Ageofaquariums

Any shop running their tanks at 30degC long term will likely be wiped out by one of the Flavobacterium columnare so prevalent in the hobby. Choosing to go high is a calculated risk, and most lfs will not do it lightly due to increased costs and decreased stocking levels. Whitespot is the most convenient of the fish diseases, there are certainly far far worse things lurking out there.

 

 

White spot, is a parasite that covers the entire globe, & there are few Aquarists that have not met it on one or more occasions. A sudden chilling of the fish, which can easily occur when they are being transported from the shop to one's home, is often sufficient to take the parasite from its latent state to the reproductive phase. An unchecked outbreak will bring about a heavy mortality rate, though it takes usually quite a number of days before such comes to pass, thus giving the Aquarist time to take remedial action.

White spot "Ich", is a ciliated parasite with a three stage life cycle. On the fish, the only part that we can easily observe, the form is termed a trophont, & causes the appearance that gives rise to the popular name of the condition, i.e. "White spot". As the trophont matures it eventually breaks through the skin (epithelial layer), & falls to the bottom of the tank, during which phase it can attach itself to any of the various materials that we use in our Aquaria, such as gravel, filters, airline tubing & more.

This part of the life cycle is called a tomont. How long it remains in this stage is a variable. Higher temperatures will accelerate its maturation, while colder water ensure a longer latency. For this reason many Aquarists use an elevated temperature to try and cause the parasite to mutate into the final re-infective form termed a theront .

The parasite is at its most vulnerable while in the free swimming theront form before it encysts as a trophont. Various chemical therapies are effective, such as Malachite green, or Malachite green with formalin. The Theront stage is very sensitive to higher temperatures, which is the reason that many skilled Aquarists often try eliminating an outbreak, purely by increasing the temperature by some 5-8⁰F while the infestation is endemic.

http://fishvet.com/Freshwater_ich.htm

As above, not much a lfs can do when fish come in with hidden white spot cysts on them.

I hate quarantine tanks too, but they are a good way to stop this annoying disease, as well as many other more serious ones.

Less water changes would likely be better.

Excellent thread. Thank you for taking the time to share!

We haven't seen a decline, but we certainly have more varied customers. Frog tanks, crab tanks, anemone communities, wabi kusa etc

With the huge diversity of tech available, the hobby seems less about fish sometimes and more about product. But it sure helps find the perfect tech for a certain tank build.

Perhaps customers are just more independent these days?

How many of the questions asked here would have traditionally been asked at a LFS and equated to a product sale?

We can't go back in time, but I think older stores that take advantage of the internet can still do well.

Its been a wild and groovy ride guys, but looks like we have moved into lurk and learn mode.

We still love you all, and you are welcome to creep stalk us on facebook anytime.

Rock on.

Changing to keep nitrates below 40ppm works for me. If I start to notice nitrate bounce back a few days after change, I will clean canisters and vaccum gravel.  Recording nitrate tests and water changes, lets you scientifically be as lazy as possible while still keeping your fishes well being as top priority. Low nitrates = low aggression, low algae, fast growth and more spawn'ins.

Nitrates arent the be all and end all of aquarium pollutants, but they do increase in general ratio to most the rest. So they are a convenient marker post.

Chemi pure has the advantage of being a blended media, so has the benefits of ion exchange resins (like purigen/macropore) combined with activated carbon. At the cost of losing recharge, you gain a much more robust and varied chemical filtration effect.

Chemi-pure for the win!

New filter though, so sounds like a text book water column bacterial bloom while the new sticky bacteria biofilms get established on the new filter media. Once the biofilms establish the ammonia conversion is much more efficient, and this will starve out the water column bloom.

Ammonia spike likely, has been bioaccumulated by cloudy water bacterial bloom hence 0ppm reading.

Ensure oxygenation is good and probably safest not to feed.

It may have spooked and rammed something. Concussion is not that uncommon in silver sharks.

Otherwise testing NITRITE is a good idea, as is making sure you are using enough dechlorinator when topping up.

From there it may be a poison, such as fly spray.