The slime coat is one of the fish's main defenses against infection and disease.
Fish secrete a mucoprotein protective
slime coat that covers the scales and skin. This slime coat acts as a
defense against invasion by bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens.
Essential electrolytes necessary for osmoregulation are lost through
breaks that may occur in the skin and slime coat, causing dangerous
stress. Open wounds and abrasions caused by handling and netting are
readily attacked by disease organisms, resulting in further stress and
disease. Every fish has a natural mucoprotein or "slime" coating
covering its skin and scales. The slime coating is the fish's first line
of defense against infection.
The slime coating contains enzymes and antibodies to fight infection.
The slime coating acts as a shield against disease causing organisms in
the fish's external environment. It also acts as a barrier to prevent
loss of internal electrolytes and body fluids. When even a small portion
of the slime coating is removed, the fish will bleed electrolytes from
its body into the surrounding water.
Beneath the fish's mucoprotein coating (slime coat) are its scales which
can extend to the outer skin surface from the underlying dermal
connective tissue. Beneath the scales in a fish's skin is the epidermis,
comprising several layers of cells. The fish epidermis is distinguished
from mammalian epidermis in that mammals require hardened layers of skin
to prevent dehydration, whereas in the aquatic environment, the fish has
no need for such protection. Thus, unlike the case in mammals, mitosis
is usually seen in the lower layer of the epidermal layer of a fish.
Beneath the epidermis of a fish is the dermis comprising fibrous
connective tissue interspersed with black pigment cells. The vascular
dermal tissue contains a network of capillaries providing nutrient to
the skin.
When a fish is netted, handled or even at times when placed in a
stressful situation, such as low oxygen, high carbon dioxide or
temperature fluctuations, the slime coating is disturbed, making the
fish vulnerable to disease, such as bacterial, fungal and parasitic
diseases. Particularly when fish are shipped in high concentrations in
low volumes of water, they are subject to trauma such as being scraped,
bitten and otherwise wounded. Moreover, ammonia, a waste product of
fish's digestion and respiration, is released into the water containing
fish. Ammonia is also released at high levels by dead fish and decaying
food. At high ammonia levels, the fish are subject to ammonia burns
which disturb the slime coating and adversely affect the fish.
Stress is the number one cause of a deteriorated slime coat.
Below is a short list of some of the sources of stress on a fish.
Poor water quality:
Poor water quality can really eat away at the slime coat of a fish. This can come from improper pH, salinity, etc..... The main way to avoid this is to do regular (perhaps monthly) water changes.
Water temperature:
Water temperature is one of the most overlooked problems. While different species of fish require slightly different water temperatures, it is important to make sure that the fluctuations in water temperature are moderate, both throughout the day and year.
Water changes:
Every time you change the water in you tank, you are adding stress to the fish. This comes from both the water removal process, and the introduction of new water that may contain chlorine and be at a different temperature than the aquarium water. Be particularly cautious when doing larger water changes, and make sure to use de-chlorinator to treat the water.
Transportation:
Fish do not enjoy traveling. Transporting fish can have a drastic effect on their slime coat, and often can be a nucleating cause of infection. When introducing new fish into your tank, take special care to acclimate the water temperature of the new fish with the aquarium.
Netting and Handling of fish:
In gathering bait this is the biggest problem you will be faced with.
Some don't areDon't over crowd your net.
Don't handle anymore than you absolutely have to.
Use the proper size and quality of net to prevent the bait from being gilled.How to help your fish get their slime coat back.
Aqueous aloe vera gel 5% to about 30% (An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. pertaining to, related to, similar to, or dissolved in water) - promote healing of the damaged tissue
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (cmc) up to about 7.5 g/l (g/L is an abbreviation for grams per litre : - .0265 oz per .28.16 oz) - mucoprotein slime-replacing compound.
