients, yet doesn't boast about ich killing properties.

Temp/Meds/Salt

The last resort for pesky strains of ich who seem to not die off!
With the temp about 86 degrees, and ich meds not traditionally helping as well as they could, coupling all three treatments is a last resort and the most harmful for a fishes system.
Adding salt lower oxygen content as we know, as well as does heat.
*this is as simply mentioned on wikI how as it is in many other far more reliable articles.
Also from wikI how*

In the wild, ich is less of a problem as few parasites are ever able to find a host. When they do, the parasites eventually fall off of the fish and the fish is able to swim away and heals its wounds. However, in an enclosed tank, ich parasites can easily attach itself to fish, multiplying and infesting, which eventually leads to the decimation of an entire tankful of fish.

• 
  
  • In freshwater, ich is known as ichthyophthiriasis.
  • In saltwater, ich is known as cryptocaryon irritans and is often confused with other parasites that produce white spots.
  • Saltwater ich can take longer than freshwater ich to replicate but only have 12 to 18 hours to find a host before they die as opposed to freshwater ich which can last up to 48 hours without a host.

Even on wikihow it mentioned to never use medication salt and heat all tmat the same time. Thus greatly reduces effectivity of medication as it cannot be absorbed via oxygen so well now.

Salt should only ever be used as a bath, the importance of salt is to increase water transfer in the fish, salt can help a fish uptake medication, but adding it to the main tank can cause dastardly effects.
While some sources (like wikihow)
State that slime coat is actually produced more when in contact with salt, but in fact prolonged salt exposure damages the fins and slime coat more than it helps it.

Here is a little excerpt from the spruce pets again on slime coat and how it is damaged.

Anytime something brushes against the slime coat; it is disturbed. Handling, hooking, or even netting a fish, causes a significant disturbance of the slime coat. Biting or nipping by other fish, are another prime cause of damage. However, physical assaults are not the only thing that can damage the slime coating.

Any stress can, and will, impact the protective coating of the fish. levels, , and elevated toxins in the water will reduce the protective slime cover. Changes in water composition, such as pH or are other possible contributing factors to slime coat damage. Overstocking your aquarium is a common factor in the loss of fish slime coat.

A damaged slime coat caused by salt treatment can open up many doors to other diseases, like in my case,

Columnaris (Cotton Wool Disease)

Symptoms

Grayish-white film on skin, damaged fins, ulcers, yellow to gray patches on gills, tissue on head may be eaten away, fuzzy patches, slime like coating on tail and fins.

Treatment

Kanaplex, Methlyene Blue, Hydrogen Peroxide


Dropsy (MalawI Bloat) (Edema) (Internal Fluid Build Up)

May be caused by internal bacterial infection (often edmea is caused by failing organs) (if swelling is sudden),
Parasites, or cancer (if swelling is gradual).

Symptoms

Swelling of abdomen, "pineconed" scales around swollen area. swelling of affected area, lethargy, loss of appetite, discoloration (paleness), floating, gasping for air near the surface on occasion or simply staying by the surface, hiding by the filter or heater.

Fin rot

Symptoms
Decaying rotting fins eaten away by a bacterial infection on dead tissue, fins appear raggedy, starts slow then gets worse, severe cases result in pain in the fish a well as bleeding of the fins.
Fins sometime have whitish fuzz on their tips due to a secondary infection.

