Greg, while I agree with you that one should reserve indescriminate bombing
of the pond as a last resort, there are many people that don't have the
ability to scrape and scope, so their ability to properly identify and
diagnose their specific problem(s) is limited, at the very least. A fish
breaching the surface could merely be jumping for joy (or that tasty fly
buzzing by), or it could be lousy with flukes. The little guy huddled on the
bottom with his fins clamped could be new and scared, or it could be
crawling with costia. *If the water parameters are in line*, and the fish is
jumping/flashing frequently, then something is wrong. Lacking the resources
to define the problem, a shotgun approach is the only one available. New
drugs are becoming available all the time, replacing the more dangerous
drugs previously utilized. For instance, Fluke Tabs, the "standard" for many
years is no longer available on may websites because of its dangerous side
effects. It has been replaced by SupaVerm (koi only) or Prazi, which is even
safer and can be used in a mixed population pond. The treatment(s) I linked
to are the "latest and greatest" on the market, replacing drugs that were
definitely more hostile. They don't even require that the filtration be
by-passed: it's that safe. And they eradicate a multitude of "sins".
Salt is relatively benign, but at doses strong enough to help, plants die.
Remove the plants, and the chances are good that the pathogen goes with it,
only to be reintroduced when the plants are returned to the pond. Further,
it takes weeks of water changes to get the salt back out: and if the salt
remains in the water and does NOT do the trick, then other doors are closed
regarding treatment (i.e. any formalin based medication, to name one).
Meanwhile, the fish are dying.
To me, it's a Catch 22: damned if you do and damned if you don't. When I
first started, I watched my fish die because I didn't know what to do, and
couldn't find anyone that could help. Even a DAY lost while I was waiting
for someone to "get back to me" meant more death. I would have rather killed
them TRYING to do something to help them than stand by and doing NOTHING
while they all died while I was paralyzed with fear.
I wish everyone had a microscope and learned how to use it, but that's not
going to happen. Even if a scrape was done, by the time you could get to a
scope at the Dr.'s office or the local school, provided they would allow you
the use of a scope, the sample is no longer viable.
Again, I agree with you that treating the specific problem is MUCH better
than shotgun - if you have the means to identify it. If you don't have that
means, then go for the wide spectrum approach to ensure that as much as
possible is covered while you stand the chance to protect at least some of
your pets. I DO NOT subscribe to this as a prophylactic approach, just when
you know "something is wrong", and you don't know what it is.
Lee
"Gregory Young" wrote in message
.. .
Glad the water tests were all normal.. usually water conditions are the
precipitating factors for disease, as fish maintained in good water
quality
are actually very resistant to disease.
Salt can still kill quite a few parasites! 0.3% was used for years to
treat
most parasites (not all). 0.2% is too low as a treatment level....
Levels of .6% may be needed due to the increasing frequency of salt
resistant parasites we are finding.
At that level, you would negatively impact your pond's biofilter (the
nitrite reducing component), not to mention your plants, so you would want
to net the fish out (a very simple process), and treat them in a separate
container.
I would never, never recommend that anyone ever indiscriminately throw
drugs/antibiotics. etc into the picture, (especially into a whole pond!),
without a working diagnosis.
You need to know what it is that you are treating, not to mention the fact
that many of those agents can negatively impact your biofilter.
Keep us posted on how you make out,
Greg