Goldfish Disease : Prevention, Causes, Treatments 

GOLDFISH PARASITES

     Goldfish Parasites

Gill flukes (Dactylogyrus)

Symptoms : increased breathing, rubbing against objects, jerky swimming movements together with darkening of body colouring or apathetic "hanging around".
In larger fish, infection of the gills can be diagnosed using simple methods : remove infected fish from water, place on damp surface and using pincers, carefully lift one gill membrane. The whitish flukes can be easily recognised using a magnifying glass (10x).

 

 

Skin flukes (Gyrodactlylus)

Symptoms : red looking patches on skin are additional symtoms. Wounds are usually found as the result of the fish scratching or flicking on rough objects. If left unchecked, it will soon become ulcers and kill fish through secondary infections such as aeromonas hydrophiller, a bacteria which is present in all bodies of water.

 

 

 

Treatments for Flukes parasites :

Most frequently skin flukes are treated with organophosphates or acriflavin.

Addition of salt to the water is sometimes used as treatment, but is only moderately effective. Salt dips (strong salt solution for a period of one minute or less) are often effective in removing the parasites.

Formalin baths are effective if done accurately.  

 

Carp lice (Argulus)

Symptoms : fish infected with carp lice become shy, show abnormal behaviour -particularly jumping in the night- and try to rub against stones. The bites of the lice may cause inflamed areas on the skin. Carp lice can be seen with the naked eye as 4 - 12 mm long, finger-nail shaped parasites.

 

 

 

Anchor worms (Lernaea)

Symptoms : Anchor worms are easily recognised as whitish, long, rod /branch shapes parasites with two long egg sacs. The head burrows into the scale pocket, causing inflammation. Treatment agains achor worms is only recommended if only one or two worms per fish are to be seen. Highly infected fish should be correctly killed! In cases of strong infection, the section of the anchor worm killed by the medication, which is deeply imbedded in the skin of the fish, would cause secondary poisoning and kill the fish.

 

Treatments for Crustacean parasites :

The larval stage of Lernaea is susceptible to some of the same treatments used for protozoan parasites. Fish-zole is metronidazole, an anti-parasite fish medication that works well against some of the nastiest protozoan infections that attack aquarium fish.

 Adults worms which have burrowed into a host fish are less vulnerable, but several fish medications (organophosphates such as used for skin or gill flukes) are effective in killing them.

Dead parasites which remain on the fish may be a focus for further infection by bacteria and fungi and it is sometimes desireable (where feasible) to physically remove them with tweezers and/or disinfect the wounds. Concentrated Methylene blue works well for this purpose. It can be applied directly to the wound.

 

 

Trichodina, Chilodonella, Epistylis, Costia

Symptoms : They usually occur as a secondary infection, when fish are already infected with other parasites, usually infect the skin and gills of fish. Without using a microscople, some staining of skin and slime samples are not possible to discern.

In cases of strong infection, the skin may develop a white coating and the fish behave abnormally, the fins stick, drooping fins, labored breathing, the fish rub against objects, etc.

Ich, Ick or White Spot (Ichthyophthirius multifilis)

Symptoms : Infected fish usually shows white spots on the fins and body, generally distributed evenly. Sizes of the spots vary but are approximate to grains of salt. In light-infections (and when in the gills) white spots may not be visible.

 

 

 

Treatments for Protozoan parasites :

Fish-zole is metronidazole, an anti-parasite fish medication that works well against some of the nastiest protozoan infections that attack aquarium fish, such as Hole in the Head (hexamita), marine Ich (crytocaryon), and freshwater Ich (ichthyophthirius, or white spot disease).

Malachite green and formalin combinations are effective fish medications if the fish can tolerate these chemicals in concentrations sufficient to kill the tomite stage of the disease.

 

Methylene Blue may be used as an alternative to Malachite Green when it is known that the fish to be treated are sensitive. The mature encysting stage is generally resistant to chemicals used for treatment. Several days of aquarium treatment are usually required.

Salt baths are sometimes used along with fish medication. 