I personally believe many cases of fin rot in bettas are due to genetics.
While fin rot itself isn't caused by an inbred fish, the inbreeding and selective breeding we choose has caused many health related issues among our pets.
I believe that breeding is the cause because of this, in many cases it appears that the fins are dying, they sometimes lose color and the fish appear slightly weaker.
When skin is stretched out for appearance, bodily functions must accomodate, the fishes heart must be able to constantly pump blood to these excess flesh materials or they will die, I believe the start of many fin rot cases has to do less with water quality, and more with heart health quality.
Kept in a cup or tiny bag with no room to move, a fish hardly exercises, so the heart slowly becomes weaker as they sit.
When humans sit or lay in one place their muscles start to lose their definition, they start to waste away, the same starts to happen with some fish.
They become malnourished and unable to swim great distances, especially in low oxygen situations. (though bettas have a defense against hat, their labyrinth organ used to breathe surface air.)
With the tank size they're kept in suddenly expanded when brought home, they're a bit overwhelmed by water changes as well as water amount.
It takes a little bit for them to work up the strength to swim around a big tank like a 10 gallon or larger, especially if there is a strong filter.
I believe that the added weight and size of fins, coupled with poor health to begin with and poor genes, is likely making fin rot far more common than it used to be.

The best way to combat this, is purchasing bettas with shorter fins, or going to a place who keeps bettas in tanks or bowls rather than only cups.
It's always best to pick a healthy betta, I know we all feel bad and want to help the sick one, but sometimes they are too much to handle for some owners, and other times they end up putting our other fish at risk.
You can also take part in fin trimming. I am unsure how to do this and have not done it myself, though some people do it when their bettas have fin nipping issues.
Crowntails and very full tailed bettas seem to have a fin nipping issue more often than other tail types.

Treatment

Salt

Fresh water

Methlyene Blue

Hydrogen Peroxide

Kanaplex

Fish TB/Wasting disease

Symptoms

Fish become lethargic, weak, possibly dull in color and appear to waste away to bones.
In TB the spine becomes curved.
TB is only diagnosable with a culture.

Treatment

Septicemia

Symptoms
Red blotchy patches on a fishes skin due to an internal bacterial infection.
Red patches are actually hemorrhaged vessels.

ViralHemorrhagicSepticemia is highly contagious. The
greatest risk for transfer of the virus
is the movement of infected fish or
contaminated water.
The VHS virus is shed in the urine
and reproductive fluids (ovarian
fluids, sperm) of infected fish. Fish can
be exposed by direct contact with
infected fish or contaminated water.
Objects (fomites) in contact with
infected fish, such as nets, buckets,
footwear and vehicles can also serve
to spread the virus to additional
locations. Fish can also be exposed
by ingesting (oral) infected fish
(e.g., predation or cannibalism)*

*taken directly from,
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia
FastFacts › pdfs left out the u at the end of the link because it prompts a download and as far as I'm aware, this is not allowed.

Anchor worms

Symptoms

Small worms hanging off of fishes body

Treatment

Callumanus worms

Symptoms

Small red worms, about a in size, when mature, they spray eggs out of the anus.
By this time there is likely multiple infections and must be treated promptly, the disease has been reported to live on for months without deaths, but this still raises mortality rate as fish are more likely to die from paralyzed worms unable to pass during treatment, than the effects of the worms themselves.

It is very difficult to determine when infection took place, which is why a quarantine is very important when bringing home new fish.
Admittedly I still sometimes break this rule, and have just been lucky not to lose any favorites or them all.

Treatments
levamisole hydrochloride is the only treatment you should be using. It is light sensitive, and sold as 99% or 100% Levamisole Powder.
Be wary where you buy from, it has been mentioned the product is often cut with other materials either for illicit sales or to *stretch* the products life.
Be sure you have something like a foil package or jar, which has not been tampered with in any way, in best case it should have an expiration as well as some sort of label pointing towards who makes/sells/manufactures the product.



This link is a trusted dosage used by many members. Often products claim that using a higher amount will increase effectivity. This is not the case with Levamisole.
There is a base minimum dose, while adding just a bit more won't totally kill your fish, it can cause lasting results that have not been studied.
If there is a minimum effective dosage, you should be using that. Most meds don't work better just because you use more of them.

