Diseases

How are diseases introduced into an aquarium?

I am asking because one of my female bettas have dropsy. I have isolated her and it doesn’t seem like any of the other fish are sick at all.
So is it possible for the disease to be introduced via water changes?

I do a 30% weekly water change.
Have not introduced any new fish for the last 4 weeks.
Filters run 24/7.
Water temp of 26 degrees Celsius.
Add a cap and a half of stress guard with water change.
I do not feed them any live foods.
Do feed them frozen bloodworms from time to time. (Last time I fed them FBW is a month ago).

Is it possible that she could have been infected a month ago but that the disease was dormant?

 

Carl,

Simply put... yes, diseases can lay "dormant" in your tank. I doubt any disease will survive the chlorine bath that our government treats our water with, so I don't think it'll come through your WC.

Basically let's look at it this way... you yourself as a human being are sitting around germs, bacteria and virus's all the time. Your immune system keeps this at bay. We need to remember that if you are living a healthy lifestyle, i.e eating correctly and keeping active, you are fundamentally keeping your immune system in top shape. The moment you lapse on the diet, or go through a stressful occurrence, your immune system is one of the first things in your body to take a knock, and one of the germs, virus or bacteria's hit! The same happens with our fish. Within the tank, if the fish remains healthy and getting a well balanced diet, the fish will usually fend off any nasties.

The BIGGEST cause for fish disease is actually the owner's negligence.

1) Poor water quality. (Results in unhealthy fish which are very susceptible to illness)
2) Poor quality food. (This may carry pathogens and diseases)
3) and the biggest cause is introduction of new fish without first Quarantining them!

You may have added a new fish 5 months ago, and the disease only hits the betta now.

So @Jimmy there are 3 possible causes that I can pinpoint just be reading your initial post, and these conclusions I've made based on assumptions.

1) Your new addition 4 weeks ago brought the disease with
2) You are using a cheap brand of Bloodworm. (This is a pretty common cause)
3) Your diet may not be suitable.

As far as I know, we haven't had many members on this forum who have had success combating Dropsy in Betta's. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

Thank you for the quick reply.

So then it doesn't matter if a fish is first quarantined. If there are no signs of disease after a week or two in quarantine tank then how can you eliminate the possibility of introducing disease into the community tank?

Only prevent disease by making sure that fish living standards are extremely good and that they are healthy?

I use Campcon frozen bloodworms. Don't know how good quality it is.

 

hi jimmy bloodworm is good....but fish should have more than just bloodworm as its only a protein we could not survive just on lean steak?? so change it up with a pellet or flake food witch contains all the vitamins they need also brine shrimp is good for roughage and certain to enhance colour!
and you are quite correct make sure water quality is pristine and stable, if your fish is stressed they will catch diseases just like when we work too hard and are run down we pick up colds crazy fast.
also take note how you feed dont over feed..
feed as much as your fish can consume in 1-2minutes or until food passes the fish and they are no longer interested stop the feed. try to never make food hit the bottom of your aquarium,when i feed bloodwoorm i use a syringe i defrost it suck it up then slowly at bit by bit till they are full. also light gravel vacuums over the surface of the gravel will help but only light! you only want to pick up loose debris if you plunge the vacuum deep into the gravel you will be sucking up all the beneficial bacteria for the nitrogen cycle and in turn cause the tank to go through water problems or mini cycle again causing stress to you fish....
hope this helps good luck

 

@lc3786455 Thank you. I do feed them pellets as well as flakes. I only feed them bloodworms on occasion.

 

Hi @Jimmy,

I'm new to this whole fish-keeping thing, but I've made a point of reading the stickies. This one, describing the proper use of a quarantine facility, is quite informative. It's a long process, but certainly worth considering.

Have a look at it :
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6189-Proper-use-of-Quarantine-facility

Hope it helps you out a little.

 

@Jimmy there is a product by Interpet "Anti-Internal Bacteria", I had success with a couple of my baby Mollies. It's worth a try.

Kim

 

Interpet is very good. Pricy, but excellent products. Waterlife products are also very good.

 

@Jimmy I believe you have identified the source and cause of your little fish's problem in the above post. Such bloodworms have been the cause of many many fish losses, even in my tanks where I lost some prize dwarf cichlids.

This is not a bacterial infection but most likely parasitic (primary) that will lead to secondary infections and the eventual loss of this fish if not treated immediately. Obtain a very high quality anti parasite treatment.

 

Good luck with treating the dropsy. Tow of my male bettas had dropsy and died soon.