 

 

GOLDFISH BACTERIAL DISEASES

        Goldfish Bacterial Diseases

Bacteria, like parasites, are present in all water systems. The general health of the fish and whether or not the fish has been stressed play a big role in whether the bacteria becomes a problem. Highly stressed fish become targets and will come down with a bacterial infection before a less-stressed, happier fish. Bacteria can enter the fish by openings made by parasites or when a fish is injured. Infected fish also spread disease to others.

Maybe you wonder why there are so many types of antibiotics for bacterial infection treatment?
It's because there are 2 types of bacteria : gram positive & gram negative bacteria, also External & Internal Bacterial infections. There are antibiotics for External-only Bacterial infections, Internal-only Bacterial infections and for BOTH Internal+External Bacterial infections. Therefore External-only treatments won't work for a fish affected with an internal infections -vice versa.

Important Notes:

• It's also important to check if the antibiotic has reactions with water conditioner, salt or other medications that makes the antibiotic less effective or may cause unwanted and unpredictable effects.

• It's wise NOT to treat your tank with two different medications at the same time! 

• Bacterial treatment will kill all the bacteria, it do not differentiate between good and bad bacteria and causes massive damage to the cleansing bacteria in the filter. Therefore you should disconect the filter from the aquarium and running it in another container/ tank to retain the beneficial bacteria. But, if there's any suspicion that some bad bacteria might hide somewhere within your filter, you can run the filter during antibiotic treatment. Afterwards you can add Beneficial bacteria directly to the filter or aquarium water to replace any damaged cleansing bacteria.

• Other preparations should be made before antibiotic application such as remove any active carbon from the filter, switch off UV filter and CO2 reactor, etc.

External Bacterial Infections

External Bacterial Infections

"Fallen off" fins (Fin rot)

Symptoms : The fins of the fish may appear to be eaten away. Fin rot starts at the edge of the fins, and destroys more and more tissue until it reaches the fin base. If it does reach the fin base, the fish will never be able to regenerate the lost tissue. At this point, the disease may attack the fish's body directly.

 

 

Treatments :

Tetracycline can be used as an effective fish medication against some of the bacterial ailments that commonly afflict fishes, including fin and tail rot disease.

Some preventions such as do regular water change to improve water conditions, add aquarium salt, improve the quality of diet and provide vitamins are necessary.

 

 

Ulcers /Furunculosis

Symptoms : Ulcers begin as reddish spots on the skin of the fish and will eventually turn into large holes. They turn inward and infect internal organs as well. Often hidden on the underbelly of the fish we do not see them until the ulcer is in a more developed and dangerous stage.

 

 

Treatments :

Fungus Clear is fish medication for bacterial infections on fishes such as ulcers /furunculosis and at the same time protects against secondary infections like fungal infection.

Cotton Mouth Disease /Mouth Mold Disease / Flexibacter Columnaris

Symptoms : The symptoms of this disease are typically erosion of the mouth and appears as cottony growth on the mouth of the fish. Although this may appear to be a fungus (because of its mold-like lesions), it is in fact colonies of the column-like bacteria (Flexibacter Columnaris) and must be treated as such.
Note that when examined very closely, fungus has distinct hair-like filaments, whereas columnaris is more like fuzz.

Columnaris usually affects the mouth area but can also appear as yellowish-brown, white, or grayish-white spots on some part of the head, fins, gills, or body which are usually surrounded by a reddish area. This type commonly takes what is known as a saddleback pattern on the fish's body.

Treatments :

Tetracycline is a suitable fish medication for this disease.

Mouth Rot

Symptoms : Mouth rot starts out as a slight discoloration in the area of the lips of the fish, sometimes it begins with an injury to the mouth. It becomes highly inflamed, the area around the mouth becomes infected with bacteria and eventually the lips of the fish begins rotting away.
It will soon deform the lips and cause death if the infection gets too far advanced.

Goldfish who have survived -at the advanced stage- from this disease will be unable to eat well because the disease left permanent damage to the fish lips, they could not scoop up the food like they normally do.
Treatment in the early stage of the disease will mostly cure the goldfish without any deformation of its lips.

Preventions : Besides taking good care of your goldfish, please make sure there are no sharp edges/corners or abrasive materials that can cause injury to the mouth.

Treatments :

Tetracycline is a suitable fish medication for this disease.

