Amanda Rumianowski - reducing illness in fish

Reducing illness in fish:

1. High water quality via regular water changes. Avoid methods like father fish and walstad that encourage only topping off your tanks. While doing this in a heavily planted tank will maintain stable parameters and the water will appear clean and clear, over time the water can become detrimental to your fish’s health.

In every fish tank exists both beneficial and harmful bacteria and fungi. In a well maintained tank with healthy fish, the harmful bacteria and fungi pose no threat to your fish. But the longer a tank goes without water changes, the more these bacteria and fungi multiply, decreasing water quality on a microscopic level that we can not see or test for in our homes.

This build up of harmful bacteria and fungi weakens your fish’s immune system over time, making them more susceptible to infection and illness. This is evidenced even within Walstad’s findings, as she had chronic issues with fish TB that she eventually admitted were due to the lack of water changes.

2. High quality foods. In the case of bettas, this is going to be frozen, or ideally live insects. Brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, daphnia, mosquito larvae, fruit flies, etc. are all great choices. Many of these options can be easily cultured at home as well. Mosquito larvae are a prime choice for bettas as they are a top source of food in their natural environment. Many people culture and harvest them during the summer months. They can be frozen just like brine shrimp and other store bought insects for fish. Live food has the added bonus of being enrichment for your fish as well.

3. A tank that mimics their natural environment as closely as possible. This means live plants, the more the merrier. I see people ask if there is such thing as too many plants and my answer to that is, only if your fish is unable to swim lol. I also recommend adding tannins to the water with Indian almond leaves, driftwood, or the plethora of other botanicals that are safe for fish tanks. Warm water is important as well, within the 78-82 degree range is vital to proper organ function and lower temperatures can contribute to bloat and constipation issues.

Bonus: supplements like vitachem that ensure your fish is getting all of the required nutrients in their diet.

“Why are water changes important? My fish seem fine and my parameters are good, even when I go long periods of time without a water change. “

In the wild, the ponds, lakes, etc. that fish call home are what we refer to as an “open system”. These bodies of water have a constant exchange of fresh water via rain water, connection to other sources, and underground sources that we can not see, such as aquifers. The sun also assists, via heavy evaporation and providing a strong UV source that helps control pathogens.

Within these ecosystems also exists an extremely delicate balance of fish and other creatures, as well as insects and microorganisms. All of these help to control each other, the pathogens, the waste, etc. something that is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately replicate in a home aquarium without detrimental effects to the captive-bred species.

While many fish keepers advocating for filterless or no water change methods also advise collecting water and objects from natural sources to help recreate this environment, this can and does harm fish without the proper resistances. Fish in these wild sources have often lived there for many generations, and have built up tolerances to the natural pathogens that exist in their home. Captive-bred fish are often raised in quite sterile conditions, and have not been exposed to these pathogens for many generations. This means they are much more likely to be affected by them.

This is also why water changes are so important. It is impossible to keep a home aquarium without some harmful pathogens colonizing in the tank. Bacteria, fungi, and parasites are a natural part of living water sources. But a home aquarium is a “closed system”. There is no natural exchange of fresh water. Yes there is some evaporation, but consider the surface area of a natural body of water, sitting under the sun vs. a home aquarium, which for betta keepers, is often full of floating plants. The evaporation in a tank is not nearly as high as in the wild.

Without water changes, the colonies of these pathogens will begin to explode. As well as many other things that can not easily/cheaply be tested for at home, such as various minerals. And while your fish may not display any symptoms for a long time, all of these things building up in the water weakens their immune system overtime, which will eventually lead to infection. You can see evidence of this within Diane Walstad’s work, as she had chronic fish TB issues until she started using UV sterilizers to kill off the pathogens. And fish TB is an unfortunately difficult illness to properly diagnose, and by the time you are able to, it’s typically too late to help the infected fish.

Water changes should make fish keeping easier for you, by reducing all of the harmful things that naturally exist in your fish tank, which keeps us safer too since some of these bacteria can infect humans as well. If you’re having trouble doing water changes and experiencing illness or death after doing them, I am happy to help you get to the root of the problem so you can resume a regular water change schedule and keep your fish healthier, just create a post or pm me anytime! I’m happy to help!