TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
At most of my clubs monthly meetings we have a gueasp speaker who makes a presentation and does a Q&A session. Often the speaker brngs items for the regular auction at the end of every meeting. The only reason I intentionally skip a metting is if the subject is of no interest to me. An example would be a presentation on fragging corals. I have no interest in this and never had a sw tank.
This months speaker did a presentation on the various diseases and parasites we might encounter in our FW tanks. He talked about how to diagnose things and then how to treat them. What was interesting about the gent making the presentation was that he was not a vet nor in any way trained or licensed to treat fish. However, by profession he was a doctor, a dermatologist specifically. And he was also a long time fish keeper. He stated this at at the outset.
This may have been one of the best presentations my club has had in the 5 year I have been a member. His knowledge of nedicine had many carryovers when it came to fish. So, he discussed symptoms v.s. their causes, how hard it can be to diagnose without a lab and then how to treat things. He also offered information on where to purchase most of the meds he mentioned.
I would say I already knew about 75% of what he covered. But the 25% I did not was most educational. He also dispelled a few of the popular urban fish myths commonly seem or read on the net. For ex-->Bloat is not a disease, it is a symptom. It is usally caused by excess fluid build up inside a fish because their kidneys have shut down. Heat does not kill Ich, it speeds up their life cycle and, when high enough, can impede the reproductive process.
He also explained the in general Gram positive anti-biotics are best for internal isuues and gram negative for external. He listed meds of each type.
Of all the things we are responsible for and which are the hardest to do for out fish is when we have to diagnose what is causing and illness/infection/parasite and then what is the right medication to treat it. He was not a fan of the more natural treatments although he used Pimafix as something good for mild einfections. He was also big on quarantining new fish.
We als got the tally for how we did at the clubs annual January Auction. Because of the snow storm we had about 30 fewer attendees than normal and about 70 fewer lots for sale. They wanted to try to end things earlier than usual as well due ot the weather. We ended up making about $2,500 which was the 3rd highest in the history of the auction. I think close to 10% of that was mine. $20 was from the $40 of 50/50 tickets I bought, $100 was for the 3 L236 super white plecos I donated and which went for too little at $100. Then I had 3 bags each of a dozen assassin snails and Neocaridina davidi blue shrimp, 2 bags of 3 super red ancistrus, several bags of plants-> big anubias and crypts plus some driftwood. The club's clut for that was about $100. Finally, to sell or bid one must buy a numbered bidder card for $5. So, I put in $225 which wa about 9% of the total the club raised. But only $45 was cash out of pocket, the rest came out of my tanks.
This months speaker did a presentation on the various diseases and parasites we might encounter in our FW tanks. He talked about how to diagnose things and then how to treat them. What was interesting about the gent making the presentation was that he was not a vet nor in any way trained or licensed to treat fish. However, by profession he was a doctor, a dermatologist specifically. And he was also a long time fish keeper. He stated this at at the outset.
This may have been one of the best presentations my club has had in the 5 year I have been a member. His knowledge of nedicine had many carryovers when it came to fish. So, he discussed symptoms v.s. their causes, how hard it can be to diagnose without a lab and then how to treat things. He also offered information on where to purchase most of the meds he mentioned.
I would say I already knew about 75% of what he covered. But the 25% I did not was most educational. He also dispelled a few of the popular urban fish myths commonly seem or read on the net. For ex-->Bloat is not a disease, it is a symptom. It is usally caused by excess fluid build up inside a fish because their kidneys have shut down. Heat does not kill Ich, it speeds up their life cycle and, when high enough, can impede the reproductive process.
He also explained the in general Gram positive anti-biotics are best for internal isuues and gram negative for external. He listed meds of each type.
Of all the things we are responsible for and which are the hardest to do for out fish is when we have to diagnose what is causing and illness/infection/parasite and then what is the right medication to treat it. He was not a fan of the more natural treatments although he used Pimafix as something good for mild einfections. He was also big on quarantining new fish.
We als got the tally for how we did at the clubs annual January Auction. Because of the snow storm we had about 30 fewer attendees than normal and about 70 fewer lots for sale. They wanted to try to end things earlier than usual as well due ot the weather. We ended up making about $2,500 which was the 3rd highest in the history of the auction. I think close to 10% of that was mine. $20 was from the $40 of 50/50 tickets I bought, $100 was for the 3 L236 super white plecos I donated and which went for too little at $100. Then I had 3 bags each of a dozen assassin snails and Neocaridina davidi blue shrimp, 2 bags of 3 super red ancistrus, several bags of plants-> big anubias and crypts plus some driftwood. The club's clut for that was about $100. Finally, to sell or bid one must buy a numbered bidder card for $5. So, I put in $225 which wa about 9% of the total the club raised. But only $45 was cash out of pocket, the rest came out of my tanks.
