Hey Doc!! Big fan of yours, any advice could you give me? My fish have been flashing 2 weeks now, finally saw Ich thru microscope, and treated MGF 4 days but flashing got worse, so I pulled fish did another scrape found chilodonella, then started PP treatment. The first treatment lasted 3 hours and the next day 4 hrs but not sure yet if I cleared the pond yet but any advice I would greatly appreciate! Thanks!
ANSWER:
Both Ich and Chilodonella are easy with Salt, are there live plants in the way of doing that?
Ich in cold water can hide from FMG for kind of a long time and you have to dose pretty consistently.
But the Chilodonella should not have even survived the first dose of FMG
So, something's wrong in this.
If you can use salt there, I'd recommend it. But the live plants if present, will be harmed.
Potassium won't clear Ich. Potassium can't sustain in the environment long enough to clear both life phases of Ich.
Potassium will kill the shite out of Chilodonella.
Hey doc!! Big fan of urs any advice could u give me my fish have been flash 2 weeks now finally saw ich thru microscope treat MGF 4 days flashing got worse pulled fish did another scrape found chilodonella started PP treatment first treatment 3 hours next day 4 hrs not sure yet if I cleared the pond yet but any advice i would greatly appreciate it thanks Ray
I consider Facebook to be invasive, distracting, and culturally manipulative. But, it's a platform that MOST people use.
I won't be “on there” much because I can't spend time in the rabbit hole. But I will post there from time-to-time.
So if you want another resource for pertinent dog, cat, pet, reptile and amphibian pocket pet help and information you should bookmark my pet health Facebook page:
Why can’t you just toss a pet turtle out into cold water or bring them into warm water during the off-season?
Like, if you have turtles that are used to it in the house it’s 69 to 79° and you want to put them out in the spring and it’s 48°, why would that hurt them?
Or, if it’s in the middle of the summer, and for some reason they go down to 55° because of a water line break, why does that kill them?
Cold blooded animals are able to survive in these temperatures because they have what are called iso enzymes. They have enzymes that allow their metabolism to perform in the heat of the summer, but it is yet another set of enzymes that allows them to perform in practically ice water in the winter time. Something we cannot do.
The “Cure” for Ammonia issues in a pond or aquarium is BIOSEEDING. This is the simple (it is simple) transplant of beneficial germs and microbes from a natural body of water, or an established fish system, into the immature system which lacks those organisms.
– By Dr. Erik Johnson
Ammonia is the primary waste product of fish, excreted primarily through the gill tissue, but to a lesser extent via the kidney. Ammonia can also accumulate from the decay of fish tissues, food and other organic debris derived from protein. Ammonia accumulations cause reddening of the skin and disability of the gills by its direct caustic effect on these surfaces. Fish suffering in water with high ammonia accumulations will isolate themselves, lie on the bottom, clamp their fins, secrete excess slime, and are much more susceptible to parasitic and bacterial infection.
Ammonia is a big problem in new systems because the bacteria that would naturally dissolve ammonia are not established, see discussion of cycle. As well, even in established systems, ammonia may accumulate in springtime when the water is cold but fish are eating, because filter bacteria have not emerged usefully from hibernation.
Ammonia ionizes below pH 7.4 to Ammonium – and so in its ionized state is less toxic to fish.
Above pH 8.0 most ammonia is ionized, and so becomes more toxic. Care should be taken not to increase th pH of a system if ammonia is present but the need to drop the pH or restrict oxygenation to tanks of fish to keep pH down is an overrated aberration in the literature.
Treatment: Water changes and management of the pH near neutral will go a long way to cutting losses from Ammonias, ancillary, less useful modes of Ammonia management include the use of the various water conditioners that bind ammonia, and the application of rechargeable Zeolites to the system filter. I am still going to tell you that time and water changes are the two mainstays, however.
Water that is warm, high in pH or deprived of oxygen will have an enhanced toxicity when ammonias are accumulating. These are all important considerations as we try to interpret the varying symptomatology of fish at the same ammonia level, for example, but are affected very differently.
