A fish purchased from someone before it can be launched into a common aquarium is desirable to be subjected to a 7-8 day quarantine and, only after making sure that there are no painful phenomena, to transfer it to the main aquarium. As an aquarium-hospital, you can use a small laboratory or battery glass jar.
The main measures that counteract the emergence and spread of diseases, this is the correct content of the aquarium and timely prevention. Common signs of fish disease can be considered lack of appetite, wiggle, lethargic, rubbing against the bottom and stones, compression of the fins, especially the dorsal. To more specific characteristics are) a cotton-like coating on the body of fish, sticking fins, especially the tail, rashes all over the body, a violation of the integrity of the fin rays, spotting on the fins, bulging eyes.
The causes of the disease of fish are crowding, sudden temperature changes, improper diet, dirty content and, finally, infection with food or new fish.
One of the most common diseases - dermatomycosis, the causative agent of which is the fungus saprolegnia. Disease is the result of colds or injuries. There is a white or yellow coating, similar to a fluff of cotton wool. Fishes keep in the upper layers of the water with compressed fins, sway and lose weight.
Effective measures - the use of solutions of manganese-potassium, salt and trypaflavinovyh baths.
The diseased fish is planted in an aquarium-hospital with a water temperature of 24-26 ° and bathed 30-90 minutes in a manganese-acid potassium bath: 1 g potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water; or in 2-3% salt bath: concentration - a tablespoon per liter of water, the period of stay is 20-30 minutes.
Salt and manganese bath alternate with each other or with trypaflavilovymi (0.6 g per 100 liters of water). It is recommended to make two baths a day.
For labyrinth fish, low-concentration baths, saline 2%, manganese-potassium-0.01%.
You can pre-fluffy plaque from the fish carefully remove cotton wool, make a fish 1-3 minutes bath in 10% saline solution or 1% solution of potassium permanganate. Then the fish is placed in a 0.5% solution of common salt (one teaspoon of salt per liter of water) for 3-5 days. In the presence of ulcers, wipe them with a solution of penicillin on exmoline (300 thousand units of penicillin is diluted in 5 ml of ekemoline).
Very often the fish fall ill with a severe and rapidly spreading disease - nhtiofthirius, caused by a ciliated infusoria. This causative agent parasitizes between the epithelium and connective tissue of the skin, fins and gills. For 7 days it reaches its maximum size. In places of concentration, a grayish-white rash appears. The epithelial capsule bursts, and the ichthyophthirius appear in the water, forming cysts at the bottom of the aquarium.
Young infusorians spread in water and infect fish. Signs - the appearance of a greyish-white rash. Fishes pop up in the upper layer of water, fins stick together, small sores are seen on the body.
Treatment requires running water or transplanting fish from one aquarium to another. The water temperature rises to the maximum possible - 27-32 °. It is added to the trip-flax wines - 0.6 1 per 100 liters of water. After 5-6 hours, cysts die. The ichthyophthiriuses under the epithelium remain and will not enter the water until 6-7 days later. The maximum temperature should be maintained in connection with this within 7-10 days.
Very similar to each other are fish diseases caused by flatworm-flukes-gyrodactylis and dactylogyris. The body of the fish is covered with a velvety bluish coating. The fish rubs against the stones and walls of the vessel, rushes along the aquarium. The fins in it stick together, the gill cover protrude, bruises appear on the fins. Fish eagerly swallows the air. Treatment: 30-minute baths in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate or bathing in hydrogen peroxide for 10-15 minutes. To prepare the solution, take 60-70 ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 1 liter of water.
It is much more difficult to identify and cure fish from internal diseases, which can not be determined by external signs. And yet, if the behavior of fish is unnatural or they die for no apparent reason, the temperature of the water must be raised. Treat with biomycin at the rate of 1 tablet (50 LLC units) per 20 liters of water per day.
Often when catching daphnids or cyclops from water reservoirs with aquatic vegetation, a hydra-intestinal stripe falls in size of 1-1.5 cm. In the aquarium it emits a burning liquid and devours fry, penetrates into the gills of fish, and then they rush, rub their heads about walls and bottom of the aquarium. Karpoeid zhabrohvosty-crustacean-argumentus (fish louse) is attached to the skin of the fish; feeding on the blood and juices of the body of the fish, drains it.
To destroy hydra and karpoeda it is necessary to plant fish and snails, raise the temperature in the aquarium to 38-40 °. After 2-3 days the hydra will die.
Karpoeod is very difficult to destroy, so the fish carefully examined. If found, tear off with a blunt forceps. Trauma is treated with 1% iodine or a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
To exterminate the remains of fodder, rotting plants and algae in an aquarium, it is advisable to keep snails. Useful snails include brown-black fizza, red fizza, red coils, black, meadows.