Photo 5.17 : This fish seems so sick, luckily he just a cartoon
Now we meet again in the next chapter of ‘All about Arowana’. This chapter will focused mainly on Arowana sickness and some of them may also be apply to other types of fish too. In the chapter of ‘All about Barbs’, I have include a glimpse on Fish Stresses. So…what is exactly Fish Stresses?? And how we can determine whether the fish is currently in stress?? Wanna know?? Hmmm?? Sure…(“just say ‘ELHAM IS GREAT’ will you…just kidding”- Elham).
Lets say you have a family and a child, and to make you and your working wife’s life easier, you decided to leave your child in a nursery to be watched and take care by those fully trained babysitters. Now, you can imagine how your child will react and behave. He / She will certainly won’t let you go, will cry and shout for you, or maybe change into a quiet person, doesn’t want to eat, drinks and maybe can go sick, have a bad fever etc. The same situation may also be applied to the fish that we bought. When the fish were caught and put inside a plastic bag, their stress is actually started to build up. As soon as they were put inside their new ‘home’, their stress sometimes can be worse. They will….
1. Become more timid
2. Not active, sometimes they will stay on the edge of your tank for quite a long time
3. Swim back and forth so fast, in a short distance
4. Doesn’t want to eat
5. Go sick and maybe…DIE afterwards!!!
Precaution steps must be taken when transferring your newly bought fish into your tank. Fish is a Cold-Blooded animal. What is Cold-Blooded animal?? Cold-Blooded animal is an animal that can change their body temperature to suit to their environment. Fish can suit their body temperature to their changing environment, but NOT IMMEDIATELY!!! Their body temperature should be regulate to their new environment GRADUALLY. You don’t have to buy a thermometer for this. As soon as you got home with your fish, do not open it yet. Leave it inside your tank for about half an hour to 1 hour. The water temperature inside the plastic bag will change to the temperature of your water inside your tank (“that is called ‘Heat Transfer’”- Elham). After that, you can scoop your fish and put inside your tank. Another way is to pour 2/3 of water inside the plastic bag and fill it with 2/3 of your tank water. Leave it for an hour and scoop your fish to be put inside your tank afterwards. If the fish were put inside your tank immediately, they will encounter ‘Temperature Shock’!!! Sometimes it may lead to immediate DEATH!!!
When a fish is put inside their new environment, they also will experience ‘Culture Shock’. But don’t worry, most fish have short memory. Even an adult Goldfish have memories for 3 seconds only. Just make sure you avoid the ‘Temperature Shock’.
Another thing to be remember is, when you want to transfer your fish, please make sure you only transferring the fish, not the water inside the plastic bag. This is the way to prevent bacteria, fungus and virus from the pet shop transferred to your tank.
Okay, now we will go through common disease that will your Arowana will or have encounter and the ways to cure it. The diseases are…
1. Curled Gills :
This disease may caused by Fouled Water from rotting food and their own dung. Another cause is due to lack of space for the fish to swim, another one may be due to sudden changes in water temperature. The first stage happens when you see your Arowana’s gill covers move irregularly and their breathing seems faster. Their gill covers will gradually curl upwards thus exposing their sensitive gills in the water. If not cured quickly, the fish will have to suck the air from the water surface for breathing, and because of too busy with their breathing, they will forgot to eat or lose in appetite. At this moment, their gills maybe have been infected with bacteria and can lead to DEATH!!!
When you discover your Arowana’s behavior similar to the above, don’t panic. Be cool…and quickly go change the water. Change all the water for the first day, the next second and third day, just change 1/5 of the water. At the same time, pump more Oxygen inside by increasing your air pump power or quantity. Rotting food and dung will increase the content of Ammonia and nitride inside your tank. These 2 chemical substance will reduce the quantity of oxygen inside your tank. That’s why a lot of Oxygen is needed. Then, change your filter media, go get a new one or change their type to coral sand filter.
When its all done…create a strong water current inside your tank, Today’s water pump sometimes equipped with wave generator, so…put it on immediately. Chances of curing using all the method mentioned above is about 50%. Final stage is to do minor operation on your Arowana’s gill covers. You may find the way on how to do the operation inside others website. I don’t have the guts to share something that I have not done it before. Besides, it seems so risky and must be done using various types of tools and anesthetic.
