sera guide - Healthy aquarium fish

Diagnosis: page 7 Treatment: see above Treatment should begin without delay as the dis- ease quickly develops and spreads. Lowering the pH value to just under pH 7 (e.g. with sera pH- minus) supports the treatment since the bac- teria prefer alkaline water. Please make sure in ad- vance whether the fish you keep tolerate this acidification. This disease frequently occurs on fish imported from Asia. There is a certain risk of confusing the disease with neon disease, which not only affects Neon Tetras but also numerous other fish species. It is caused by the single celled para- site Pleistophora (Microspora), which may also cause skin areas turning white. Swimming around restlessly at night and spine curvature are other common symptoms of neon disease. Affected fish should be isolated as quickly as possible as to prevent the disease from spreading. There is no known treatment. 6.2 Treating bacterial diseases Bacteria are present in every aquarium and ful- fill important tasks in there, e.g. the breakdown of ichthyotoxic nitrogen compounds. However, some of the bacteria species may cause dis- eases. This in particular applies for fish with in- juries, a weakened immune system and in case of high pathogen density. There should be hardly any problems caused by bacteria in an appropriately maintained aquarium. The diseases described in the following are caused by different bacteria species. Precise species identification is usually only possible by a specialized microbiological laboratory. However, knowing the precise species is al- most always not important for a treatment. The first symptoms for a bacterial infection may include fin clamping and the fish tending to hide. The preparations sera omnipur, sera bakto- pur direct, sera baktopur and sera bakto Tabs are treatments that can safely heal most bacterial infections occurring in fish. Treating in time is very important as later infection stages increasingly affect internal organs, and the damages quickly become irreparable. The broad range treatment sera omnipur ef- fectively treats most ornamental fish diseases in freshwater aquariums – in particular bacter- ial infections. The liquid sera baktopur (in freshwater) has disinfecting and recovery sup- porting effects. It provides good support espe- cially in the early stages of an infection. sera baktopur direct (freshwater and saltwater fish) and the medicinal food tablets sera bak- to Tabs (freshwater and saltwater fish) are an- tibiotically effective and can even treat some very advanced infections. You may use the preparations sera baktopur, sera baktopur direct and sera bakto Tabs in combination. This is particularly advisable in case of ad- vanced, severe infections. The care product sera ectopur provides support especially if the mucous membranes are also affected. It releases disinfecting oxygen and stimulates mucous membrane regeneration due to the in- cluded salt. Proper water quality and good aeration must be maintained in case of all bacterial infec- tions. You should generally not feed – possibly except for adding sera bakto Tabs – during the treatment as to prevent additional water pollution. During and after the treatment it makes sense to strengthen the immune sys- tem of the animals by additionally applying vitamins (sera fishtamin). Various bacterial infections may occur in fresh- water and saltwater. Some of the bacterial dis- eases most frequently occurring in ornamental fish are described in the following. Columnaris–KrankheitColumnaris disease Scale with areas dissolved by an infection Agglomerates of Columnaris bacteria in a mucous membrane skin swab 28