joeysgreen

Surgery is done on an as needed basis. That is, if it is decided the benefits of the procedure outweigh the risks or invasiveness. I admittedly had to google what you're talking about; it is unfortunate that the fish community has gone so long without veterinary help and the videos of people cutting their fish at home is a perfect example. You can call Park to inquire about your fish, or as I see you are in Calgary, you may want to try the Avian and Exotic Clinic there, or another if there is one that will see fish. Ian ps, I have moved to the Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at Oklahoma State University, so no longer am a representative of Park Veterinary Centre. Dr. Bousquet is still there and is the DVM that sees fish

Why not run it as a stream tank. Water in one side, out the other. Drill it through the sides; run a pump in addition to the filter. I've seen a really fantastic version of this done by a biologist here in Edmonton; I think he did a talk about it for the EAC at one point too. Ian

Is 8 your target pH? That's pretty basic and I would suggest lowering it unless you have something specialized for basic conditions. You may also be imbalanced towards algae growth because while your tank is nice and green, the plants are still quite small and of minimal total biomass. Ian Kanda AHT

There is a medication that affects the cyst stage on the fish but I wouldn't recommend it as a first line of attack. Save it for the stubborn strains that are resistant to traditional methods of treatment.

I'm glad this turned out well for you. It does appear that salt is both safe and effective. There are other treatments available that may be helpful if you run into a more resistant strain or have a fragile species that doesn't tolerate salt well. A range of 1-5 ppt is recommended in our Fish Diseases text. This can be measured with your refractometer as 1.001-1.004. If you have a heavily affected fish, it may succumb to infection after treatment as it's skin is traumatized and injured after all the trophonts have left. Antibiotics may be indicated. Ian Kanda AHT Park Veterinary Centre (780) 417 1119

I think in this tank I have enough buffering capacity that pH swings won't be a concern, but I have a pH meter to monitor it closely and adjust my CO2 if necessary. My filter is placed well enough where I think there is enough water flow to distribute the dissolved gasses. Jason, I had to google solenoid to see what you're talking about; it's simply an electronic timer for turning the gas supply on/off, is that correct? Ian Kanda AHT Park Veterinary Centre (780) 417-1119

It just hit me that we already use Vitalaire for our medical oxygen so I'm going to see if they can hook me up with a CO2 setup. Once the air is down to I/v tubing sized supply what do you guys use to add it to the water? Is it fine to just use an airstone? I've heard about bubblecounter's and upside down cups etc... Is it better to have it running 24/7 or just during the day? Ian Kanda AHT Park Veterinary Centre (780) 417-1119

Hello everyone, I am looking to add CO2 to my planted tank as I'm adding more vegetation. Originally I was going to go low-tech and use yeast cultures but via our distributor I can get UP-Aqua pierce CO2 systems (7pc) for a very reasonable price. Does anyone have any experience with this brand? It seems rather small and cheap compared to the fancy systems I was looking at before ($200+ price range), but perhaps it's good enough for our single tank; dimensions approx. 48 x 12 x 18tall. Thank you, Ian Kanda AHT Park Veterinary Centre 780-417-1119

52 drops, that's crazy! I know it's a costly pain, but if not an RO machine, you can bring in bottled water, get a storage tank for city water which can be trucked in etc. I have a friend that lives near Calmar and the well water smells and tastes like petroleum. She uses it for washing but all the animals get bottled water. Ian

Converted basements make pretty cool massive enclosures. I'd love to see some pictures of these monsters and their aquariums if you are keeping them. Ian

Yes, those fish get big! It at first appears to be trauma from running into the glass but could also be scar tissue, abscess, tumor... Focusing on husbandry perfection is half the battle. This might be a case, and a patient with enough size, where a veterinarian can make a big difference. Diagnostics can help find out what the mass is (if not more apparent after an examination), and a treatment plan developed. Ian

I agree that this isn't anything to worry about. Water is a great heat reservoir, thus the temperature drop was a slow one. If you dumped a bunch of cold water into the tank, I might be a little more worried. Healthy fish will be able to tolerate sub-par conditions for short periods of time; it is chronic cool conditions that will see them predisposed to illness. And with the note on breeding is a reminder that while we aim to achieve perfection within a small window, in the wild these animals do live in a dynamic world that does see many variables. Ian

In such tiny little fish it can be difficult to do anything but guess, but it is quite a large leap from stroke to spinal curve. The spine is held straight and in place by tendons, muscles, cartilaginous disks etc. Strokes cause paralysis, paresis, impaired mental and/or motor control etc. It all depends on what area of the body is affected. Many times death is in short order. Further, strokes more often than not are unpredictable. There are no preliminary symptoms like weight loss. However with that said, some conditions can put an animal at a higher risk of stroke... and yes, it is possible that the body system that is affected is the musculature affecting body posture, but... see how it becomes a bit of a stretch.

