I'm sure i've read that people have disease free tanks? or perhaps i'm mistaken, but if they do, how do you get one? I had whitespot after a few weeks of having my fish, and he's the only one i have. I didnt mix the water from the lfs with mine so was it already on the fish? Or do some of these things come in through the tap water or air borne or....?
Disease
- Thread starter Osian
- Start date
Whitespot is caused by stress and temp being unstable, when a fish is stressed it immune sytem will be weak, resulting in desease.
Its always best to have a quarantine tank so you can issolate new fish for up to 4 to 6 weeks.
Good water quality is the key to keeping healthy fish.
Its always best to have a quarantine tank so you can issolate new fish for up to 4 to 6 weeks.
Good water quality is the key to keeping healthy fish.
/www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/bacteria.html
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
Most parasites exist o fish to some extent. Healthy fish have immune systems strong enough to control the numbers though, so the fish show no problems with the parasites. In this phase we describe the tank as disease free, even though this is always technicaly incorrect.
Disease usualy enters in water or on fish. Some diseases are air borne, but rare. Fish surcumb to disease when stressed, and moving them is one of the most stressful things to do to a fish. They probibly went down with whitespot because of the move. There is little you can do to prevent it I'm afraid, except from keeping your fish warm and dark in transit.
HTH
Rabbut
Disease usualy enters in water or on fish. Some diseases are air borne, but rare. Fish surcumb to disease when stressed, and moving them is one of the most stressful things to do to a fish. They probibly went down with whitespot because of the move. There is little you can do to prevent it I'm afraid, except from keeping your fish warm and dark in transit.
HTH
Rabbut
this is not strictly true. it seems stress and illness can bring on the infection. but it is not them that causes it. whitespot is a parasitic infection, what the stress and illness does is weaken the slime coat of the fish, allowing the already present parasite it take hold. sad to say many of us have ICK on our fish, it is only at the time when the above thing happen that, most ICK infections take hold. mind you adding a fish from an lfs can cause it just as fast.
if you are talking of what i think, no. these things are for keeping fry in you community tank, when they are too small to be let free, the water passes through these tanks, so you will gain no benefit. a 10g aquarium, depending on the size of the fish, is best.
No sorry i dont mean those, i ment a big boxes you buy to hold stuff such as toys or books and so on. They range in sizes, and i have 2x 35 liters (10US gallons) and has a lid, which i use to keep all the fish stuff in. As i only have a 14 liter (4 us gallon) for a single betta, and a 60 liter (16 US gallon) tank for a small comunity i though that one of these boxes would be alright as a hospital tank. There not clear plastic, some kind of transparent cloudy white and a black lid. I thought as it was only £2.50 each they'd be perfect, as a second glass aquarium would be at least 10x that.
i guess if they are inert, they should do the job fine. but 10g aquaria go for only a few £ if you look in the right places. even free, try Freecycle, its a yahoo group dedicated to people who want to give away items they no longer use.
I do keep my eye out and i'll have a look on the yahoo group but as i live in north west wales there isnt a large amount of fish shops so i guess there isnt that many people keeping fish so i'd have to look futher towards chester.
lol true but if everybody thinks that, any tanks that do come up, should be cheap as chips.
There are at least 3 kinds of diseases we run into in the aquarium hobby.
There are parasites that need to be introduced on plants, decor, new fish or similar means. Ich is one of the parasites that must be introduced in order to be present.
There are bacterial and viral infections that again must be brought in by outside introductions. None of these can suddenly show up in a healthy tank unless something new is added to the tank. One of the possible sources of contaminants is live or frozen foods. although most are fairly safe to use, it is a possible source.
The final type of disease can hit any tank even if nothing is ever added, it is chemical damage and or deficiency diseases. This group is the result of either poor diet, water conditions not being properly maintained or contaminants entering from the air such as happens when you don't think about the fish and go about painting the room the fish are kept in and the fumes in the air get into the water.
If you are not introducing any new fish, the third type would be the only ones you would normally need to worry about much. It is not only possible but quite normal to have a disease free aquarium. To maintain such an aquarium, you need to have a quarantine tank so that, if you get a plant or fish that is carrying diseases or parasites, you can intercept the problem before it gets into your main tank.
There are parasites that need to be introduced on plants, decor, new fish or similar means. Ich is one of the parasites that must be introduced in order to be present.
There are bacterial and viral infections that again must be brought in by outside introductions. None of these can suddenly show up in a healthy tank unless something new is added to the tank. One of the possible sources of contaminants is live or frozen foods. although most are fairly safe to use, it is a possible source.
The final type of disease can hit any tank even if nothing is ever added, it is chemical damage and or deficiency diseases. This group is the result of either poor diet, water conditions not being properly maintained or contaminants entering from the air such as happens when you don't think about the fish and go about painting the room the fish are kept in and the fumes in the air get into the water.
If you are not introducing any new fish, the third type would be the only ones you would normally need to worry about much. It is not only possible but quite normal to have a disease free aquarium. To maintain such an aquarium, you need to have a quarantine tank so that, if you get a plant or fish that is carrying diseases or parasites, you can intercept the problem before it gets into your main tank.
whilst it wholly agree this is the suggested best way to do things, you are quite wrong to say that you HAVE to have a quarantine tank, to avoid diseases. i have never had one and i have never suffered from illness. and if you do a straw poll, i think you will find i am not alone. the only way to ensure the fish are free from illnesses like whitespot, it to treat them for it, not keep an eye on it for a week or so. if the fish is infected but healthy, there is not reason it should show problems, just because it is a small tank for a while. you are also incorrect to say is is normal to have a disease free aquarium. though it may never get a real hold, whitspot/ICK, is almost certainly in the majority of aquariums, well fish, in the hobby, waiting for an opportunity to take hold.
I have been wrong on many things and perhaps did not put it in the right words but my tanks except the QT that gets fish for a month, not a week, have all been disease free for over 3 years which is how long since I got back into the hobby. I have never treated my main tanks because they do not have disease problems. The reason I almost never try to answer questions about diseases is that I have no experience with them and have no medications on hand to treat things. Basically I don't know what really works for different diseases.
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