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Possibly sick Tilapia
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Author:  Terryaquaponics [ Oct 2nd, '19, 02:51 ]
Post subject:  Possibly sick Tilapia
I have a problem that I think may be related to some kind of disease in two of my 8 tanks The problem seem to have started after the tilapia started breeding this year. I did lose some fish to fighting which is not unusual.

The water quality is good and all levels are ether zero or within standard limits. The grow bed are doing well and the plants seem fine.

PH = 6
NO2 = 0 MG/L
NO3 = 40 MG/L
NH3/NH4 = 0.50 MG/L
NH3 = 0 MG/L
O2 = 8-9 MG/L

The only change I have made two months ago was to add in 3 foot UV filters in all but two of my tanks. This improved the water clarity and quality. The other tanks are doing fine that I have the UV filter in and I'm having no problem with them.

The Tilapia in the two tanks have for the most part stopped eating and in one of the tanks that have around 25 adults Tilapia I am still losing some of the fish most appear died do to trauma from fighting but now I'm not so sure. The one trait I'm seeing right now is a dark red ring on the inside of the mouth. I did pull one out and looked at it gills and they are dark red. I looked on the web but found no info on this condition. The fish are also for the most part stationary.


I hope someone can help with this...

Attachments:
Tilapia.jpg
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Author:  danny [ Oct 4th, '19, 21:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: Possibly sick Tilapia
in order to narrow down the possibilities some more information is needed:

what is the time scale of the situation? ie. when did the deaths begin, what frequency etc

are the tanks that are effected the ones without the UV filters? I was unsure whether this is what you meant.

stocking density

temperature

what are the physical signs on the dead fish? photos would be good, and an internal inspection would be useful

how biosecure is the system? is it outdoors? What do you feed them, and is the feed stored in airtight containers in a cool dry location?


It seems like perhaps breeding and related fighting in a high density environment may have resulted in stress which impacts the immune system of fish making them more susceptible to pathogenic organisms which then become established and spread throughout the stock. This would make sense if the tanks affected are he ones without the UV filters.
Author:  skeggley [ Oct 6th, '19, 07:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Possibly sick Tilapia
Yep, agree with danny. Your pH is a bit low and I’d get some salt into your water if you haven’t already.
Author:  Terryaquaponics [ Oct 6th, '19, 09:13 ]
Post subject:  Re: Possibly sick Tilapia
I did solve the problem with the help of Lakeway tilapia. It was a pathogen and the solution was to add 1tbl spoon of non-iodized salt to each gallon of water for 36hr. This did the trick and I only lost another three that were too late to recover.

What I did is separate the grow beds water flow from the tanks and just treat the water using a external filter to keep the water flowing and adding the salt. The grow beds water was sent directly to the the filter and sump and then through the UV filter. I also change all the water in the grow beds and filter system first.. This should remove any remaining pathogens I hope.

After 36hr I removed 95% of the water and replaced it with fresh water. The salt remaining in the system Should not effect the plants much so I believe I will be ok.

The remaining fish are returning to their normal routine and eating well now.

To answer your question this system did have a UV filter but according to Lakeway tilapia if the fish were already infected it would not of helped. The salt treatment was the only way to cure the problem with the fish.

I hope this helps answer your questions.
Author:  danny [ Oct 6th, '19, 19:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: Possibly sick Tilapia
Cheers for the update

Glad you sorted it out!

:thumbright:
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