I also just want to mention, if your product unknowingly contains levamisole and you consume it, you can do lasting damage to yourself as well.
There have been reports that over use of levamisole in humans can cause a "rotting" experience. while it's not the most common side affect, it is still a possible one and a reason to be wary.
Dr. Lindy-Anne Korswagen said after a study done between 2011 and 2014, there were 210 cases reported worldwide, of which three have died.
(I will not discuss this further, it may even be removed in the future)

Fungus in general

Symptoms

Treatment

Hole in the head

Symptoms

Treatment

Leeches

Symptoms

Treatment

Fish lice

Symptoms

Treatment


Tetra disease

Symptoms

Treatment

Ammonia poisoning

Symptoms

Treatment

Chlorine/chloramine poisoning

Symptoms

Treatment

CO2 poisoning

Symptoms

Treatment

Nitrite poisoning

Symptoms

Treatment

Child poisoning (random materials like cookies or markers)

This obviously isn't a single disease, but rather a multitude of things that can happen while having children around tanks.

There are a few key things you should remember if getting a tank that will be in the childs reach.

First and foremost, one thing you should always have a with a child is a lid. This list is more about prevention than symptoms or how to treat, as prevention is the best cure for mistakes. (Don't be hard on yourself if you've made mistakes, we all do. It's natural and it's a big part of pet keeping and life. Try not to blame yourself for anything. It's better to think logically than emotionally.)

• A Tank lid/Cover
  There are many people who don't purchase them because they are just extra money, and they don't think they'll need it.
• A lock for a cupboard.
  Please put all chemicals, nets and medications up, out of reach, in a locked cupboard. DO NOT put these items out near the tank. There are far too many stories about little kids killing their parents entire tank because a toddler thought they were helping but really just OD'd the fish.
• Keep foods out of reach as well. Ammonia can kill just as bad as an OD on medication. If an entire bottle of fish food is dropped in the tank, scoop as much out as possible and immediately do a large 40-60% water change depending on severity.
  If you have an ammonia test, test your levels before doing a change. If you had a large spike up to 1ppm or higher, then do smaller ones of 30% to bring the levels down slowly so you don't shock any possibly living fish.
• Keep your child contained when you aren't in the room with the tank.
  This may sound a bit extreme, but when a toddler dumped all the meds, all the food, and TOYS into a tank, (who knows it couldve ended up being paint, markers, something that will leach chemicals toxic to finny friends) The parents response was to not let the child out at the tank unsupervised, and this is the best thing you can do for your tank and child.
  Help them learn by not allowing them the chance to make mistakes.
  If they are old enough to understand your complex words, teach them about feeding, how much and when.
  Once a day(or week) have a day where it's your childs feeding day.
  They get to choose the food, and with your guidance how much they feed.
  This will allow a child to develop a responsibility for caring for the animals.

Swim bladder disorder/infection

Symptoms
Floating/flopping around loss of balance, erratic movements, swimming upside down, swimming one side up (tail or head) swollen swim bladder

Treatment

Tumors

Symptoms

Treatment

Ulcers

Symptoms
Open wounds/holes usually reddish in appearance

Treatment

Velvet

Symptoms

Treatment

Here is a similar site to my post which I gather a bit of information from, and corrected a bit as well as it seems a bit outdated/incorrect.

Chart on Fish Diseases, Symptoms and their Treatments

 

I can't wait to see the finished result. There's always a lot of confusing information out there, disease being no exception. (Although I'm hoping that the post won't just consist of copy-paste articles straight from Wikipedia...that stuff is hard enough to digest in itself. ) Mentioning your personal experience with the disease and how to handle it would be the most ideal (and paraphrasing with links maybe? if possible).

 

Why are these common? I have never had any of these diseases in any tank after 5 years of having fish tanks, even without quarantining the fish.

 

I look forward to your covering of this sometimes divisive topic.

 

Why are these common? I have never had any of these diseases in any tank after 5 years of having fish tanks, even without quarantining the fish.

I assume she means common in terms of when it comes up, it's usually one of these issues above. AKA the more common issues, not related to your tank itself It's awesome your tank has no problems but these issues come up a lot on these forums and normally they're commonly a handful of issues!