Cloudy Eye

Symptoms : white hazy film on eyes (cloudy cornea). Cloudy eye is caused by bacterial invasion, infection is commonly brought on by bad water conditions.

Treatments :

Fungus Clear quickly and safely clears eye-cloud disease. You should also improve the water conditions, at least do regular water-change.

 

 

 Pop-eyes (Eye protrusion)

Symptoms : Swelling or bumps on one or both eyes.
The bump eye may covered by thin tissue which stretches preventing the eye pop out of its socket. The fish may also stop feeding and less active. Secondary infections such as fungal infections can show up afterwards.

Pop-eye is not a fish disease as such, but a sign of disease. It can be caused by bacterial, viral, parasitic or tuberculosis infections, gas embolism, tumors and vitamin A deficiency. It's difficult to determine the real-cause. The best thing we can do is guess, then treat it based on that. 

Treatments :

If you suspect a bacterial infection as the cause, Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is effective against pop-eye disease.

Also add vitamins to cure vitamins deficiencies.

 

 

Internal Bacterial Infections

Internal Bacterial Infections

Swim Bladder Disease

Symptoms : A fish with swim bladder disease will have difficulty swimming, especially moving up and down in the aquarium. The affected fish might stay around the top of the tank and may float upside down.

Swim bladder disease can be caused by food impaction, by viral and bacterial infections which inflame the lining of the swim bladder that makes it difficult for the fish to control movement of gases in and out of the bladder.

If a bacterial infection is the cause of the swim bladder disease, red streaks may appear on the fins and tail.

Treatments :

If the disease has been caused by a bacterial infection, Tetracycline is a suitable fish medication.

 

 

 

 Dropsy & Scale protrusion

Symptoms : Dropsy is a peculiar set of symptoms occurring when the body of a fish fills with fluid. The eyes of the fish bulge as does his body and the scales along his side may stick out like a pinecone.

Dropsy usually takes one of two forms: body swells due to fluid accumulation, which causes scale protrusion, and also protrusion of the scales without bloated body - false dropsy.

Dropsy is not a fish disease as such, but a sign of disease. Bacterial infection of the kidney is a common cause. Other causes are including viral, parasitic, and nutritional (especially vitamin deficiencies). Most cases of dropsy are non-contagious. In some cases it appears to be contagious due to the fact that a group of fish are subject to the same conditions (foods, toxins, etc.)

Preventions : Since this fish disease is difficult to treat, you need some preventive actions :

• Add aquarium salt (1 gram for each liter of water) periodically (every 2 weeks).

• Add vitamins to prevent vitamin deficiencies.

• Avoid feeding old, stale, or slighly decayed fish food.

• Don't left food in the aquarium too long before being eaten by the fish.

Treatments :

• Ampicillin is a broad spectrum, bacteriostatic antibiotic that is effective against dropsy or bacterial kidney disease.

• The addition of Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) or Sea Salt at approximately one half-teaspoon per gallon is sometimes used in an effort to relieve the pressure of the fluid in the body. Affected fish may survive for up to two weeks (or die within hours).

Unfortunately, fish which show signs of dropsy are not expected to survive. Treatment with antibiotics may be successful in some cases where the cause is really a bacterial infection.

Septicemia

Symptoms : Septicemia is an internal infection, it has the same symptoms occur in many other goldfish diseases (lie on the bottom with their fins clamped, stop eating, get ulcers, fin rot and die). Septicemia has only a few symptoms that clue you in that it could be the problem :

• - Most fish with septicemia will have red streaks running through their bodies and fins. But Nitrite poisoning creates red streaks too, therefore test the water first for ammonia and nitrites before assuming your goldfish has septicemia.

- The anus might swell up and the fish might look "constipated".

Fortunately, Septicemia is not contagious and often only one or two fish will have it. Secondary infections such as ulcers and fin rot may pop up during or after the septicemia is treated because his immunity system is compromised during this time making it harder for his system to battle bad bacteria that always present in any water systems. 

Preventions :

Besides taking good care of your goldfish to provide a clean &  healthy environment for them, feeding your goldfish at the right water temperature is also very important.
Sudden drop in water temperature during the transient times between seasons can be a problem for goldfish digestive systems, they are unable to digest food when the water is cold (below 50°F). Any proteins left inside the digestive tract when the water temperature drops could turn rancid and infect the digestive tract with bacteria. This is one possible and probably the most frequent cause of septicemia.