You will never have to worry about Ammonia if you use a drip irrigation system for constant water replacement at about 10-20% per week.
More about ammonia
Ammonia – Understand this! – by Doc Johnson
Ammonia is the first waste product of your fish. It is often the cause of your first mortalities in new facilities and new ponds. There is a simple test to measure the levels. I am a big fan of Kent’s Ammonia Detox to reduce the toxicity of ammonia, and of Enviro Reps BRF13A (Ammo Down) for the seeding of beneficial bacteria to reduce the ammonia on the long term. Bioseeding may be the most effective method of all, when possible, and AP’s AmmoLock is great. I do not like Amquel. At all.
Made from rotting fish wastes/urine/food
Tested with Nessler’s Drop Type tests
After (the regrettable) addition of aldehydes such as Formalin or Ammonia-binder agents, test with Salicylate reagent tests.
Ammonia causes redness of fins, general poor health, excess mucus production, flashing, and by chronic auto-intoxication: Pinecone disease.
Ammonia is more toxic at pH above 8.0
Ammonia is directly irritating to fish gills and tissues
Ammonia is removed from the environment by beneficial bacteria called “Nitrosomonas”.
You can control Ammonia with partial water changes or addition of Zeolites.
I discourage the use of chemicals for Ammonia binding. All but a few of them contain aldehydes (glutaraldehyde) which are guilty of binding oxygen and irritating the fish.
Wet dry filtration (versus submerged media) is very superior for supporting nitrifying bacteria.
I will upload a VERY lengthy discussion of Ammonia in *doc format please check the downloads section.
There will also be a pretty-rare document there showing Gratzek’s research on my favorite ammonia binder, Ammolock II
Additional notes:
“First of all, because it is foiled by fewer organic molecules, let’s establish that Salicylate test kits are superior to Nessler’s tests. Still, Ammonia testing can present a problem. You may not know that dechlorinator can zero-out your ammonia test. The reason is that in the salicylate test kit, chloride ions provide a reagent. Ample dehlorinator and other ammonia binders will zero out this free chlorine reagent and show you a zero test. The only way to be sure that the Ammonia is truly bound up is by “live-tissue cell culture histopathology”. Cells are bathed in test-water and then examined for tell-tale signs of Ammonia damage. The only company that has done this so far is Aquarium Pharmaceuticals who used Drs Lukert and Gratzek at UGA. This Ammonia binder does not contain any aldehydes. Even the so-called “Sulfide Ion” binders are often nothing but Formaldehyde-bi-sulfite (rongalite) which is incredibly unstable.” Doc Johnson
Pond Clean Out Needed? How to Fix / Clean Out an Ecosystem / Gravel Pond or Water Feature?
I had “the boys” out to clean out a pond I’ve neglected for NINE years. Sure I did water changes and sometimes I’d clean the filter, but it was pretty neglected. You couldn’t see the gravel in the bottom because of the layer of leaves and mulm.
Two “Johnsons” in my family decided to be pond managers / installers and one’s my son Lock Johnson and one’s my nephew Parker Johnson.
Parker was trained / mentored by Mark Carter in Tennessee. Mark Carter is a Certified Aquascape Contractor with probably 30 years experience.
Lock was trained by Pond manager / installer Rich Carter (no relation to Mark) in Marietta at Kol Koi.
So both guys have a lot of high quality experience. They’ve only ever done it right.
In managing the pond in Canton (my shame, 9-years-neglected) I got to see both managers in action. I admired that they took great care with the fish, were cognizant of shooting the liner with pressure washers, avoided illness in the fish through proper handling, and cared for the pond like their own. They know better than to sterilize the pond. And they know how to leave “just enough mulm” to avoid clouding after the cleanout.
I HIGHLY recommend either of these two resources in the Atlanta area. Their pricing is fair and their availability is good, at this time but of course they will be getting busier and busier.