Looking forward to reading this!

 

Well I’m suscribed.

 

Dropsy isn't a disease.

 

Dropsy isn't a disease.

Ah yes you are correct about that one. I often forget when I try to label it as a disease, I do know it is not, but I still somewhat consider it as one due to the fact that it is usually caused by disease, and is either often misconstrued as a disease, or for some, they are totally ignorant to the terminology Edema.
I also find, it is often moved into Fresh Water Fish Disease topics if posted elsewhere, like the case with my dropsy post.
I made it in fresh beginners, but a mod quickly moved it to the disease section, as while the word doesn't describe dropsy, it typically is a better placement for it's posts.

Also noting that it is often treated with kanaplex, it can be only slightly considered a disease as it is really a symptom of something larger.


I've edited the post to contain the information I gathered and wrote last night, of course, plenty more to come as I do more research, look at more posts on here and other forums sites, as well as fairly scientific sites about disease and conservation, and their effects on the natural, and tank environment.

Why are these common? I have never had any of these diseases in any tank after 5 years of having fish tanks, even without quarantining the fish.

Indeed as mentioned, they are common, but not in the order of common-ness, and not always prevalent in every tank.
Some tanks contain every bacteria, like columnaris.
The issue with disease, especially that one, generally only occurs with weakened fish who are already damaged.
As you have noticed in your tanks, all your fish are strong and healthy enough that they haven't come into contact with this disease.
A lot of things are opportunistic and will only strike when the opportunity to kill and infect more is there.
Other diseases like ich, or worms, must be introduced by a host animal, or contaminated object be it something as simple as a cup or net.
If water is shared between tanks and one has ich and one doesn't, the chances are slI'm to none that the uninfected tank will stay that way.

These aren't necessarily common that they happen to most fish or keepers, but common in the sense that they are the most easily recognizable, prevalent, and generally the easiest to cure of diseases as well.
It is very likely a fish at least knew one ill fish in it's entire lifetime unless bred in very high quality conditions like some of our fishlorean breeders.

I've just found a lot of misinformation lately, (sometimes even coming from me, though I always try to right my wrongs) and it has more to do with just disease, be it as mentioned, fertilizer misconceptions or information. I personally don't use a lot of fertilizer so I won't recommended one to you without saying I don't use it or know if it's good.
I don't like to put things out there if I can't prove them, I know I spout a lot of nonsense sometimes, but I try to be logical as possible, and I really don't want others who are misinformed to spread that misinformation without there being a good unbiased and trust worthy place for them to fact check with.

I will be working on this post for quite a while today, I've been really sick so being able to provide this information is helping me keep my mind off how much my mind hurts lol
Hopefully I'll get through more disease.

Some I left out like Costia, I'm not sure if I should add it, it's one of the harder to diagnose ones to me, and I'm not particularly versed on it and it's treatments.
If you have any I missed you would like to see added, then go ahead and feel free to mention it.

If you find any information I have posted to be inaccurate or false, also please let me know, I want this to be accurate, not just what I have learned and researched/pasted/paraphrased.

If you find anything to be based more on opinion than fact, I will go over it, reread what I wrote and my sources, and I will try to fix it best as possible.


Thank you all for your interest, I really hope we can clear up some confusion!

 

Some references you might find helpful:



Review of Bacterial Diseases of Aquarium Fish - IAAAM_Archive - VIN

 

Ah yes you are correct about that one. I often forget when I try to label it as a disease, I do know it is not, but I still somewhat consider it as one due to the fact that it is usually caused by disease, and is either often misconstrued as a disease, or for some, they are totally ignorant to the terminology Edema.
I also find, it is often moved into Fresh Water Fish Disease topics if posted elsewhere, like the case with my dropsy post.
I made it in fresh beginners, but a mod quickly moved it to the disease section, as while the word doesn't describe dropsy, it typically is a better placement for it's posts.

