Freshwater Disease Guide

Camallanus cotti and Camallanus lacustris
Symptoms:
Red worms protruding on the fish's anus, inflammation in the vent area, whitish slimy feces

Causes:
Camallanus worms can be found protruding out of the fish's anus. They are actually transparent but gained the reddish tint which is actually their victims' blood. Female camallanus worms are over a centimeter in length whereas males are about a third fraction of the females' size.

According to The Skeptical Artist website, most species of Camallanus and its close kin shed eggs, and their life cycle needs an intermediate host, often a copepod or perhaps a cladoceran (such as daphnia); their reproduction gets disrupted in the aquarium, though copepods are everywhere, especially in planted tanks. But C. cotti and the less-common C. lacustris are viviparous: their larvae develop within the adult female worm who sheds them into the water; several successive generations can infect aquarium fish.

The young worms are as likely to be eaten by a copepod as by another fish, but either way they get passed to the next fish host. In the severest cases maybe the best thing you can do is net out the sufferer, gently euthanise it, and concentrate on the other fishes that are infested but not so far gone. Don't try to net the fish and pull off the worms with a tweezer; they are deeply embedded and you'll just tear the intestine wall. Parasitic nematodes weaken the host; what kills it usually are secondary infections.

In retrospect, you may realize that the victim had been showing some inflammation in the vent area and might have been passing whitish, mucusy feces. Too often we let symptoms like these pass unnoticed.

In the wild most fish harbor some parasitic nematodes. Fish populations are diffuse enough that the chances of a nematode egg being successfully transfered are low, and besides, a healthy fish can usually live with the normal range of its familiar co-evolved parasites, just as many humans harbor Giardia without suffering significant ill effects. However, when fish are caught and transported to exporters, then flown from wholesaler to wholesaler, shipped to retailers and at last to hobbyists, they have been put through enormous stresses. To a fish with stress-impaired resistance, even a modestly benign and familiar parasite may become serious. How much more lethal, then, is an alien parasite that has not had time to "learn" not to damage its host.

Camallanus cotti was first described in Japan in 1927, but has been distributed throughout the world, largely from the fish farms of Singapore and Malaysia, especially after 1980.

Treatment:
Levamisole hydrochloride (effective as anti-worming agent), flubendazole, fenbendazole, fresh garlic extracts




Notice the worms protruding on the fish's anus.

Capillaria
Symptoms:
Loss of weight/anorexia, slowing down of growth, malnutrition, whitish and stringy feces, dark coloration

Causes:
Fish can get them when they eat the eggs of the worms and even in contact with feces of infected individuals. Crustaceans and copepods serve as intermediate hosts and may be eaten by the fish in the wild thus infecting the fish itself as well.

Treatment:
Piperazine, mebendazole, albendazole, levamisole hydrochloride, trichlorfon

Another treatment by Drs. Foster and Smith recommended against nematodes
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4760&N=2004+113521

Capillaria egg

Diplostomosis (Diplostomum spathaceum)
Symptoms:
Cataract, lesions on the gills, body surface and fins, (in newly-infected fish) petechia and exophthalmia, small white opacities in the lens, dark coloration and loss of condition

Description:
Very wide host range: recorded in more than 150 species of freshwater and brackish water species. Some of the economically important fish species in which the parasite has been recorded include: cod (Gadus morhua), flounder (Platichthys flesus), and salmonids of the genera Salmo, Oncorhynchus, and Coregonus.

The life cycle involves pulmonate snails as first intermediate hosts, fish as second intermediate hosts, and piscivorous birds as final intermediate hosts harbouring the adult worms.



Fish are infected with cercariae. Body length of cercariae is 160-260 µm and the bifurcated tail stem is as long as the body. The area around the mouth and the body is equipped with hooks and spines in a regular pattern. On penetration of the fish, the tail is shed. During its migratory route to the lens, the parasites gradually undergo further change. The established metacercariae are flattened, about 400 µm in length, and possess two suckers and an attachment organ (tribocytic organ).

Infection takes place in areas where the various hosts occur together, i.e. in fresh and brackish standing inshore water. Shedding of the cercariae is associated with a rise in water temperature and normally continues from late spring to early autumn.

On another note, this will not happen in the aquaria without other various hosts.

Treatment:
Praziquantel

Swim Bladder Disorder
Symptoms:
Limited signs of bloat though usually no physical damage is found, fish struggles to balance itself sometimes going “belly up” due to lack of proper buoyancy

Causes:
Often indigestion with goldfish, blood parrot cichlid and “balloon” strains becoming more vulnerable to the disorder rather than most fish species, bacterial infections, damaged swim bladder, the use of floating foods which when ingested allows entry of air to the digestive system, congenital or development causes, birth defect, sudden trauma from sudden changes in water conditions or failure to acclimate the fish properly.

Causes can be difficult to determine although possible causes are often leaned on the use of floating foods, indigestion and damaged organs by assumption. Genetics also play a role in this issue. It has long been argued that floating foods should never be used at all especially for goldfish. It is in the best interest of the safety of the fish that sinking foods be used instead of floating foods or try to squish the foods until they sink.