2. Cloudy Eyes :
Cloudy eyes may caused by injuries from bad handling of the fish or maybe from your sharp décor inside your tank. When buying a tank décor, please make sure its all ergonomic, means…no sharp edges. Contaminated water may also causing cloudy eyes. Your Arowana or other types of fish that experience this disease will have their eyes appears cloudy. After a short period of time, their eyes may swell and looks like it were filled with liquid matters.
Lets say you have a family and a child, and to make you and your working wife’s life easier, you decided to leave your child in a nursery to be watched and take care by those fully trained babysitters. Now, you can imagine how your child will react and behave. He / She will certainly won’t let you go, will cry and shout for you, or maybe change into a quiet person, doesn’t want to eat, drinks and maybe can go sick, have a bad fever etc. The same situation may also be applied to the fish that we bought. When the fish were caught and put inside a plastic bag, their stress is actually started to build up. As soon as they were put inside their new ‘home’, their stress sometimes can be worse. They will….
1. Become more timid
2. Not active, sometimes they will stay on the edge of your tank for quite a long time
3. Swim back and forth so fast, in a short distance
4. Doesn’t want to eat
5. Go sick and maybe…DIE afterwards!!!
Precaution steps must be taken when transferring your newly bought fish into your tank. Fish is a Cold-Blooded animal. What is Cold-Blooded animal?? Cold-Blooded animal is an animal that can change their body temperature to suit to their environment. Fish can suit their body temperature to their changing environment, but NOT IMMEDIATELY!!! Their body temperature should be regulate to their new environment GRADUALLY. You don’t have to buy a thermometer for this. As soon as you got home with your fish, do not open it yet. Leave it inside your tank for about half an hour to 1 hour. The water temperature inside the plastic bag will change to the temperature of your water inside your tank (“that is called ‘Heat Transfer’”- Elham). After that, you can scoop your fish and put inside your tank. Another way is to pour 2/3 of water inside the plastic bag and fill it with 2/3 of your tank water. Leave it for an hour and scoop your fish to be put inside your tank afterwards. If the fish were put inside your tank immediately, they will encounter ‘Temperature Shock’!!! Sometimes it may lead to immediate DEATH!!!
When a fish is put inside their new environment, they also will experience ‘Culture Shock’. But don’t worry, most fish have short memory. Even an adult Goldfish have memories for 3 seconds only. Just make sure you avoid the ‘Temperature Shock’.
Another thing to be remember is, when you want to transfer your fish, please make sure you only transferring the fish, not the water inside the plastic bag. This is the way to prevent bacteria, fungus and virus from the pet shop transferred to your tank.
Okay, now we will go through common disease that will your Arowana will or have encounter and the ways to cure it. The diseases are…
1. Curled Gills :
This disease may caused by Fouled Water from rotting food and their own dung. Another cause is due to lack of space for the fish to swim, another one may be due to sudden changes in water temperature. The first stage happens when you see your Arowana’s gill covers move irregularly and their breathing seems faster. Their gill covers will gradually curl upwards thus exposing their sensitive gills in the water. If not cured quickly, the fish will have to suck the air from the water surface for breathing, and because of too busy with their breathing, they will forgot to eat or lose in appetite. At this moment, their gills maybe have been infected with bacteria and can lead to DEATH!!!
When you discover your Arowana’s behavior similar to the above, don’t panic. Be cool…and quickly go change the water. Change all the water for the first day, the next second and third day, just change 1/5 of the water. At the same time, pump more Oxygen inside by increasing your air pump power or quantity. Rotting food and dung will increase the content of Ammonia and nitride inside your tank. These 2 chemical substance will reduce the quantity of oxygen inside your tank. That’s why a lot of Oxygen is needed. Then, change your filter media, go get a new one or change their type to coral sand filter.
When its all done…create a strong water current inside your tank, Today’s water pump sometimes equipped with wave generator, so…put it on immediately. Chances of curing using all the method mentioned above is about 50%. Final stage is to do minor operation on your Arowana’s gill covers. You may find the way on how to do the operation inside others website. I don’t have the guts to share something that I have not done it before. Besides, it seems so risky and must be done using various types of tools and anesthetic.
