Signs of cyanide caught fish

[my2rotties]

There is a research document that I do not understand that well, but it says the gills brighten and darken in colour due to cyanide poisoning. The link is below... I don't know if this applies to aquarium fish since these fish were exposed in a lab, but I do believe it also speaks of fish that died in the rivers. The tests were also done on salt water fish as well...

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source...q4HXoF-8932drg

[my2rotties]

Another link on treating cyanide poisoning with Methylene blue. Don't know if it will work in the long run or if treating new fish with it befre putting in display works or not... any insight on this?

http://www.novalek.com/kordon/methylene_blue/index.htm

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by my2rotties

Another link on treating cyanide poisoning with Methylene blue. Don't know if it will work in the long run or if treating new fish with it befre putting in display works or not... any insight on this?

http://www.novalek.com/kordon/methylene_blue/index.htm

May help but I doubt its going to do much long term. Most of the damage done is permanent. The survival really depends on the extent of the damage to internal organs and gills. Methylene blue will most likely just help a weak fish fight off pathogens and bacterial disease which it may not have been able to fight off on its own. So yes its doing good but not necessarily going to help a fish live a nice long life.

Think of it like humans getting a common cold. Antibiotic resistance is the result of the overuse of antibiotics, mostly for respiratory tract infections. Doctors have been prescribing antibiotics for years to people with viral infections--essentially just kind of treating "everything" when someone claims to be sick. The problem is antibiotics do not work against viral infections like the flu. So now after years of being pumped with antibiotics, bacteria have become quite resistant to those antibiotics.

IMO its the same problem with treating fish with such wide range meds unless there is a specific reason such as an open wound or clear problem. A healthy fish should fight off disease on its own and start to gain a resistance. Many people see this happen with ich. I have yet to loose a fish to ich (and its in my tank) after they have fought off an initial infection--in fact I rarely see ich anymore except on new arrivals to the tank.

Kind of off topic now but treating for cyanide is not possible really, IMO. I think whats happening is that you end up treating for secondary infections and pathogens which eventually will overcome a fish with a low immune system or internal damage from cyanide.

[my2rotties]

It was mentioned to me that Cyanide poisoning could look much like Pseudomonas. I did a search on Pseudomonas and found one thread where it is mentioned. I don't know what these really are but have not seen a cyanide killed fish to see if it looks the same. If it was the case of disease would the other fish in the system not get the same thing essentially though. It would not be a mysterious death, but a disease outbreak right?

Since I could not find anything about the disease could it actually be the causes f mysterious deaths since it is not well known?

[fdiddy]

You mention that overtreating ailments results in "superbugs", but my aquarium fish aren't mating, and wouldn't the disease also be quarantined to my tank? I would think that for this reason I have no problem treating "lesser" diseases because a superbug in my system is unlikely for the lifespan of the tank (??). At any rate, I think the recovery of fish is likely dependent on water quality and the amount of aggression they see while recovering. If you think that the damage is permanent, then a fish will last longer in better water quality and food because their filtering organs are the ones affected (Or this is what I gather) so death is due to a build up of toxins, hence why better food and water quality could be the determining factor in how long these fish last.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by fdiddy

You mention that overtreating ailments results in "superbugs", but my aquarium fish aren't mating, and wouldn't the disease also be quarantined to my tank? I would think that for this reason I have no problem treating "lesser" diseases because a superbug in my system is unlikely for the lifespan of the tank (??). At any rate, I think the recovery of fish is likely dependent on water quality and the amount of aggression they see while recovering. If you think that the damage is permanent, then a fish will last longer in better water quality and food because their filtering organs are the ones affected (Or this is what I gather) so death is due to a build up of toxins, hence why better food and water quality could be the determining factor in how long these fish last.

I just said it was my opinion. I never actually meant there would be superbugs, I just meant it becomes harder for fish to fight off disease or at least they do not get the "immunity" they often get from fighting it themselves--same as people. This is very common with ich. If you let them deal with it, a healthy fish will and is not likely to get bad outbreaks after the first few times unless you have a very stressful tank.

None of this applies of course if your cramming tangs in say a 65G. Then your putting them in a stressful situation and I don't believe they can always fight off parasites like ich.

Water quality always matters but liver failure is going to kill the fish eventually regardless. You can't just put seriously injured fish in pristine water and expect them to get by.