Veterinarians and aquarium care

[CarterJ]

I am a third year veterinarian student. My goal is to eventually own a mixed animal vet practice (working with both pets and food production animals). Over the course of the last year or so I have become very interested in saltwater aquariums and currently have a 20g that has been running about 6 months. I have began to wonder if I took the time to become well versed in aquarium care and health if that is a service I could incorporate into a vet practice. That brings me to the following questions.

Do you frequently or have you ever consulted a veterinarian about caring for or treating your fish tank/tank inhabitants? If you knew a veterinarian had extensive aquarium experience would you be more likely to utilize a veterinarian? And finally, do you think it would be beneficial to develop an ongoing relationship with a veterinarian who understood your setup and goals, in an attempt to prevent problems before they occur or assist with tank changes/upgrades?

Just trying to get a feel of what role a veterinarian can play in this hobby! Thanks for any feed back!

 

[Quah]

I have consulted a vet and often times they've looked at me like I'm crazy. I've asked for medicine such as CP for fish and Ciprofloxacin to dip corals in. I've had luck with the latter - still working on the former. I think a vet who understands the reef hobby wouldn't be a bad thing, but I think it'd be hard to incorporate tank upgrades and changes into a practice without stretching yourself too thin. I think understanding and being able to supply aquarists with the medicine they need would be a huge benefit.

 

[brandon429]

I feel that vet training encompasses nothing about aquarium care, if they know about it then self driven studies gave the info.

They will have physiology training that helps, for fish, and accurate bacterial and virology info which web boards won't easily agree upon but in the end that info cannot run a reef.


Same for any doctor

Web boards and books help them get the info they need to run tanks. Regarding the hard spots on the back of my black dog in the summer that looks like some dried karo syrup on his back, I need a vet not a web board. Still can't figure that one out, not sure if some kind of mite it is however seasonal/heat related for sure

 

[Mike_J]

I've wanted to ask my vet about obtaining a script for CP but haven't mustered the courage yet as I'm afraid she'll just laugh at me I think more vets need to be accepting and versed in general care of our wet pets too

 

[drawman]

I think it's an interesting topic and I think it's great that you want to provide that service/niche with your practice. I am in the medical field and had a recent experience trying to utilize a veterinarian for fish disease (attempting to get a CP prescription for quarantine).

I think the difficult thing to get around as a practicing vet is that with aquarium fish a lot of quick, effective tx requires essentially self dx by the owner. Most of the medications utilized are over the counter so a person can essentially learn effective, cookbook style tx on forums and internet pages. A lot of diseases act quickly or need preventive measures (QT tank) so consulting a veterinarian may not be very practical for a lot of aquarists.

As others have stated, one big use for veterinarians may be to aid aquarists in the aquisition/proper use of medications such as chloroquine phosphate. Currently, this puts both us and veterinarians in a somewhat awkward position as we are trying to choose the medication that we would like to use. Hopefully, well informed veterinarians will be able to aid aquarists in this regard in the future.

 

[CarterJ]

Thanks for the replies! I appreciate the input!
I guess by tank changes I mostly mean guidance in purchasing new inhabitants and compatibility issues or balancing a stable ecosystem.

 

[CarterJ]

I think it's an interesting topic and I think it's great that you want to provide that service/niche with your practice. I am in the medical field and had a recent experience trying to utilize a veterinarian for fish disease (attempting to get a CP prescription for quarantine).

I think the difficult thing to get around as a practicing vet is that with aquarium fish a lot of quick, effective tx requires essentially self dx by the owner. Most of the medications utilized are over the counter so a person can essentially learn effective, cookbook style tx on forums and internet pages. A lot of diseases act quickly or need preventive measures (QT tank) so consulting a veterinarian may not be very practical for a lot of aquarists.

As others have stated, one big use for veterinarians may be to aid aquarists in the aquisition/proper use of medications such as chloroquine phosphate. Currently, this puts both us and veterinarians in a somewhat awkward position as we are trying to choose the medication that we would like to use. Hopefully, well informed veterinarians will be able to aid aquarists in this regard in the future.

That's a good point about aquarists being able to find the information/tx solutions online. I think that is becoming a large issue veterinarians are facing with dog and cat owners. The internet is a great resource, but it takes a lot of responbitily to find reliable resources and utilize that information appropriately

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I've been to 2 vets for my fish and one specialized in fish. It's a part of his official repertoire. There's official training for this field.

https://avsnca.com/

This link can help you find one in your area.

http://www.aquavetmed.info/index.cfm?PID=6

The problem, besides fish not being a part of the average vets specialties, is they are supposed to assess the patient to prescribe meds. Who wants to scoop out their seek fish to bring it in. I get why the vets are hesitant.

I remember the vets face when I asked for injectible Baytril to flush into a Seahorses pouch.

 

[CarterJ]

Those are some interesting links. My next question was going to be about if you would be more likely to utilize a veterinary service if they made house calls. I grew up raising beef cattle and market lambs. I think health care for aquariums maybe more closely related to that of food production animals than the typical pets such as cats or dogs. With food production animals you have to be conscious of how every change or treatment will effect the whole herd, not just one animal. I think aquariums are very similar, you have to be very aware of how every slight modification will effect an entire ecosystem. It is very common for large animal vets to make farm calls, so I don't think it is at all unreasonable to think that a veterinarian should make a house call for an aquarium.

 

[Waterjockey]

If I had a local vet who was versed in marine animals I would gladly use his/her services to save a favorite creature....or whole tank. House calls as well.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

The one I linked to did house calls "Our office is completely mobile. We will bring all of our specialized equipment to your home or business, or you can bring your fish to us.".

 

[CarterJ]

The one I linked to did house calls "Our office is completely mobile. We will bring all of our specialized equipment to your home or business, or you can bring your fish to us.".

I meant you got ahead of me on my next question. I was going to ask that, then realized you had linked a site that offered that.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Ah! Gotcha.

 

[JMLewis]

I've contacted a few to get CP as well and they say I have to bring the fish in...

Would love to know a vet that has experience with marine fish and their parasites.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Do you frequently or have you ever consulted a veterinarian about caring for or treating your fish tank/tank inhabitants?

No, not in treating or helping me. My vet just thinks it's cool, but doesn't understand the complexities and subtleties of reefing, all the things that can go wrong and how to help. I come here where there are specialists in every aspect of reef keeping that I can get an answer from pretty quickly. However, if my vet actually knew what reefing was about, and understood what velvet was, etc, I would definitely ask him.

If you knew a veterinarian had extensive aquarium experience would you be more likely to utilize a veterinarian?

Heck yeah!! If I knew of a reefing vet, you bet I would utilize that vet!!!

And finally, do you think it would be beneficial to develop an ongoing relationship with a veterinarian who understood your setup and goals, in an attempt to prevent problems before they occur or assist with tank changes/upgrades?

No brainer man. Yes yes yes yes yes.