During the transient times, it's beneficial to feed your goldfish sparingly with easily digestible plant foods (which have less proteins) such as duckweed, algae, cooked peas that has been crushed and wheat germ to aid digestion.

Treatments :

• Clearing up the infection is a must or the fish will continue to suffer and die. You better put the sick fish in a quarantine tank where an excellent water quality must be maintained during the treatment, so any secondary infections such as ulcers or fin rot won't become a problem.

• Application of an antibiotic is necessary if the fish may no longer be eating. Ampicillin is an effective antibiotic against some of internal bacterial infections including septicemia.

• After medication, you can add goldfish salt or stress relievers to encourage development of its natural slime coat, the first defense in your fishes' immune system. Fish Stress Relievers will add protective slime coat conditioners which will form multiple layers of protection on your fishes skin. These slime coat conditioners will help with bruises, missing scales, and damaged skin caused by handling or external wounds, also binds protein on injured fish and forms a protective coating that promotes healing.

Fish Tuberculosis /Wasting disease

Symptoms : Fish Tuberculosis is caused by any number of species of Mycobacterium such as M. piscium, M. marinum, and M. fortuitum. It is really hard to tell if your fish is affected, often the affected fish will live for a long time without ever showing signs that it is ill. Unfortunately, by the time the symptoms become apparent it will probably be too late to save the fish.

Latent symptoms of this nasty disease include skin lesions, labored breathing, loss of scales, frayed fins, and loss of appetite. The fish will have a hollow bellied appearance, emaciation (extremely thin) and loss of color (pale skin color). Other symptoms which can also be attributed to other conditions include pop-eye, fin rot, and listless behaviour (lethargy). Yellowish or darker nodules may appear on the eyes or body and may deform the fish. The disease may progress slowly leading to skeletal deformities (a bent or deformed spine is common) and eventually death.

The infectious disesase is passed orally from infected fish flesh, detritus and waste of the infected fish. The bacteria can also infect skin wounds /lesions and pass from parent to offspring.
Fish stress, overcrowding, poor water condition and poor diet, may encourage an outbreak of the disease.

Mycobacteria can invade broken or uncovered human skin and cause a persistent rash on hands, so it is important that minimal contact is maintained when handling infected fish and dealing with contaminated water. When dealing with the aftermath of an outbreak make sure that all equipment is thoroughly disinfected.

Treatments :

• Separate any fish you think may be infected with Tuberculosis, and treat with Kanamycin and Vitamin B-6 for 30 days.

• If the treatment is ineffective, the infected fish should be correctly killed.

GOLDFISH FUNGAL DISEASES

        Goldfish Fungal Diseases

Fish fungus /Saprolegnia

Symptoms : Saprolegnia is quite easy to diagnose. It is nearly always a secondary infection of an area of the fish's skin, fins or gill barrier which has been wounded/ damaged. At first, it appears as a gray or whitish growth, if left untreated, these growths will become cottony looking, and will soon eat away on the fish until it finally dies.

Saprolegnia always follow some other health problem like parasitic attack, injury, or bacterial infection. It develops and feeds off the dead tissue left behind such as from ulcers, fin rot and other bacterial /parasites problems.

Treatments :

Treatment for Saprolegnia solely is not difficult, Ketoconazole will kill the fungus. But if you don't get rid of the cause of the dead tissue, however, the fungus will just come back.

In fact, if fungus is present on the fish it means the bacterial infection and/or parasites that caused the dead tissue is in advanced stages so you must work fast. 

First - you need to determine whether parasite, bacteria or both which cause the initial problem. If you suspect parasites as the initial irritant, perform the parasite treatments first. If your hunch is right and the parasites causing it are treated, usually the fungus may clear on their own.

If not, it might be bacterial infections. Check again the symptoms and use the right antibiotic for treatment. Remember that bacterial treatments will kill all the bacteria, it do not differentiate between good and bad bacteria. Therefore you should disconect the filter from the aquarium and running it in another container/ tank to retain the beneficial bacteria. Aerate the aquarium well during the time without the filter.

