Saving Sick Fish

01/28/2025

Hexamita

The fish seem to be dissolving,
right before your eyes!
But none of them are new
The whole thing's a surprise.

The fins are burning down,
The fish are losing weight.
White slime covers some bodies and eyes,
The water tests out great.

(Chorus)
A P I has General Cure
which has the metro you need,
So does Metroplex
They both work well indeed.
Mmmmmhmmmm yeah
Just follow label instructions
and you can treat in the tank.

Hexamita may be killin'
It shows up in any species,
But goldfish love getting it,
It can show up in the f***s

You can also find it on bodies,
With a microscope well used,
Hexamita is very tiny,
With Costia confused.

It's okay when it shows up
All you need is metronidazole
And you can use it in the water,
Can make the fish whole,

(Chorus)
A P I has General Cure
which has the metro you need,
So does Metroplex
They both work well indeed.
Mmmmmhmmmm yeah
Just follow label instructions
and you can treat in the tank.

The fish may get black smears
once you've cleared it up,
It's a normal change in color,
It's a healing thing and not f**ked up.

Coz that will pass in a couple weeks,
It's no big deal at all.
It's actually a good sign.
Don't let your enthusiasm fall.

(Chorus)
A P I has General Cure
which has the metro you need,
So does Metroplex
They both work well indeed.
Mmmmmhmmmm yeah
Just follow label instructions
and you can treat in the tank.

Hexamita can return
Coz it hides inside the fish,
You may be treating another time,
But it's better than dead fish.

Chorus
A P I has General Cure
which has the metro you need,
So does Metroplex
They both work well indeed.
Mmmmmhmmmm yeah
Just follow label instructions
and you can treat in the tank.

01/14/2025

(Chorus)
Always start with water
And test all that at first,
Then think about a treatment,
Over-treating is the worst.

Yeah oh yeah
Over-treating is the worst,
Mmkay
Test your water first.

When your fish get sick
you have to test your water
The water is the culprit,
In many a fish slaughter.

Usually it's low pH.
But Ammonia could be building.
A nitrite test can help find out,
Or nitrate might be killing.

If the water tests out really good,
And is fresh-changed-fine and dandy,
Then see if new fish got added,
And have parasite treatments handy.

(Chorus)
Always start with water
And test all that at first,
Then think about a treatment,
Over-treating is the worst.

Yeah oh yeah
Over-treating is the worst,
Mmkay
Test your water first.

Adding fish without quarantine,
Is the second greatest cause
of FISH loss and diseases,
Quarantine's a crucial pause.

Formalin and malachite,
Salt or General Cure,
Are fairly good remedies,
They're worth a try for sure.

(Chorus)
Always start with water
And test all that at first,
Then think about a treatment,
Over-treating is the worst.

Yeah oh yeah
Over-treating is the worst,
Mmkay
Test your water first.

(Outro)
I've seen many cases over the years
Of people over medicating,
Unnecessary losses because
the water's deteriorating!

(Chorus)
Always start with water
And test all that at first,
Then think about a treatment,
Over-treating is the worst.

Yeah oh yeah
Over-treating is the worst,
Mmkay
Test your water first.

(Chorus)Always start with waterAnd test all that at first, Then think about a treatment,Over-treating is the worst.Yeah oh yeahOver-treating is the worst, Mm...

12/30/2024

This one picks up an issue around Lipidosis and the best ingredients to feed, also, balancing an amino acid profile. Sounds good.

Listen folks and listen wellTo a song about Koi feeding,It's not that hard as you will learn,Many health problems you'll be beating. (Chorus)Feed a mix of fo...

12/16/2024

Right now lots of folks are seeing fish laying over in their ponds.
Regardless of the cause, it’s a severe stress response.
There is a virus called CEVD (Carp Edema Virus) that causes identical symptoms for the same reason. (Severe stress)
A common reason this time of year is pond-waterfall-supercooling. It’s in the book and my websites.
But here’s everythjng and-then-some about CEVD.

https://drjohnson.com/wp-content/uploads/flipbook/1/book.html

10/05/2024

This is a good Barbershop version of "Goldfish Lives are Short" carrying the message of partial water changes, sparing feeding, buffering pH and giving them enough space.

10/04/2024

Hahaha

Check out erikjohnsondvm’s video.

