Ichthyophthyriosis is a very common disease in fish. This disease is very contagious and sometimes gives a lot of trouble to aquarists.
Ichthyophthyroidism: symptoms
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis parasites are the cause of ichthyothyroidism. Signs of the appearance of this disease are small white tubercles on the fins of fish, these hillocks can be seen on the head and body of a fish. Especially clearly pronounced tubercles in fish of dark color or on transparent fins.
In the severe stage of the disease, the tubercles begin to merge with each other into large spots. Sometimes such islands are very similar to sores on the body of a fish. A distinctive feature of the disease is the speed of its spread: very soon, from one species of fish, ichthyothyroidism is transferred to another.
Among the symptoms of ichthyothyroidism, the behavior of fish is also distinguished: at the initial stage, the fish rub against the objects in the aquarium and it itches. If the disease has acquired a more severe stage, then the behavior of fish changes dramatically. They begin to rush about the aquarium, often convulsive movements are observed, fish can nervously twitch the fins. In addition, parasites also cause infection of the gills, which leads to a markedly rapid breathing.
Breath in fish is heavy and they constantly keep on the surface of the water. In the end, they simply fall to the bottom of the decay. Fins completely frayed, and the body of the fish acquires a noticeably pale color. In some places, the skin can go away. At this stage of the disease, the treatment of ichthyothyroidism is ineffective, almost certainly the fish will die. Due to physical hypoxia or failure of the osmotic regulation system, the fish dies. Especially rapidly develops the disease in small fish and fry. In just a couple of days, all the fish can die.
How to treat ichthyothyroidism?
So, you have recognized the signs of this disease in your pets. There are different ways to treat ichthyothyroidism in fish. Treatment of ichthyothyroidism at an early stage is much more effective and productive. To do this, you need to purchase special chemicals in the vetaptek. But remember that such treatment is effective on a freely floating stage, so it is better to continue treatment for a couple of days even after the fish recover.
In order to accelerate the life cycle of parasites and thereby destroy the entire focus of infection, you can slightly increase the temperature in the aquarium. But before treating ichthyothyroidism in this way, you should make sure that this does not harm the fish even more. Since the gills are affected, there may be a risk of exacerbation of hypoxia.
Among the drugs that are used for treatment, methylene blue is considered to be one of the most effective. But use such a tool should only be in a quarantine aquarium, where only infected fish swim.
Some aquarists to combat ichthyothyroidism prefer salt treatment to chemical preparations. A great advantage of this type of treatment is that it is enough to conduct all necessary procedures only once. Gradually the concentration of salt
When you begin to fight the disease, carefully read the instructions on the package. The fact is that many species of fish, especially those lacking scales, simply can not bear the effect of the drug. First, you must remove such fish from the aquarium, and then carry out treatment. This also applies to the salt method. Each type of fish should be selected the way of treatment individually.