!!!! DESPERATE URGENT HELP WITH MY DOVII !!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Yeah, a lot of fishkeepers don't practice very good cross-contamination practices IME... using the same hose for a water change, using the same nets, even getting your hand wet and then putting it in another tank. Also hard to say without an exact ID of the disease.
Your tanks generally have a few "bugs" lurking in the system waiting for a chance to infect. Look at people with HIV... Their immune systems are compromised so they catch illnesses others are exposed to every day and don't get sick. This is why a "stessed" fish can seemingly get sick for no reason. Their immune system is compromised from the stress.
Point is, I don't think I'd jump to the water supply as the culprit. I doubt you're all on the same water supply anyway, down here in Portland you can have a completely different water source coming through your tap if you live 20 minutes apart from another fishkeeper.
 
Glad to see that beast is doing better. Always liked Dovii, but I doubt i'll have a tank large enough for them in the immediate future, so they will just have to be a dream fish for now...
 
I completely understand. The water comment was not a serious question, it was a frustrated comment. LOL But regarding the water comment and what you said, there could be a connection of some sorts. I know that every Fall, water companies will add various chemicals to the water to prepare for the upcoming Winter. I wonder if the sudden addition to the tap water is maybe stressing out some fish and causing a weakened immune system, allowing the bacteria to attack.
 
Water companies don't typically add anything in the Fall (or any other season) that would trigger stress levels to the point of an outbreak of fungus. If they did, there would be massive oubreaks of sick fish with every season change. If your fish are getting sick due to stress levels, I'd be looking a little closer to home.
 
RD. said:
Water companies don't typically add anything in the Fall (or any other season) that would trigger stress levels to the point of an outbreak of fungus. If they did, there would be massive oubreaks of sick fish with every season change. If your fish are getting sick due to stress levels, I'd be looking a little closer to home.
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I have to disagree to some extent. My water company alone adds chemicals to the water and I have had them send me MSDS on all additives for this exact reason. So at times if a fish is already weak or stressed, it can cause them to become weaker, which in turn more apt to getting sick.

As for stress being the reason, I never said that was the cause. I am just looking for ideas as to why this may be happening to a lot of hobbyist up here. I personally have no issues with any of my fish. (except my Dovii) I am just trying to get ideas for others to think about.
 
The only time I know of where our water chemistry from the tap "changes" is if they decide to use the underground holding sources of water here, but they haven't done it in a few years and alerted their customers first the last time they did.
 
I have to disagree to some extent. My water company alone adds chemicals to the water and I have had them send me MSDS on all additives for this exact reason. So at times if a fish is already weak or stressed, it can cause them to become weaker, which in turn more apt to getting sick.
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Yes, obviously I realize that water treatment facilities add certain chemicals at their end, but by & large most/all of these chemicals are fish safe & do not cause any type of physical stress to a fish when properly treated with a water conditioner. As I recall you also stopped using warm water during water changes as you felt the heavy metals in your hot water tank caused HITH in a number of your fish. The reality is that most natural bodies of water (and most certainly in WA state) contain heavy metals, but again, the amounts are generally so low that they will have no short term, and very few if any long term effects on a fish kept in captivity, especially if one has harder/higher calcium tap water. In fish, toxicity of metals is affected by calcium which reduces the toxic effect of a metal through competitive inhibition at the gill surface. The non toxic calcium ion competes with the toxic metals for the same binding sites thereby reducing and/or eliminating any potential toxic effects on a fish.

If you want to point the finger at your water supply, that's certainly your prerogative. It may in fact be a water quality issue, but IMO the chances of it being triggered by something that your local water treatment facility has done is pretty much slim to none. I would be looking more at the dissolved organic compound levels, dissolved oxygen levels, and the overall stress levels in your tanks, before I'd be worring about what's coming out of your tap. But hey, that's just me. :)
 
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