09/14/2024

Every once on a while you get a bit of information and think "More people should know this". What I'm talking about is "Streambed Ecosystem" and a thorough treatment of what EXACTLY 'renews' a streambed, in nature. Once upon a time I wasn't at all sophisticated and I made uneducated comments like "Gravel grows bad bacteria" as if that's all anyone had to understand. And it was like a child saying "The gym hurts my muscles when I go there." Gravel does a LOT more. And in the last 5 to 7 years, there has not been much I didn't know about streambed / gravel biology until I saw this video clip from "Ed" over at Aquascape. I know, some of ya''ll be like "Ugh Aquascape." and maybe 20 years ago, sure, okay. But these people have the money to learn this stuff, build to the strengths and design for it, AND THEY ARE. I do not work for them (anymore) and I don't get kickbacks, or financial consideration. But when they have something "everyone ought to understand" - then I say something. Ed digs deeper than I've ever been and includes an understandable touch on SOIL BIOLOGY and the ecological "magic" happening at the root system of plants in gravel - - involving roots, beneficial bacteria and rhizome/mycelia. "Shredders?" Who knew!!! Check it out.

Did you know there's a biology lesson behind the spring cleanout process? Ed delves into the ecological details that support our methods of maintenance and p...

06/12/2024

A nice guy asked me to recommend a quarantine to set up for some replacement 8-12" Koi he plans to buy after some mortalities. I said "I'll link you everything I normally use and explain what you're doing."
This is a 300 gallon quarantine that would be okay for most fish up to 12-14" and a NET IS IMPERATIVE!

Quarantine Posted on January 30, 2023 Quarantine The ability to isolate new fish is PRICELESS and comes eventually to all hobbyists sooner, or later. The ability to treat ANY fish in a separate, smaller and more peaceful aquarium is PRICELESS and will save fish. As you kind of figured-out from the b...

06/07/2024

I sat down and burned off some of my ADHD energy and put together a half dozen different things about acid rain, and they're uploaded with author's credit. And I did a ten point summary, sort of a TL;DR for you.

Acid Rain, United States Rain Precipitation, Fish Kills from Acid Rain? Maybe Not. Posted on June 7, 2024 The TL;DR of Acid Rain. If you’re in the North Eastern United States, acid rain COULD just possibly be a “thing”. The active ingredients in Acid Rain are Sulfuric Acid and Nitric Oxides / ...

06/07/2024

Parker Johnson got to service this gem! Niiiiiiice

05/28/2024

It seems like the "Number One Question" being asked on the beginner boards, Koi and pond groups is "My water is green what should I do?" And I had a choice to answer with the whole, comprehensive "Here's all the ways they fix that" from Barley Bales to Ultraviolet Sterilizers and I decided instead to tell you how I cleared my worst aquarium, and my little backyard 300g babykoi/goldfish Shenanigan.
It's a relatively simple process that MOST people could do, because the chemical I prefer is available in big containers for not that much money. And in anything over 68dF water, Wisteria, Water Sprite, Frogbit and Hyacinths are all decent Nitrate users but that's all explained in this e-Book that's free. I don't even ask for your email to read it. Frankly it's so that I don't have to mess with that question anymore, I can just cut-and-paste the link and let 'em figure it out. The "thing" is (as you know) people want the pill. They don't wanna mess with improving the environment or reading a lot of words. They'll read Facebook guesses until someone says something that sounds "one step easy" and try that. And continue to have green water until, frankly, the chlorella uses up the excess nitrates and the pond'll clear on it's own. This document addresses aquariums and ponds.

You can get twenty different

05/28/2024

It seems like the "Number One Question" being asked on the beginner boards, Koi and pond groups is "My water is green what should I do?" And I had a choice to answer with the whole, comprehensive "Here's all the ways they fix that" from Barley Bales to Ultraviolet Sterilizers and I decided instead to tell you how I cleared my worst aquarium, and my little backyard 300g babykoi/goldfish Shenanigan.
It's a relatively simple process that MOST people could do, because the chemical I prefer is available in big containers for not that much money. And in anything over 68dF water, Wisteria, Water Sprite, Frogbit and Hyacinths are all decent Nitrate users but that's all explained in this e-Book that's free. I don't even ask for your email to read it. Frankly it's so that I don't have to mess with that question anymore, I can just cut-and-paste the link and let 'em figure it out. The "thing" is (as you know) people want the pill. They don't wanna mess with improving the environment or reading a lot of words. They'll read Facebook guesses until someone says something that sounds "one step easy" and try that. And continue to have green water until, frankly, the chlorella uses up the excess nitrates and the pond'll clear on it's own. This document addresses aquariums and ponds.
https://savingsickfish.org/Greenwater/