2. Cloudy Eyes :
Cloudy eyes may caused by injuries from bad handling of the fish or maybe from your sharp décor inside your tank. When buying a tank décor, please make sure its all ergonomic, means…no sharp edges. Contaminated water may also causing cloudy eyes. Your Arowana or other types of fish that experience this disease will have their eyes appears cloudy. After a short period of time, their eyes may swell and looks like it were filled with liquid matters.
Photo 5.18 : Swollen eyes that filled with fluid matter will looks like this
If they are not treated quickly, they may lose their sight and can lead to DEATH!!! As soon as you encounter changes on your Arowana’s or other of your fish eyes as mentioned above, don’t go to the optometrist, just change the 1/3 of your tank’s water. Then increase 1°C to 2°C of the water temperature. On the third day, change ¼ of the water again. Saltbath may also helps to improve recovery. After that, find the most trusted brand of fish medicine that specialize on cloudy eyes disease. After 3 to 5 months with continuous cares, the eyes should be cured, but may appear smaller. Don’t know why…
3. Parasites :
There are 2 common parasites that usually strike on Arowana’s and other fish too. It usually comes from the food we used to feed them. So…don’t take your fish diet so lightly. Its often to know what nutrients that your fish needed rather than buying expensive fish food, by looking at the ingredients you can imagine the nutrients that your fish might get. Also, please watch those live food especially for your Arowana. Live frogs, crickets, centipede or Goldfish fry may also packed with parasites. You should wash the live food before you feed them to your fish.
If they are not treated quickly, they may lose their sight and can lead to DEATH!!! As soon as you encounter changes on your Arowana’s or other of your fish eyes as mentioned above, don’t go to the optometrist, just change the 1/3 of your tank’s water. Then increase 1°C to 2°C of the water temperature. On the third day, change ¼ of the water again. Saltbath may also helps to improve recovery. After that, find the most trusted brand of fish medicine that specialize on cloudy eyes disease. After 3 to 5 months with continuous cares, the eyes should be cured, but may appear smaller. Don’t know why…
3. Parasites :
There are 2 common parasites that usually strike on Arowana’s and other fish too. It usually comes from the food we used to feed them. So…don’t take your fish diet so lightly. Its often to know what nutrients that your fish needed rather than buying expensive fish food, by looking at the ingredients you can imagine the nutrients that your fish might get. Also, please watch those live food especially for your Arowana. Live frogs, crickets, centipede or Goldfish fry may also packed with parasites. You should wash the live food before you feed them to your fish.
Photo 5.19 : Those are not passengers, they are PARASITES!!!
The 2 common parasites are the Fish Lice and the Anchor Worm. The Fish Lice is about 3 mm to 5 mm long and can be seen with naked eye. Their body is flat and their mouth have a needle-like structures to suck the nutrients inside your fish body. The Anchor Worm found mainly around the fins or inside your fish body. The length is about 1 cm and their head have fork-like structures to suck the fish nutrients. After being infected, your fish might appear rubbing and scrapping against the side of your tank and will lose appetite. The parasites can be killed using Copper Sulfate solutions and saltbath. After your fish is recover, change all of the water inside your tank.
4. White Spot :
Photo 5.20 : Those are not pimples, no need Tea Tree oil. The white spot is called.....errrr....White Spot...disease
This is definitely the most common disease for fish. It comes from bacteria and this bacteria can multiply so fast within an hour. During the first stage, the white spot might strike the fins of the fish. The bacteria will suck up the body fluid inside the fish. The affected region will looks like white powder. Some says, white spot may lead to Fin Rot disease. The fish will also appear rubbing on the side of your tank. As soon as the bacteria attacks he gills, DEATH is conformed!!!. The fish can be cured using available medicine from the pet shop, just buy the trusted brand to avoid harmful chemical that might affect your fish. Normally, those medicine were added with Formalin or Quinine or Iodine. That’s why it comes in colors, normally dark green and purple. Don’t panic when your water change its color when you pour this substance. This chemical is harmless to the fish but make sure you put it as per the directions. Saltbath is also useful to help recovery. Then, increase the water temperature for 1°C to 2°C and increase the amount of Oxygen. When you fish is fully cured, change all the water inside your tank.
On the next chapter, I will tell you other common fish disease. Until then...Love Your Fish like you Love Yourself.
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