Also noting that it is often treated with kanaplex, it can be only slightly considered a disease as it is really a symptom of something larger.


I've edited the post to contain the information I gathered and wrote last night, of course, plenty more to come as I do more research, look at more posts on here and other forums sites, as well as fairly scientific sites about disease and conservation, and their effects on the natural, and tank environment.




Indeed as mentioned, they are common, but not in the order of common-ness, and not always prevalent in every tank.
Some tanks contain every bacteria, like columnaris.
The issue with disease, especially that one, generally only occurs with weakened fish who are already damaged.
As you have noticed in your tanks, all your fish are strong and healthy enough that they haven't come into contact with this disease.
A lot of things are opportunistic and will only strike when the opportunity to kill and infect more is there.
Other diseases like ich, or worms, must be introduced by a host animal, or contaminated object be it something as simple as a cup or net.
If water is shared between tanks and one has ich and one doesn't, the chances are slI'm to none that the uninfected tank will stay that way.

These aren't necessarily common that they happen to most fish or keepers, but common in the sense that they are the most easily recognizable, prevalent, and generally the easiest to cure of diseases as well.
It is very likely a fish at least knew one ill fish in it's entire lifetime unless bred in very high quality conditions like some of our fishlorean breeders.

I've just found a lot of misinformation lately, (sometimes even coming from me, though I always try to right my wrongs) and it has more to do with just disease, be it as mentioned, fertilizer misconceptions or information. I personally don't use a lot of fertilizer so I won't recommended one to you without saying I don't use it or know if it's good.
I don't like to put things out there if I can't prove them, I know I spout a lot of nonsense sometimes, but I try to be logical as possible, and I really don't want others who are misinformed to spread that misinformation without there being a good unbiased and trust worthy place for them to fact check with.

I will be working on this post for quite a while today, I've been really sick so being able to provide this information is helping me keep my mind off how much my mind hurts lol
Hopefully I'll get through more disease.

Some I left out like Costia, I'm not sure if I should add it, it's one of the harder to diagnose ones to me, and I'm not particularly versed on it and it's treatments.
If you have any I missed you would like to see added, then go ahead and feel free to mention it.

If you find any information I have posted to be inaccurate or false, also please let me know, I want this to be accurate, not just what I have learned and researched/pasted/paraphrased.

If you find anything to be based more on opinion than fact, I will go over it, reread what I wrote and my sources, and I will try to fix it best as possible.


Thank you all for your interest, I really hope we can clear up some confusion!

Costia / Ichthyobodo is a quite Ick-like parasite (Just like Trichodina / Chilodonella). I think it is often mixed up with Columnaris cause of the symptoms (whitish layer / spots) The other two diseases cause a more greyish slimelayer on the fish.

 

Some references you might find helpful:



Review of Bacterial Diseases of Aquarium Fish - IAAAM_Archive - VIN

I'm really loving that first link. It has a lot of phrases and info I can add here.
Have yet to read through the second one, but we're making progress! lol

Costia / Ichthyobodo is a quite Ick-like parasite (Just like Trichodina / Chilodonella). I think it is often mixed up with Columnaris cause of the symptoms (whitish layer / spots) The other two diseases cause a more greyish slimelayer on the fish.

That was one issue I had with it, I was fairly often unable to tell the difference between Costia and some other disease.
I almost went around telling people they may have it
I decided since it's not something I'm familiar enough with, I wouldn't want to go around guessing if people had it or not.
I did do a bit of research on it the week I found out about it, but it was better left to the more knowledgeable people at the time.
I don't like looking like I come on a post knowing nothing about a topic while I try to argue it's legitimacy lol
I generally like to have at least a slight idea about what I'm conversing.

 

I would like to see/help on the part about tetra disease. Sporozoan parasites, tubifex worms, and naladin/metronidazole..... as the only possible "cure"