sera guide - Healthy aquarium fish

8 Preventing and remedying maintenance mistakes and intoxications Cause: page 22 Prevention/Recommendation: Obtain de- tailed information about the special require- ments of the fish you keep, use sera quality food and check all important water parame- ters. Regular partial water changes and using sera aquatan (alternatively: sera blackwater aquatan), as well as sera bio nitrivec or sera marin bio reefclear (in saltwater) for breaking down organic pollution, ensure constantly good water quality. Feeling unwell, caused by unsuitable or polluted water, or by not keeping the fish according to their requirements (e.g. no hideaways, keeping unsuitable species together etc.) Cause: page 23 Prevention/Recommendation: Gas oversat- uration may for instance occur after a larger water change with colder water. Cold, well aerated water (e.g. directly from the faucet) dissolves more gas than possibly warm aquar- ium water that has stood for quite some time. Gas oversaturation then occurs when the added water quickly warms up in the warmer aquarium, since the warmer water cannot keep as much gas in solution. The gas over- saturation, which becomes visible by small air bubbles within the mucous membrane of the fish as well as on other surfaces, may cause an embolism within the veins. In case of gas oversaturation, you should uncover the tank and agitate the water surface well (e.g. by in- creased activity of the pump), as to allow for intense exchange with the air and, according- ly, removal of excess gases. However, you should generally ensure careful- ly to not alter the temperature by more than a few degrees during water changes or when transferring fish. Strongly varying tempera- tures – e.g. also due to improperly working heaters – weaken the disease resistance of the fish. Cause: page 22 Prevention/Recommendation: Avoid injuries of any kind as far as possible, as the wounds often become infected and may lead to severe diseases. Always carry out necessary mainte- nance measures in the tank very carefully and calmly as to avoid unnecessary stress and panic escape reactions that might injure the fish. You should always use the fine mesh, rounded sera fish nets for catching them. Be Injuries, e.g. by catching with a coarse net, transport injuries, injuries by trying hectically to escape (bouncing into sharp edged decoration objects) or by territorial fights sure to provide a sufficient number of hide- aways, appropriate fish stock density and a suitable combination of fish species as to avoid dangerous fights among the fish. A dou- ble dose of sera aquatan or sera blackwater aquatan provides help in case the fish ever get injured nevertheless. Use sera ectopur additionally in case of deeper injuries, and treat with sera mycopur if required. Air bubble disease (oversaturation of the water with gas) 41