Fish disease on the rise?

[Humblefish]

@HotRocks , @Humblefish , @4FordFamily ,
Please share your sources of fish with us. Where are you purchasing fish from?

PM me if you like, but I can't do this publicly without running the risk of being blacklisted. I already have trouble getting wholesalers to sell to me.

 

[SDK]

One year owning my boat costs more than my 47 years in the salt water hobby. And I have had a boat since 1975.

If you own a boat that is slipped on LI, then this is probably not an exaggeration

 

[Paul B]

Yes I do. It was in Nassau for many years and it is quite a bit cheaper here in Suffolk.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I will be anxiously waiting for the release of @Humblefish, @4FordFamily , and @HotRocks QT method!!

 

[Lowell Lemon]

There are about 1 million bacteria per militer of sea water and about 10 times that in the number of viruses in the same amount of sea water. This gives you an indication of the ability of marine fish and invertebrates to both consume and resist this soup of potential attackers. So with that evidence how should we manage our aquariums properly? There must exist some competing communities of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that help the fish and inverts survive and exploit their environment. We try to manage the quantity of these organisms by D.E., U.V., Ozone, and other biological and mechanical filtration means.
If we understood the complexity of those communities we could provide better treatment protocols and find ways to advantage good bacteria and viruses over disease causing ones. Perhaps it is just an imbalance in certain communities of organisms that leads to disease in our aquariums?

Source of information for bacteria and virus count in Sea water, Eric Collins, Word press archives.

I did notice that ecotocommensals like Trichodina are responsible for consuming epithelial cells and plankton on or around living fish. Seems like one relationship that when in balance is a commensal relationship and not detrimental until certain water quality or population densities become a factor in the disease process.

 

[awwinterfall]

I just spoke to my lfs. He had a rant and yelled at a Quality Marine rep due to poor quality fish recently.

All my fish sourced from QM has died recently from suspected uronema

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I just spoke to my lfs. He had a rant and yelled at a Quality Marine rep due to poor quality fish recently.

All my fish sourced from QM has died recently from suspected uronema

This seems to be one of the major problems in the industry today since there are less and less sources of supply. Also I believe QM is losing the battle for quality since the new owners took over. There has also been a change in equipment design to fluidized beds versus trickle towers over the years and I wonder if there is a connection due to lower oxygen levels in the systems?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I just spoke to my lfs. He had a rant and yelled at a Quality Marine rep due to poor quality fish recently.

All my fish sourced from QM has died recently from suspected uronema

I had a couple wrasses sourced from there that died from Uronema and my LFS is in disbelief that QM would supply sick fish lol

 

[HotRocks]

I'm not here to defend them, but I think much of this goes unnoticed in their systems due to the quick turnover.

The best thing to do IMO is medicate QTs with metro when acclimating the fish upon arrival as well as starting them out on treated food. It has increased my success rate significantly. I will be amending my QT process sticky soon to include this part of the protocol. I just wanted to be able to repeat it a few times successfully before recommending it to everyone. To which @4FordFamily and I have done. My last batch is almost through the process now with no loss.

Another thing that I think helps is I am using pharmaceutical grade metro, not seachem.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I'm not here to defend them, but I think much of this goes unnoticed in their systems due to the quick turnover.

The best thing to do IMO is medicate QTs with metro when acclimating the fish upon arrival as well as starting them out on treated food. It has increased my success rate significantly. I will be amending my QT process sticky soon to include this part of the protocol. I just wanted to be able to repeat it a few times successfully before recommending it to everyone. To which @4FordFamily and I have done. My last batch is almost through the process now with no loss.

Another thing that I think helps is I am using pharmaceutical grade metro, not seachem.

Where are you sourcing pharm grade metro?

 

[HotRocks]

Where are you sourcing pharm grade metro?

From fishman. The issue is they don't sell less than a kilo. It's unlikely that a hobbyist trying to stock their personal collection would ever go through it in a lifetime let alone before the expiration date.

We are working on a solution there as well.

 

[awwinterfall]

Is fishman's cp reliable?

From fishman. The issue is they don't sell less than a kilo. It's unlikely that a hobbyist trying to stock their personal collection would ever go through it in a lifetime let alone before the expiration date.

We are working on a solution there as well.

 

[HotRocks]

Is fishman's cp reliable?

It's very close to pharmaceutical grade purity.

Here is the thing with CP, we are finding there are many important factors that are required on order to have a successful treatment.

 

[Feet4Fish]

It's very close to pharmaceutical grade purity.

Here is the thing with CP, we are finding there are many important factors that are required on order to have a successful treatment.

That increases my anticipation for your updated protocol!

 

[HotRocks]

That increases my anticipation for your updated protocol!

It's going to be a while before we have a solid plan for the proper use of CP, need several more test batches. We have a pretty rock solid plan using copper with other meds that's working very well. Going to try to finish that write up this week.

 

[Feet4Fish]

It's going to be a while before we have a solid plan for the proper use of CP, need several more test batches. We have a pretty rock solid plan using copper with other meds that's working very well. Going to try to finish that write up this week.

Will look forward to it regardless! Appreciate all the work that you and 4Ford do! Living in Indiana and working in Indpls all the time I hope to one day cross paths with you fellas!