# a point of view



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I find a big change over the past few years has been in how aquarists view diseases and illnesses. There used to be a big focus on identifying diseases through reading up on symptoms - spotting parasites early and seeing the warning signs of bacterial illnesses were valued skills.
Older aquarists spent too much time on the effect, and not enough on the cause.
I find we now look to the environment, and the usual disease advice is to pull out the test kit and see the limited information the coloured vials give us. That's useful as a routine, and it will often tell us the souce of the stress that has allowed the illness or parasite to take hold. 
While the eighties aquarist poured medications into a filthy and disease causing tank, the 2012 aquarist seems to test the water, see what caused the problem and then let it run for a little long. I keep reading the opposite extreme from when I started - a focus on the cause but slowness in dealing with the effect. It's as if ammonia has replaced all the disease organisms, viruses, bacteria, and parasites - a real over-simplification. 
I think we have to strive for a middle ground. Have medications for the basics on hand - you need an anti-parasitic - a broad anti-Ich anti Oodinium treatment, since diseases tend to hit when the stores are closed. Don't be scared off by the "chemical" nature of meds - remember that supposedly natural salt is a harsh chemical never found in the habitats of most rainforest fish and it is harder on them then medicinal dyes. 

These are just thoughts - not questions or a reaction to any one thread. It's just a pattern I've been reading on the forum that I found interesting, and that I thought people might want to think about. Back in the day, aquarists were told to get a fish first aid kit, Now they are told to get a master testing kit. Both are useful.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Well said!

I believe a test kit is an invaluable tool(coming from someone who tests PH and nothing else) for many newcomers. I think there should also be a first aid kit, consisting of meds to treat the gram negative and positive bacterias, as well as ich meds and a few other things. One main reason I ask for the levels is because usually a non cycled tank will allow adverse effects to take hold on a fish, stressed from his environment.

Back in the day what was the most common meds on hand for a first aid kit?


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## Redbug (Sep 10, 2012)

An interesting observation navigator black which i think is a reflection of community attitudes to our own health. We went from throwing chemicals at every illness to a movement in some circles of avoiding medication to a persons detriment. A balanced approach seems the way to go on so many levels. I prefer to keep chemicals to a minimum but if my fish are suffering I will use whatever will help.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I keep "rid ich plus" and methelyne blue in stock .Malachite green used to be "popular" as I remember.An extra heater and "older"(last one before upgrade) filter along with air pump "just in case" is part of my fist aid kit also.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I keep a methelyne blue container at hand, plus something with praziquantel (but I get wild fish so gut parasites are an issue). I also have quick-cure around to zap ich, and a topical disinfectant for wounds on bodies or fins.

For my hardwater fish, I always have salt - rock salt, kosher salt or sea salt.

I keep nothing for gram negative or gram positive bacteria - aquarium antibiotics are unavailable where I live without a veterinary prescription and I think that is a positive. They are too often misused and that aids pathogens in developing resistance. I water change religiously to practice preventative medecine.

I don't own a test kit. With experience, you get so you can see ammonia through fish behavior. I have pH and general hardness tests that I use sometimes, but nitrite/nitrate etc are of no interest to me. I use a tds meter more than I would use an API master kit.

I have two detailed and somewhat gross fish disease identification books, both picked up in the seconds bins of discount bookstores. 

A lot of the old meds are gone, either because they proved carcinogenic (in the state of California!) or because the companies changed. Acriflavene (I have some) was a green fluorescent dye great against velvet but murder to remove from the tank, chelated copper was also a good antiparasitic that reportedly destroys the testes of livebearer males. They were standards in the old days, along with iodine for topical injuries and fins and all those little pill packages of expired antibiotics that were so available.

I am very skeptical of the tea tree oil based meds as the active ingredient is in such a low concentration I have serious doubts about it's usefulness.

That being said, in the normal run of things, sickness only happens with new fish. A power blackout may bring on Ich, and laziness with water changes has brought on Oodinium (velvet) here, but those are easy to treat if you are fast. I received some wild mollies that had been chilled last week, and saw a few Ich cysts - a shot of Quick-Cure and in 24 hours, they were clear. If I had waited to get to the store and buy an Ich med, they would have been covered and several would have died.

In a pinch, you can get methelyne blue in many pharmacies - a great resource for Sunday night flare-ups from fish shopping. Aquarium salt is just sea or kosher salt, from grocery stores. Fin fungus (always dirty water!) can be attacked with Betadine or iodine eye-droppered onto the affected area (but kept away from eyes and gills). There are a lot of common sense solutions, available in older books like William T Innes' Exotic aquarium Fishes, or the Axelrod books from the sixties.


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

Talking about big change. I admit, I've fallen victim to this,

Take a picture and post it to forums like this one.


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