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A systematic scientific approach to aquatic life keeping results in reduced costs and increased efficiency and enjoyment. One aspect of the livestock business that sorely needs improvement and continuous updating is disease diagnosis and treatment of livestock both on arrival and ongoing for perceived maladies. A search of the scientific and popular literature results in incomplete and conflicting reports of how to deal with any given disease condition. Relying on experimentation and hearsay in these times of little or no adequate quarantine is courting expensive disaster. This article (and others in this series) deals with developing and installing a system to accumulate and make useful data on how to acclimate new livestock and diagnose and treat on-going diseases. Disease/Health_Definition_and_Model First of all a definition and a very useful model of disease. Disease is "any condition deviating from a normal or healthy state". As such there are several ways to classify disease conditions. Genetic Disease: Concerns inherited disorders. 1) Environmental Disease: Are developmental disorders resulting from chemical and physical anomalies. 2) Social Disease: Is the manifestation of disorders as the result of interaction or lack of interaction of an organism with others of its own or other species. 3) Nutritional Disease: Results from chemical imbalance due to improper feeding and/or diet. 4) Infectious Disease: Are those unhealthful conditions attributable to bacteria, fungi, and viruses. 5) Parasitic Disease: Are those unhealthful conditions attributable to "organisms living in or on another species in which the host is harmed" including protozoans, "worms", crustaceans and others. Much has been written regarding the interactions between water quality, stress and propensity for disease. It is critical to understand the relationship between your livestock's': 1) Initial State, 2) Suitability of the Environment you're placing it in and, 3) Pathogenicity, or degree of infectiousness of disease-causing organisms. Towards the ends of fostering understanding regarding the relationships between these sets of factors I'd like to introduce a model popularized by the late Dr. Stan Sniezsko:
Figure:
The three interlocking circles symbolize the interrelationship of these factor groups. All conditions of health/disease are environmentally mediated. Indeed, an organisms "life-state" is the manifestation of agreement between itself and its indistinguishable environment. Generally, by optimizing two of these three sets of factors, you will be able to keep livestock alive. In particular, it is important to pick out organisms that have an initial state of health and potential (genetic heritage) for continuing in your set of conditions. The System: Rational The advantages to a systems approach to managing livestock are obvious. In view of the many hours and money that can be lost, the varied tasks and skills involved, the separation of duties, a working systematic approach to livestock management is vital. Relying on oral tradition or "hoping" others will know and will do "what needs to be done" is risky at best. We want you to know right up front that this part of aquaristics is very difficult. As businessmen and friends we are willing to help you. However, there is a lot of mis- and dis-information and outright voodoo in this field. Fish health is still an art and quasi-science in my opinion. Understand that most advice is un-substantiated, non-scientific opinion; as with your health, get a second and third and... How can we do this? By helping you document, develop and implement a systematic treatment system. Whatever Organizational Structure you have, someone will have to be responsible and accountable for Livestock Management; in particular, introduction, diagnosis and treatment. A_Systematic_Approach: May we suggest that you develop a card-catalog file/reference system for treating livestock on arrival and for on-going maladies? This involves a five-sectioned box or boxes with alphabetical indices for keeping index cards filed. On_Arrival: One section/box includes cards for types of fish kept in your system. These cards how to deal with the livestock on arrival. Example: Neon Tetras. Dip: None; sensitive to formaldehyde, copper, KMnO3. Temperature: Keep warm; use heaters or upper tanks. Chemistry: Turn flow rate down, two squirts acid mix, no salt, no metal dyes, if it's necessary to use malachite or Aquarisol, half dose; use brass pads, shimmy blocks if look fish looks shaky. Food: Next day, everyday, medicated flake for bacteria, protozoans for two weeks. On_Going_Treatment: Section two involves on-going treatment of livestock. Example: Plecostomus and other South American Suckermouth Catfishes. Water flow: Low, turnover once, twice per day. Food: Banquet blocks, zucchini, medicated flakes. Quarantine Time: One week. Treatment instructions: Ich, 1/2 dose malachite, raise temp. to 80's. Flukes: Dylox 10ppm. Mysterious losses: Lower pH with organic acids. Warnings: Sensitive to malnutrition; have some food available continuously. Symptoms,_Treatments: Section 3 involves diseases, observable symptoms and treatments. Example: Ich; white spot disease, Ichthyophthiriasis. Cause: Ciliated protozoan, always present, waiting to super-infest fish in weakened state. Usually brought on by a sudden drop in temperature. Some species especially prone, some relatively immune. Appearance: Small white dots, @ 1/16 " diameter spread over fish. Warnings: Easily spread with nets, water. On-going, strong strains harder to treat. Treatment: Early diagnosis, elevated temperatures (mid 80's), proper pH. Small, scaleless fish: 1/2 dose malachite or Aquarisol. Large, scaled, non-sensitive fishes, full dose of malachite green or copper. Medications: Section four is an indexed reference to Medications, Food Preparations, other concoctions, like net dips, for example: Preparation: About one ounce of stock formaldehyde solution in one half bucket tap water. Duty: Made up first thing every day by the Facility Manager. Use: Specimen containers and nets dunked in between use in tanks. Purpose: Reduce spreading of infectious and parasitic diseases. Alternative: Permanganate solution. References: Section five is your reference file. Example, Nelson Herwig, Treatment of Fish Diseases; good practical information for specifying treatments. Get and use a copy for your personal library. References are listed by name and page number on the back side of cards in sections one through four. Summary: Treatments are necessary on arrival and on-going to ensure adequate health of livestock. The development and use of a Treatment System as detailed here, serves to educate, train and with proper application, systematically reduce losses. The actual treatments must be recorded and analyzed in a reasonable, consistent, documented process; in a Treatment Book and/or with a marking system on the tanks. You may have the savvy and want to computerize this Treatment System and develop it in your own way. Whatever is decided, do it soon! The last thing a person dealing with livestock needs is to have problems right off with sick, weak fish. Please employ a reasonable, consistent practice that is documented to assist you in developing and repeating practices for proper acclimation of your livestock per your conditions. These systematic ways of doing things pay!
Retail (copper) question – 06/26/07 |
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