Do fish diseases die

[AlexsDaddy]

One of my bettas has velvet, but I didn't find it till after I shared my syphon with another tank. I am doing a preventative treatment. Do fish diseases die when water dries up, or when it gets rinsed with untreated tap water?

 

[D Chia]

Even if the tank and equipment have been rinsed with water and dried, the bacteria or fungus will continue to survive as spores. When water is again added and a new fish introduced, the spores will regerminate and come back to haunt the new fish.

Hence, it's always good to sanitize the tank and equipment with Chlorox. This would properly eradicate the germs and eliminate the problem of them returning with a vengeance.

Faith's article on "How to sanitize a jar or tank that hosted a sick betta" has some useful advice on disinfection.

 

[f250fisherman]

I agree with D Chia for the most part. There are some bacteria that can't live outside of water, but I don't think Velvet is one of them. I always wash in hot water, use a chlorox/water mix to wash again, rinse in hot water..then I towel dry the tank and let it set and air dry for 72 hours. I use extra de-chlorine treatment when I refill it. I've done this for many years, and never transferred anything to the next inhabitants.

p.s. Don't get the water in the tank too hot, or you might cause the glue to not stick as well, and have a leak.

 

[Kittycat]

I think they don't--diseases can be spread from tank to tank by sharing nets, right, even if they have already dried up prior to second use...

 

[f250fisherman]

Research it. There are some that do die off in the air. Just not all of them do. A net dip is intended to use between nettings, to kill any bacteria or parasites. That way you don't dip into one tank and then dip into another. I always dip the net in 1/10 aquarisol to water mix, shake well and air dry. Unless you have read a disease article that says no bacteria will die without water, saying it is so is not right. Even then it depends on the credibility of the article. If I can find it this weekend, I'll post the articles that told about how to treat different things. It was a long article that covered many diseases, both bacterial and virul. There is some parasites that die in the air, but I'm not sure about the velvet. You realise that ich and velvet is a parasitic condition. The spots are eggs. They fall off and hatch, then the parasites cycle all over again.

 

[D Chia]

It is true that not all microbes can become spores. The following URL has some information about the formation of microbal spores.

http/www.microbe.org/microbes/spores.asp

Handwashing and the proper disinfection of tanks/equipment are preventive measures that can safe us from the misery of experiencing a disease outbreak and losing our beloved bettas to disease.