Polyvinylpyrrolidone (pvp having the molecular weight of about 40,000 - K-30 available from GAF Corporation) 1.3 to about 25 g/l (0.046 oz / 28.16 oz) - mucoprotein slime-replacing compound
Sodium thiosulfate or asorbic acid 12.5 (.44 oz to 2.12 oz / 28.16 oz) to about 60 g/l - dechlorinator
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) 2 g/l (.07oz / 28.16 oz) - chelating agent
Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane 0.3 to about 1 g/l ( .001 to .035 oz / 28.16 oz) - maintain the pH
Diazolidinyl urea 1.3 to about 4 g/l (.05oz to 1.4 oz / 28.16 oz) - preservative
Aloe vera gel ("VERAGEL 1501") 4 liters (1.057) gallons
sodium thiosulfate 1400 g (49.38 oz)
carboxymethyl cellulose 100 g. (3.52oz)
polyvinylpyrrolidone 400 g. (14.11)
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 40 g. (1.4 oz)
tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane 17 g. ( 0.6 oz)
diazolidinyl urea 80 g. (2.8 oz)
deionized water enough to dilute to a total volume of 40 liters (10.6) gallons
______________________________________
About 10 liters (2.2) gallons of the water were added into a small mixing chamber of a high speed shear mixer and, with the mixer on, approximately half of the carboyxmethyl cellulose was dissolved in the water. When the mixture was smooth, the mixture was transferred into the mixing chamber of a medium speed mixer, such as a LIGHTN'N Mixer. The remaining carboxymethyl cellulose should be mixed with the water as indicated above in the small mixer and then added to the mixing chamber of the medium speed mixer.
The mixing chamber of the small mixer was filled with about 10 liters of water and the PVP was mixed with the water while the mixer ran at high speed. When this mixture was smooth, it was added, with mixing, to the carboxymethyl cellulose mixture in the medium speed mixer.
While the medium speed mixer was operating, the following ingredients were added to the mixing chamber: sodium thiosulfate, EDTA, buffer, preservative and aloe vera gel. While mixing continued, sufficient water was added to make a total volume of 40 liters (88 gallons)
After mixing until all ingredients were well blended, the composition was put into several containers.
The composition of Example 4 below
______________________________________
Aloe vera gel ("VERAGEL 1501")
4 liters
sodium thiosulfate 1400 g
carboxymethyl cellulose
100 g.
polyvinylpyrrolidone 400 g.
ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
40 g.
tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane
17 g.
diazolidinyl urea 80 g.
deionized water enough to dilute
to a total volume
of 40 liters
______________________________________
is preferably added directly to aquarium fish water.
Although lower dosages may be effective,
the recommended dosage is one teaspoonful per ten gallons of aquarium water where the water contains free chlorine.
When the water contains organic chlorine compounds, such as chloramine, the recommended dosage is two teaspoons per ten gallons of aquarium water.
At this dosage, the diluted concentration, after being added to the fish containing water, is equivalent to about 0.013 volume percent for the composition and about 0.0013 volume percent for the aloe vera active ingredient.
Additional testing with the composition of Example 4 was conducted on tropical fish, both fresh warm water species and salt water species. Thousands of tropical fish were shipped to Philadelphia from Africa and Asia. Many had been confined to their shipping containers for over 36 hours and exhibited severe stress and damage. All tests clearly indicated that within several days, the composition containing the aloe vera extract promoted healing of damaged fish tissue and prevented infection in both fresh and salt water species of tropical fish, as well as cold water fish, such as goldfish.
The composition of Example 4, before addition to the water containing the fish, may contain about 5% to about 30% of the aloe vera gel by volume. Presently, about 10% by volume is preferred. Favorable results have been achieved with compositions containing less than 5% aloe vera gel. It is believed that a composition containing as low as 1% aloe vera gel is capable of eliciting a healing response in fish when used in the recommended dosage. If desired, other medicaments can be added to, mixed with, formed into tablets or capsules or otherwise combined with the aloe vera extract for treating various fish diseases and damaged fish tissue.
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