Do NOT treat your aquarium with two different medications at the same time! It can make the medication less effective or may cause unwanted and unpredictable effects.

After treatments you can add aquarium salt to help boost the production of the fish's natural slime coat and that, in turn, helps build up his immunity.

 

CYPRINID VIRAL DISEASES

        Cyprinid Viral Diseases

There are several fish viral diseases known to affect freshwater fishes. Some are deadly viruses, some are not life-threatening.

Viruses are contagious, they can be transmitted between fish by direct contact, by water or wet objects being moved from one aquarium to another. Although fish with viral diseases may display symptoms the aquarist can recognize, positive identification requires biomedical tests (laboratory tests) beyond the abilities of the average fish hobbyist.

Fortunately, Common & Fancy goldfish (Carassius auratus) are different from Common Carp & Koi (Cyprinus carpio), therefore NOT all Cyprinid viral disease will affect goldfish such as deadly Koi Herpesvirus (KHV).

Note : Differences between Koi and Goldfish

Differences between Koi and Goldfish (quoted from Wikipedia.org) 1. Goldfish and Koi were developed from different species of carp: Goldfish were developed in China more than a thousand years ago by selectively breeding Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) for color mutations. By the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279), yellow, orange, white and red-and-white colorations had been developed. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) are now considered different species. Goldfish were introduced to Japan in the 16th century and to Europe in the 17th century. Koi, on the other hand, were developed from common carp in Japan in the 1820s. Koi are domesticated common carp (Cyprinus carpio) that are culled for color, they are not a different species and will revert to the original coloration within a few generations if allowed to breed freely. 2. Koi have prominent barbels on the lip that are not visible in goldfish. 3. In general, goldfish tend to be smaller than koi, and have a greater variety of body shapes, and fin and tail configurations. Koi varieties tend to have a common body shape, but have a greater variety of coloration and color patterns. Some goldfish varieties, such as the common goldfish, comet goldfish and shubunkin have body shapes and coloration that are similar to koi, and can be difficult to tell apart from koi when immature.

Koi Herpesvirus (KHV)
Synonyms : Cyprinid HerpesVirus-3 (CyHV-3); Carp Nephritis and Gill necrosis Virus (CNGV)

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) is a highly contagious viral disease that may cause significant morbidity and mortality in Koi and Common carp (Cyprinus carpio).
Koi and Common carp are a same species. Common carp is raised as a foodfish in many countries, while Koi has been selectively bred for the ornamental fish industry (Koi is ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp).

Other related cyprinid species such as the Common & Fancy goldfish (Carassius auratus) and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) appear to be clinically unaffected by KHV although KHV DNA has been identified in tissue of goldfish.

Symptoms :

• Behavioral signs may include Lethargy, swim close to the surface, respiratory distress and erratic behavior.

• Positive diagnosis of KHV requires laboratory tests. Clinical signs of KHV are often non-specific. KHV infection may produce severe gill lesions which exhibit as gill mottling with red and white patches (it may be similar to columnaris disease signs). The white patches are due to necrosis (death) of the gill tissue. Gill lesions caused by KHV disease are the most common clinical signs in affected koi.

• Other external signs of KHV may include bleeding gills, sunken eyes, pale patches or blisters on the skin. Some KHV infected koi may have a notched nose In some cases, secondary bacterial and parasitic infections may be the most obvious problem, masking the damage caused by the primary viral infection.

Deaths starting within 24 to 48 hours after the beginning of clinical signs which typically occur when water temperatures are between 72° and 78°F (22° and 25.5°C) with 80-100% mortality rate!
Almost no mortalities occur below this range, and there is virtually no occurrence of the disease at or above 86°F (30°C).

This viral disease affects fish of various ages, but fry are more vulnerable than mature fish.

Treatments :
Sadly, there is no treatment for KHV. Although koi may survive an outbreak of KHV if water temperatures are increased to 86°F (30°C) during the outbreak, this technique only marginally increases survival rates, and artificially raising water temperatures above 80°F in holding facilities may result in an increased occurrence of other more common bacterial and parasitic diseases.

