Description

Internal and external bacterial infections can exhibit diverse phenomena. Whitish film often appears on the fish's skin, bloodshot spots or entirely different symptoms may also be observed. A definite diagnosis can only be made with a microscope.

A parasitic infection is often suspected, and if no healing occured after a corresponding medication against parasites, treat against bacterial infections.

If a microscope is available, distinguishing between bacterial and parasitic diseases is relatively simple: Most parasites are already clearly recognisable as moving objects with a 100-fold magnification. By contrast, bacteria are so small that they cannot even be recognised clearly with a 500-fold magnification. To put it simply: if you see objects that are clearly visible and moving around, they are most likely parasites. Conversely, if you don't find anything, you are probably dealing with a bacterial infection.

Treatment

For the duration of medication use, any activated carbon should be removed from the filter. Switch off any UV-C appliances and CO₂ fertilizing appliances. Please also ensure that skimmers and ozonisers in saltwater are switched off. Change 50 % of the water prior to application of medication. Aerate the aquarium using a diaphragm pump with air stone during the treatment. During the treatment continue feeding the fish, provided that they don’t refuse the food intake. Because many of the pathogenic bacteria are able to survive in the filter media, we recommend a thorough cleaning of the filter or even a replacement of the filter media.

After the treatment

After the treatment, please filter the aquarium water for 24 hours using activated carbon to remove the residues of medication. Afterwards the activated carbon should be duly discarded. The addition of a bacterial starter to the aquarium water helps to replace any purifying bacteria which may have been affected. During the treatment and daily in the first days after the treatment please check the ammonium/ ammonia and nitrite values. With nitrite values of over 0.5 mg/l an immediate water change of 50% should be carried out and a bacterial starter added.