Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A friend of mine called me about a single fish death he had this morning,

has anyone know about the disease that makes fish (trout in this instant) swim around in circles in a very unhealthy and death like state????

Im sure I have read something about this.

Possibly problems with the swim bladder.. Can be caused by a few things.

doubt it's anything you can cure, but have you tried salting the water to 3-4 ppt ?

What is he using as a fish tank?

Its twin IBC's, 1500L, approx 6 months old OBO,

He does have a lot of over growth with plants, often tomatoes etc floating in water, its in pure sun light around the clock and has a lot of algae bloom but he hasnt really had any probs till now.

His biggest problem is he's colour blind to some extent and I often wonder if he really knows what his levels are.... I will visit tomorrow and investigate.

Tomato leaves in the water ?

They have a small amount of toxin in them, called tomatin.

Yeah, well if it's only one fish I wouldn't be too worried then.

Good point !

Maybe it had a stroke

There is a parasitic protozoa that causes "whirling disease" if it is that id cull the fish RIGHT NOW.

Not sure if it is in australia but in europe and the states it is really bad news.

In AP spinning fish has usually been related to PVC fish tanks (ie swimming pools) There seems to be something in the lining that causes the spinning reaction.

And here is me thinking it may have had one too many to drink...

I posted this to Faye's thread as well - this is video (not mine) of a trout with whirling disease which is a real problem in hatchery raised trout in the US and was being spread to wild trout through the introduction of hatchery raised fish to rivers and lakes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ6sTX8YKPg

Contact the seller of the trout, and see what they say. Troutman, are there any instances of whirling disease in Australia?

My home state here in the States (Montana) has a huge problem with it.

My first response was "Yeah, if it's whirling disease, your friend is going to want to cull the entire tank, and maybe burn the carcasses, and sterilize the tank. It's a very nasty disease." That's how strong a reaction whirling disease prompts in me, but best to be sure before going all nuclear.

I would think that death throws relating to another problem is probably more likely than whirling disease.. If it's the sort of thing I'm thinking of, that I have seen it a couple of times with fish that are about to die, when they start randomly, slowly swim around, upside down, whirling twisting etc, just slowly generally..

Lets hope we don't get whirling disease here, I've not heard of it before...

The video that scotty posted shows fast, frantic tail-chasing, not slow movements. I'm crossing my fingers!