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sera guide - Healthy pond fish

53 10 General recommendations for application About risks and side effects… Some factors may affect an effective and safe treatment in the pond or even lead to undesirable side effects. You should gener- ally read the information for use carefully before using any kind of treatment. Make sure in particular that the treatment is suit- able for the intended application, and that the information for use, the label and the outer package do not contain any warning notes concerning the animals and plants you keep. Furthermore, you should only treat ponds with unobjectionable water chemistry. The application of some treatments may make the water conditions “turn over” by affecting biological filtration, e.g. if there is strong organic pollution (check ammoni- um/ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, for instance). Water temperature is also a very important factor in garden ponds. Treatments gener- ally do not work too well at temperatures below 12°C (54°F). However, infections also hardly occur at such low temperatures. The pathogens hibernate just like their hosts, the fish. Be especially careful to ensure suf- ficient aeration when temperatures are high in summer. Close observation is important especially if water chemistry is not in a stable equilibri- um, or in case of extreme water tempera- tures. It may even be necessary to stop the treatment by carrying out a water change if cloudiness should occur during the treat- ment or if the fish signalize lacking oxygen (e.g. by gasping for air at the surface). Therefore make sure you provide very good water quality and sufficient aeration before, during and after a treatment. At the same time you are considerably increasing the chances that your fish recover successfully and quickly by doing so. Tip Being poikilothermic animals that cannot actively regulate their body temperature but adapt it to the surrounding tempera- tures, fish are very calm at low tempera- tures. Their metabolism and their immune system function only to a limited extent. On the other hand, the pathogens are also hardly active at low temperatures. Therefore, acute infectious diseases are usually not likely at very low water tem- peratures. You should carry out treat- ments and larger maintenance measures only at higher water temperatures above 12°C (54°F), as to avoid disturbing hiber- nation of the inactive, sensitive fish. However, a vitamin treatment that strengthens disease resistance, such as sera KOI MULTIVITAMIN (see page 56), and a prophylactic salt treatment with sera ectopur (0.1 to 0.2 g/l, better predissolve it before adding to the water at low tem- peratures) may begin somewhat sooner. !!