Is maintaining your aquarium harming your fish?
1 in 10 families around the world have an aquarium at
home. Aquariums range in size from small glass bowls to outdoor ponds and immense public aquaria housing entire ecosystems.
All aquariums regardless of size require ongoing maintenance. This maintenance often causes severe stress to the housed animals including fish, crustacea (crabs and shrimp) and molluscan (snails) species.
Preventable Aquarium Stressors
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Water Changes
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Handling
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Acclimation
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Transport
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Disease Treatment
Stress in Aquarium Fish
Small amounts of stress in fish can be harmless or even beneficial, but high levels of stress or prolonged periods of stress can create severe health and breeding problems. Stress arises in fish when the animal experiences alterations in its immediate environment such as:
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Chemical changes - contaminants, low oxygen and acidification
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Physical changes - handling, capture, confinement and transport
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Perceived changes - startling or predators
Fish respond to stress with a release of hormones into the blood which triggers several physiological responses including an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar. These in turn lead to reduced growth rate, decreased disease resistance, reduced breeding success, altered behavior and reduced survivability. Whilst stress will never be entirely eradicated, it can be minimised with the correct management.
How to Minimise Stress in Your Aquarium
The fish anaesthetic AQUI‑S® 10 – Ornamental Fish Formulation (AQ10
-Ornamental) is an ideal tool for reducing stress. AQ10-Ornamental is a water dispersible liquid sedative for fin fish, crustacea and molluscs widely used for maintaining a good quality healthy aquaria. AQ10-Ornamental effectively works by sedating the fish and minimising the release of cortisol, thereby preventing any negative physiological responses.
AQ10-Ornamental simply works by mixing the solution directly into the holding water. The dose of AQ10-Ornamental will depend on the maintenance activity and the desired level of sedation.
Maintenance Activity |
Preferable Level of Sedation |
Concentration |
Transport |
For transporting live aquarium fish the animals should only be lightly sedated. Over the entire transport event, whether it be 10 min to 40 hrs the animals must always retain equilibrium. |
2.5 - 5 ml of AQ10 per 100 L of holding water |
Water change |
When holding your fish in a holding container during water changes ensure the animals retain swimming motion and equilibrium. |
5 - 10 ml of AQ10 per 100 L of holding water |
Disease treatment |
When treating your fish for disease the fish should be at a stage where they retain swimming motion and equilibrium. |
5 - 10 ml of AQ10 per 100 L of holding water |
Handling |
When handling your animals for any reason they should be fully anaesthetised. This means the animals are not aware they have been removed from the water. The animals should have lost equilibrium prior to being handled. |
15 - 20 ml of AQ10 per 100 L of holding water |
Surgery/
operations |
During surgery the fish should have no feeling of pain. Fish should be anaesthetised to the point immediately prior to medulary calapse. At this stage the only visual movement will be the gill arches pumping water over the gills. It is important that fish at this stage are positioned in well aerated water. |
20 - 30 ml of AQ10 per 100 L of holding water |