# Fish Health



## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

There are so many problems or concerns in this hobby about fish diseases. I really don't know why so many people have problems with this but I have a hunch.
Our fish in the sea never really die of old age. A fish, unfortunately, is an animal that usually ends it's life as supper for some other animal, being either another fish, seal, bird or humans. Even a fearsome great white shark will eventually grow so old and slow that it can no longer catch sea lions and it will starve to be eaten by other less fearsome animals.
But in a captive envirnment fish can live for years or decades. And they should. Fish have evolved a fairly elaborate immune system because they have been here for millions of years longer than us, well most of us. The fact that live in a watery envirnment demands that their immune system function well because the sea is host to all the chemicals, minerals bacteria and viruses on earth. The water is actually an extension of the fishes circulatory system so whatever is in the water, is also in the fish.
We humans have it much easier because we only need to inhale air and not everything else on earth.
This immune system works almost flawlessly but only if the fish is in perfect health. Through my observations it seems that their immune system is severly compromised by a lack of certain things in their diet along with stress.
We can't do much about the stress of captivity short of releasing the fish to the wild but we can do much about their diet.
Fish IMO should almost never get sick. If we have a town of 100 people and a human lifespan is about 80 years then most people should live about 80 years, some 60 some 100 but on average.
If out of those 100 people absolutely none of them reach 30 years old and 10% of the rest of them come down with something, you may not want to live in that town.
Fish want to live and if they get sick it is usually our fault.
Keeping the immune system of a fish healthy is paramount to keeping the animal disease free. Even paracite free although I don't know exactly how they become immune to paracites but I know they do.
My tank is no better than anyone elses but I have not lost a fish to a disease in decades. Why is that?
I doubt it is my UG filter, people just laugh at that. I don't think it has to do with my ozone although that could help. I don't change nearly as much water as most people. I get the fish from many different sources. 
It has to be either the bacteria I add from the sea, but I don't see how that would help. Or the food.
I am betting on food. I could be wrong because I am not the God of fish and not an expert. By the way, there are no experts because this is a hobby. No one has a degree in hobbies although some people think they do.
I am only going by my own observations here and my 40 years of hanging out underwater.
The best food for most fish is fish. Whole fish, guts liver bones, scales and all.
I myself don't usually feed whole fish, i wish I could but I do feed live whole worms, whole fish eggs and whole clams after I freeze them. (worms are full of oil)
If you do much diving you will see millions of tiny fish fry all over the place near the bottom, this makes up a large part of a fishes diet. Not flakes, pellets or freeze dried anything.
I believe it is the guts of the prey fish that keeps the immune system functioning properly. Specifically the liver which is mostly oil.
A 100lb shark is almost 20lbs oil. Fish need this oil to maintain bouyancy and to produce eggs.
Only the healthiest fish can spawn because making babies is a great challenge for a fish. It not only needs nourishment to keep itself alive but it needs a huge amount of extra nutrients to produce fry which at that point are mostly oil.
If a fish is spawning or making spawning jestures it is in excellent health. Fish in excellent health have excellent immune systems.
Fish with excellent immune systems do not get sick.
Again, this is only my theory and this entire hobby is based on mostly theory.
Have a great day.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

My thoery is I'll take your word over most marine biologists anyday. 

what to you speculate will be the effects of the oil spill on the gulf 100 years from now?


woops change subject. LOL


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## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

> what to you speculate will be the effects of the oil spill on the gulf 100 years from now?


If it were fish oil I would imagine all the fish would be spawning *r2

I am sure that much more oil than that has been flowing into the oceans for millions of years. Now we have to drill for oil in the deep sea but I am sure there was plenty of oil that was released by earthquakes, volcanoes and plate tectonics.
Before we had people going out in boats fishing and resort beaches, it didn't bother anyone.
The oil has always been there and it has always leaked out. It is natural and so far it has not ended the world.
I just don't want to swim, boat or eat fish from it.
*old dude


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Thanks

If nothing else in a few decades they can be live rock for your tank. 

On the fish health my 55g hit a "wall" where any new desirable fish I put in would be fine for a couple of weeks, develop white spots, slow down and breath heavy and die the third week. I found pH was down to 7.5. Ammonia nitrites were 0.

I would add some baking soda and pH would rise for a day then drop down.

I found out about macro algaes and setup a 20gl for the macros.

To my surprise ph was 8.4-8.8 (api high range kit).

I then ordered more macros and added them my 55g with a yellow tang (second week already developed white spots).

PH rose to 8.1 the next day and 8.4-8.8 at the end of the week. And stayed has stayed there for 4+ years.

the yellow tang with white spots had the white spots disappear that week. And the tang doubled in size in a year and survived for over 3 years untill I did a big screw up.

So I agree with you and the fish's immune system. I now know the pH rose because the macros sucked out the carbon dioxide. Not to mention provided food the the tang and stabilized operation by consuming ammonia over nitrates.

So yea. get the fish immune through a high quality environment. And forget all the additives and stuff.

my .02


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## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

People PM me all the time asking what they should feed to this fish or that fish and when I tell them, they say, well I can't get that, or that is too much trouble, can I just give them flakes?
I don't know how to respond to that. If you have a fish like a mandarin, seahorse, orange spotted file fish or moorish Idol why do you even have it if you can't provide the food for it?
If an alien race abducted a few humans and brought them up to Ga Ga world, I wonder if they would feed us sheetrock or cardboard just because they could get it in Ga Ga Home Depot.
All fish were designed to eat a certain thing. They don't need variety, they need what they are supposed to eat and many will not even recognize a different food item. They don't eat it in many cases because they can't dijest it or it will do them no good. Most copper band butterflies will not eat flakes. That fish is designed to eat mostly worms. It is a carnavore like a wolf. Flakes are mostly vegetable because you don't have to refrigerate flakes. You want to know why? Because there is nothing in flakes to go bad. They are mostly seaweed with some dehydrated shrimp meal.
No oil because oil goes bad.
It's like white flour. You know how white flour is always fortified with vitamins and minerals? They don't do that because they care about you. They do that so they can call it food, other wise, it is just paste and they can't sell it as food. They invented white flour for the same reason they invented flakes. It does not go bad and it can be stored forever.
Flakes are fine for a fill in or if you soak it in some type of fish oil or as an emergency but they should not be a staple diet for any salt water fish. Maybe guppies.


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