Disease ID

[Ichthyosporidium]

I have been looking, perhaps not enough, for an illustrated chart or something of that nature on this group site. Has there ever been anything done like that? I might just make it a pet project of mine to create one as I am keenly interested in this area of aquatic husbandry.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Ichthyosporidium

[skinless]

if it's similar to the drawings found in "manual of fish health", that would be very helpful to other members.

[Tanker]

Go Nuts. Let me know when it's ready to post and we'll even put it in a fancy~schmancy heading, or something. Would be very helpful, especially if it is comprehensive and covers salt and fresh.

My question: How are you going to get all of those fish sick, to take their picture? :P

[Melody]

I am currently building a website for a store which includes a disease chart. Frankly, I know next to nothing about marine creatures, but since I have the format & all that mapped out for freshwater fish, it would be easily converted to the AA community and adding to it would be simple.

As in the store's case, it can be easily integrated with affiliate programs which would support the website. Before anyone objects, keep in mind that the next question upon ID'ing a disease is 'How do I treat it'? I do not condone or recommend that any one solution be pushed for monetary gain, however, since the question has to be answered, linking the solutions to affiliated companies wouldn't hurt, as long as the other solutions are also represented. I would view it as a fundraiser more than anything, since chances are the people are going to buy the same product elsewhere anyway.

That aside, the content would be invaluable. The search engines would eat it up, and the opportunity for referrals is beyond limitation. How many times does sickness come up in forums? Linking to the chart would be an excellent promotional tool.

As for pictures, that's where the community supports the fundraiser. When a fish is suffering from something, they contribute the photo. Eventually you could have a comprehensive diagnosis tool that would be the envy of other forums.

I think that all around, its an awesome and useful idea.

[RD.]

Ich .... There's actually a number of fish disease charts already out there, some have illustrations, some with actual photos of fish showing a close up of each various ailment. Perhaps you've seen some of these, perhaps not? The last link is a must see if you aren't familiar with that site.

No photos accompanying the info on this site, but IMO the diagnosis portion doesn't get much better than this.

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/symptoms.html

Of course for the average hobbyist it would be nice if they had some of the more common meds listed that contain the various active ingredients listed on their site.

The following site has disease & illness info for pond, tropical & SW, and has an interesting interactive set up that allows you to click on each symptom or disease, which then takes you to a page on treatment.

http://www.waterlife.co.uk/waterlife/chart.htm

Not very practical for anyone outside of the UK (due to the meds listed) but an interesting layout just the same.

Fishdoc has some very good info, even though it's main focus is Koi, and it doesn't have a chart per se.

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/diseasehome.htm

A rather comprehensive disease chart, but they tend to only support one manufacturer.

http://www.gbasonline.org/disease_chart.htm

And last but not least, the Mother of all fish disease charts is Pandora's Aquarium by Cecilia Chen.

http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html

Pandora's covers both fresh & marine, and each disease is listed by common name, pathogen/cause/, physical signs, behavioural signs, potential treatment, along with other notes. Each disease/illness also has a number of actual live fish photos with close ups of each physical symptom. At the bottom of the page there's links to other sites that cover fish disease & treatments, as well as a few of the various manufacturers that market meds for most of the more common ailments.

I know that this was discussed on cichlid forum a few years back when I was a mod in the Illness/Nutrition folder on that site, but the biggest problem was getting photos from members that showed most of the various ailments that fish can be inflicted with. Most people don't have sick fish on a regular basis (I hope!) or they were lacking in the camera quality required to get the type of images that could actually be used. Very few photos were ever submitted, and the idea was eventually put on the back burner.

Edited August 19, 2006 by RD.

[Ichthyosporidium]

Neil. that is great that you list a bunch of sites that have their own charts and/or description. But what about THIS SITE? I would rather have ILLUSTRATIONS with accompanying photos as they become available. I feel that there are far too many people asking about rudimentary diseases that we all have too deal with. Some times there is no one here to suggest to them or direct them to a pertenant site. As we experienced fish keepers know, Time is one of the most important factors in treating disease.

[RD.]

Tony - I only listed those as some good examples of what various people have done over the past number of years. If/when someone asks me personally, I usually send them to Pandora's site as IMO it's the best out there. If you would like to create something for this site, that would be great.

[Willfishguy]

Before anyone objects, keep in mind that the next question upon ID'ing a disease is 'How do I treat it'? I do not condone or recommend that any one solution be pushed for monetary gain, however, since the question has to be answered, linking the solutions to affiliated companies wouldn't hurt, as long as the other solutions are also represented.

All medications legally sold by the pet trade here in Canada could be listed. List each medication under the treatment paragraph or such. And with each disease also incorporate prescribed therapies, as well homeopathic treatment can be described. Being this responsibe will also help fight against government and veternary intrusion upon the Aquarium Community of Canada. We need to evolve so as to maintain our own self governing, instead of being dictated to as to what we can and cannot do.

Edited November 7, 2006 by Willfishguy