fresh water disease affects saltwater fish?
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4FordFamily
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was wondering if fresh water fish diseases can affect saltwater fishes?
reason for this question is because i normally buy fw mollies to feed the fishes in my tank.
No, as far as parasites go. However, brackish water fish and fish that can live in either fresh or salt (like mollies) can be affected by saltwater parasites while in saltwater, and freshwater parasites while in freshwater.
There are rumors that some strains of velvet can survive in fresh water for some time but it remains dormant and does not pose a threat in freshwater -- as far as we know.
There are some ailments such as bacterial infections and "hole in head disease" and on rare occasions fungus that exist in both fresh and salt systems but it's unlikely the exact same bacteria or disease in both. Highly unlikely.
lagatbezan
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not sure if i'm right or not but if I'm not mistaking I read somewhere you are not supposed to use fresh water fish as feeders for salt water feedings. Not because of disease issues, but rather it not being the best type of food for them nutrition wise.
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4FordFamily
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Relatively. As mentioned above though, it's not a good source of nutrition to feed freshwater fish to saltwater fish as a primary staple of their diet. It has to do with the makeup of the fish they're eating and the different needs of marine and freshwater fish/predators
melypr1985
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Agreed. Their diseases don't live in saltwater, but it's best not to feed freshwater fish to saltwater fish regularly.
Rams & Clowns
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I’m wondering if bacterial and fungal diseases can be transferred between freshwater tanks and salt water tanks. I have ram cichlids in one of my freshwater tanks that I’m treating with Nero Plex for columnaris (mouth rot). I wasn’t paying attention and stuck my arm in my reef tank shortly after pulling something out of the infected freshwater tank. I didn’t wash my hands or arm. Could the infection transfer?