Panacur is a prescription drug and is only available without prescription because of it's history with the aquatic industry predating a lot of the pharmacy laws.. Veterinarians are bound by a strict code of conduct to maintain a high minimum standard of care. One of these is that a vet client patient relationship must be created prior to prescribing medication (VCR or VCPR). In short, the vet needs to examine the animal, assess a need, and meet this need by prescribing said medication. The same thing with human medicine, except we have to add in client and patient because animals don't have Alberta Health Cards Is this a freshwater tank? Is hydra not a water quality issue? Ian

Medications will be as per prescribed. They can be dispensed at the clinic, or you can take the prescription to any pharmacy that carries the appropriate drug.

I have alluded to earlier that we were working on offering a professional option towards helping your sick fish. We have staff that is experienced in treating exotic pets from small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Dr. Bousquet will now see fish patients! Ian Kanda AHT [edit] I apologize to the moderators if this post is in the wrong place. Fish Med Poster.bmp

I am new to planted aquariums, but I do think that if you cover your substrate with a fine sand you are cutting off any sort of circulation you are getting with a courser material below. Ian

Does anyone recall those cell culture plants that PJ's used to sell in deli cups? The company was based out of BC. Barring local sharing, this is where I"d recommend buying plants because you are only getting what you are buying. Ian

Thanks Jayba, that was very informative. What treatment do you recommend?

The more information the better. High phosphates often indicate overfeeding or under cleaning. It's essentially plant food and I don't know if it directly effects the fish. High phosphates will promote algae growth if there is enough light. Anyhow, the reason why I ask is because the tank at work I have been struggling with both nitrates and phosphates, while nitrites and ammonia have always been zero. Ian

I'm just curious, but did you measure your phosphates?

The problem with house calls is that all of our equipment is in clinic. For questions on costs and specific cases it's best to call the clinic 780 417 1119. We havn't officially launched our move into fish medicine so you may have to leave a message and fish experienced staff will give you a call back. It has been fun collecting the equipment necessary for fish medicine. A hospital tank that's able to be sterilized inbetween patients, pumps and drain tables for anesthesia and surgery, textbooks, new drugs and medications. I'll post more pictures as they come

I might suggest that in addition to operator error being a large reason for inconsistent results, I think there are unrealistic expectations at play here. There is no such thing as a miracle drug, natural or not. Every fish and every fish wound should have individualized therapy, sometimes calling for TTO, sometimes not. When it comes to antibacterial properties, it should be said that bacteria can become resistant to natural products just as they do antibiotics. I don't every see TTO becoming a prescription medication, so it'll be available for the long term. However many of the other drugs available online or at petstores will one day be off the shelf. Currently due to lack of availability for professional help, people are forced to play doctor when they have sick or injured fish. Until this changes, these drugs may be allowed to be sold without prescription. However, there is also pressure to control antibiotic use from everything to pet stores to cattle, as bacterial resistance is becoming a major issue. Ian

So for an update, we did not have an empty tank for long. People brought fish in from everywhere! We now have various platy's, swordtails, angel fish, gouramis, tetras and pleco's. With all the new fauna we've had to deal with some stress and stress related illnesses but what better place to do so than a vet clinic! The first thing we do after observing an ill fish's behavior and respiratory rate are to weigh it. This is easily done by taring a small dish of water on a scale and then placing the fish inside. I'm having a hard time uploading pictures, but the first one is of a 2.2 gram platy being weighed. The smallest fish we have treated so far was 1.1grams! Knowing the weight is important because it allows us to monitor body condition, as well as calculate drug doses. We inject antibiotics into the tail musculature. This is preferred over treating the tank water because it gives a specific dose to the fish in need, and only that fish. Ironically, fish don't drink much as they need to remain more concentrated than their environment so it can be hard to determine if they get any medication at all from the water. When handling fish we wear latex free gloves to minimize trauma or irritation to the animal. The next photo I am preparing to radiograph a platy. Included is a photo of the radiographs. Notice the swim bladder in the lateral view on the left. Diagnostics can be a difficult thing to do with fish. In larger fish we can take blood samples which can determine immune and organ function. For these tiny little guys we can still take skin/scale scrapings and look under the microscope for parasites, bacterial or fungal growths. The last picture is a scale from this platy. On higher magnification we can see a large growth of coccal bacterial. On other scrapings I have seen thick, large black colonies of bacteria. I hope this post proves interesting. At a clinic that already treats everything from mice and rabbits to birds, frogs and snakes, fish seemed to be the next logical step

Thanks again for all of the advice. I'm at Park Veterinary Centre. I had noticed there were a few gourami's introduced into Columbia so they might fit with a stretch Do you guys recommend any good books?