More importantly, survivors of a KHV outbreak or those exposed at high water temperatures will become carriers of the virus. These carrier koi are a source of the disease to vulnerable fish when conditions are appropriate for viral shedding and infection.
As with other herpes viral infections, KHV is believed to remain in the carrier fish (exposed or recovered fish) for life without showing signs of clinical infection.

KHV outbreaks have caused large losses at koi and common carp facilities, therefore survivors, known carriers, or koi previously exposed to KHV should be killed correctly (eliminating the entire population)!

All materials and systems that the infected fish have contacted should be cleaned and disinfected. Pond, equipments (such as nets, buckets, and siphon hoses), filtration system (such as biofilters and biofilter media) should be cleaned of debris or organic build-up prior to disinfection, as these may reduce the effectiveness of the disinfectant.
Then use Chlorine (200 ppm for 1 hour) or quaternary ammonium compounds (500 ppm for 1 hour).

Preventions :

• Purchase fish from known reputable source.
Prior to obtaining any fish, first ask the supplier if there have been any major unexplained losses in the population. Monitoring and testing for KHV may be done by laboratory tests, so ask suppliers if any testing for KHV has been done and request a copy of lab result documentation. The best way to prevent KHV is to know your fish suppliers and to have a good working relationship with them.

• Practice good biosecurity including quarantine and testing
Quarantine is the most dependable method to avoid the introduction of pathogens into a pond or facility. To implement an effective quarantine procedure, all new fish must be kept in a separate system, ideally in a different building or area from the resident fish. Resident fish should be fed, handled, and maintained before the new fish. The quarantined fish require dedicated equipment such as nets, buckets, and siphon hoses that are used only for them. In addition, foot baths and hand washes should be used by anyone entering and leaving the quarantine area.
Fish should be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days. Specifically for KHV, new koi should be quarantined in water that is 75°F (24°C) for at least 30 days.

At the conclusion of the quarantine period, any sick fish should be examined by a veterinarian and/or diagnostic lab to rule out KHV or other diseases. If all fish appear healthy, blood samples should be collected from these quarantined fish and submitted for tests. If KHV virus detected, entire quarantine population should be eliminated!

• Not all hobbyists have budget for biomedical tests (laboratory tests). Although there are no guarantees, you can do a 'combination test'. If there's no sign of sick fish at the end of the quarantine period, you can combine several new koi with several koi from the established population and place them in a separate tank away from the rest of the established population and watch them for signs of disease. If everything is OK, then you can place all fish together, again there are no guarantees here.


Spring viremia of carp (SVC) /Infectious dropsy of carp

Spring Viraemia of carp (SVC) is a contagious and potentially fatal viral disease, it can cause up to 100% mortality, affects all ages of fish and has caused significant economic losses to coarse fish farms and fisheries.
As its name implies, SVC may be seen in carp in the spring time. However, SVC may also be seen in other seasons (especially in the fall).

SVC is caused by an RNA virus, Rhabdovirus carpio, and affects all varieties of common carp and koi (Cyprinus carpio), grass carp (Cyprinus idella), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and Common & fancy goldfish (Carassius auratus).

The disease is widespread in continental Europe and western Eurasia. SVC was first found in the UK in 1976. Outbreaks within the UK are infrequent and are often associated with illegal movements of fish. The first cases seen in the USA occurred in Spring 2002 in cultivated ornamental common carp (Koi) and wild common carp.
 
Symptoms :
Outbreaks of SVC usually occur as water temperatures rise above 7°C, in the spring, and maximum mortalities occur between 10°C and 15°C. Mortalities usually stop at water temperatures over 17°C but may sometimes occur up to 23°C as the virus can survive in fish at this temperature.
However, SVC is not restricted to the spring and a significant number of disease events have been reported in the autumn as temperatures fall.

• Behavioral signs : lethargic, show loss of balance, awkward swimming, breathe and move more slowly, form groups in slow–flowing water near the pond bank, and lie on their side at the pond bottom.

• External signs: darkening of the skin, pale gills, display areas of bleeding on the gills and skin (hemorrhagic), the eyes may bulge outward (swollen eyes), abdominal swelling, protrusion of the anus, and bloody mucus may hang from the vent.