Updated version: The ongoing debate regarding the use of floating foods has been stretched further that the use of foods that primarily composed of starch-based ingredients has been pointed out. After further analysis by those who keep goldfish, it was found that the bacteria lining the digestive systems are also one of the culprits contributing to buoyancy issues. Although the goldfish has no enzymes to digest the starch, the bacteria make up for the lack of enzymes but in return, produce gas which when trapped in the GI tract, can cause buoyancy issues. Most fish get "floaty" despite the switching of food products from floating to sinking and this can easily be pointed to the starch ingredients found in the food.


Treatment:
1. High fiber diet and fasting.
Switch to foods with high fiber content. In this case, most fish fail to expel wastes due to the foods clogging the digestive system especially with air trapped inside. Fasting for a few days or weeks also helps dislodge the foods from the GI tract.

2. Antibiotics
This one is very tricky. There is no telling how the fish became "floaty" and it could be bacteria or virus causing the issue if the food diet is not an issue. Administer only if you are sure this is the issue. A lot of viral infections are resistant to treatments and in this case, the fish may need to be destroyed.

3. Gel Foods and Acidophilus
It has already been pointed out in most cases starch is the common cause of buoyancy issues with goldfish. Despite it being digested by the bacteria, the bacteria also produce gas and while this is not an issue with streamline bodied fish, most fish have a rather compressed GI tract where the air is easily trapped. The use of Lactobacilli acidophilus through incorporating it in gel foods help quell the gas trapped in the GI tract. It is likewise recommended that starch based foods be avoided completely and switch to other foods that do not contain starch such as yeast, corn, etc.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for most cases where this disorder is involved although in some cases, the fish can recover depending on the cause of the disorder. Fish that suffer from this disorder due to sudden trauma from improper acclimation usually will never recover at all. In this case, it is recommended to destroy the fish.

Air Bubble Disease
Symptoms:
Clear small blisters under the skin (0.5-2 mm)

Causes:
Oversaturation of the water with nitrogen gas.

Treatment:
Aerate the water very well.

Patchy Disease
Symptoms:
As this seems to affect hillstream loaches more than any other fish species, it must be noted that the affected hillstream loaches usually have abnormally pale patches around their body. They may lose appetite as the disease progresses. Rapid breathing is also noticeable.

Causes:
Introduction via unquarantined fish.

Treatment:
Maracyn I and Maracyn II-Follow dosage as instructed.

More information can be found here.

Gill Curl
Symptoms:
Gill covers curl thus revealing the inner parts of the gills.

Causes:
Poor water quality is often the leading cause although some fish may inherit such gill deformation.

Treatments:
There is no cure for this. Sometimes it can become a permanent damage although water changes in a few cases have been known to rectify the problem. Fish is not affected however by this defect. It is not advisable to trim the gills as this may only endanger the life of the fish.

Lymphocystis
Synonyms:
Cauliflower Disease

Symptoms:
Lethargy, firm globular cysts on the skin which when stroked with a finger feels hard and does not come off, imbalanced swimming position if cysts are located near the lateral line, bacterial infections appear as secondary infection in the later stages eventually killing the fish

Causes:
Viral infection that infests the fish and changes the cells of the mucous membrane. They rapidly increase in size thus allowing them to be seen even with a naked eye. Cells expand at a diameter of 1 mm and takes on the appearance of a cauliflower hence the name "Cauliflower Disease".

The cells continue to grow and eventually explode releasing a million viruses that float into the water and eventually infecting more fish. The disease usually starts around the fin edges and eventually to the base and other parts of the body.

Dyed fish are very vulnerable to this disease as their epidermis has been damaged from being subjected to dyeing processes.

Treatment:
There is no known cure for this disease. It has been suggested however that the afflicted parts can be surgically removed. If spotted in time, the edges of the fins must be cut away with a sharp scissors noting that the disease itself usually starts at the edges of the fins. Treat the fins with medications prescribed to prevent pathogens from infecting them.



Authors:
Sera guide: How to Keep Your Ornamental Fish Healthy, Dieter Untergasser

Bacterial Gill Rot
Symptoms:
Gill areas become white or gray, gill filaments fall off and decompose

Causes:
Ammonia intoxication, alkalosis, parasites that damage the sensitive mucous membrane of the gills

Treatment:
Know your water parameters. What exactly are your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH? Frequent water changes are necessary to improve water quality. Very high pH can also be one of the main causes along with very poor water conditions and high organic loads.

Enteric Red Mouth (Yersinia ruckeri)
Symptoms:
Red mouth and hemorrhages on the belly, lethargy, lack of appetite, infection in the kidney, liver and spleen

Causes:
The disease is caused by the motile, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium identified as Yersinia ruckeri. This disease can readily be transmitted by contact or water. Fortunately, this disease is very rare.

Salmonids, goldfish, cisco, largemouth bass, emerald shiners, sturgeon, fathead minnows, walleye, crayfish and muskrats have been found to be infected with ERM in the past based on researches.

Treatment:
Sulfamerazine, Terramycin, Oxytetracycline

Note: None of the drugs used in the past against ERM has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use on food fish