• Internal signs: a lot of fluid may be in the belly cavity and internal organs, blood in the swim bladder, and reddening and swelling of the gut.

It is important to note that one or more of these signs may be absent at any stage of the outbreak, especially during the earliest and very late stages.
However, not all fish showing these signs necessarily have SVC, as these same signs may also be seen in many other diseases. Positive diagnosis of the SVC virus in fish can be confirmed through virus isolation and other sophisticated diagnostic tests done by an approved laboratory.

SVC is usually spread through close contact between infected fish. Those fish that don't die from SVC may recover and appear healthy, but these fish actually may remain infected with the SVC virus for life (carriers of the virus) without showing signs of clinical infection. These carrier fish are a source of the disease to vulnerable fish when conditions are appropriate for viral shedding and infection.

Treatments :
There is no known treatment for SVC.
SVC outbreaks have caused significant economic losses to coarse fish farms and fisheries, therefore survivors, known carriers, or fish previously exposed to SVC should be killed correctly (eliminating the entire population)!

All materials and systems that the infected fish have contacted should be cleaned and disinfected. Pond, equipments (such as nets, buckets, and siphon hoses), filtration system (such as biofilters and biofilter media) should be cleaned of debris or organic build-up prior to disinfection, as these may reduce the effectiveness of the disinfectant.
Some disinfection options : Chlorine (500 ppm for 10 minutes) ; Ozonation ; Gamma/UV radiation ; pH <4.0 or >10.0 ; heat 60°C for 15 min.

Preventions :

• Keep your fish happy (such as low stock densities, good quality of food, add vitamins, good habitat and good water quality including keep water temperature stable by using both aquarium heater & aquarium chiller if possible).
• Practice good biosecurity including quarantine.
• Purchase fish from known reputable source.
• Keep susceptible species separated.

Carp pox disease
Synonyms : Cyprinid HerpesVirus-1 (CyHV-1); Koi pox; Carp herpes virus; Herpesviral Epidermal Proliferation in Carp (HEPC); Herpesvirus Septicemia in Carp (HSC)

Carp pox disease  is caused by a different herpesvirus (Herpesvirus cyprini) that has wide geographic distribution and affects Common carp and Koi (Cyprinus carpio).

Symptoms :

• Behavioral signs : none

• External signs : Fish infected with carp pox have smooth waxy growths on skin and fins, the waxy growths are milky to greyish-white in colour. At first the growths are flat, firm, smooth and translucent, but they can grow thicker, wider & join together covering a lot of the body surface, but rarely the whole fish.

Carp pox is typically a non-lethal, self-limiting disease (i.e., most if not all growths will resolve at warmer temperatures on their own) in mature/ older fish but may be associated with high mortality in fry less than two months of age. Water temperatures above 68° F (20°C) help reduce the skin and fin growths on older fish, but does not eliminate the virus from the fish - it just "hides" for a while.

Carp pox is not a reportable or notifiable disease in the U.S. The disease only occurs at certain times of the year when conditions are right, usually during the low temperatures of winter and early spring and the waxy growths tend to reduce as temperatures rise in the summer.

Treatments :
There is no known treatment for Carp pox.
Although it's not dangerous, unfortunately fish infected with carp pox are very unsightly. Water temperature is a key factor to carp pox infections occurring, they come up mostly when the water is cold and as the water heats up they will recede.

Depopulation generally NOT required for older fish, if it's not present in high numbers or causing large growths/ lesions.

If you had to depopulate, all materials and systems that the infected fish have contacted should be cleaned and disinfected. Pond, equipments (such as nets, buckets, and siphon hoses), filtration system (such as biofilters and biofilter media) should be cleaned of debris or organic build-up prior to disinfection, as these may reduce the effectiveness of the disinfectant.
Then use Chlorine (200 ppm for 1 hour) or quaternary ammonium compounds (500 ppm for 1 hour).

Preventions :

• Keep your fish happy (such as low stock densities, good quality of food, add vitamins, good habitat and good water quality including keep water temperature stable by using both aquarium heater & aquarium chiller if possible).
• Practice good biosecurity including quarantine.
• Purchase fish from known reputable source.
• Keep susceptible species separated.