# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Costia



## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

Any idea if the 100 micron filters would help with costia?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> Originally posted by Betty:
> Any idea if the 100 micron filters would help with costia?


I would read up on Costia, especially how big the infectious organism is. That will answer your question about whether the filter will remove it. Remember that the Quick Filter comes with padding that will remove 1 micron size particles.

Fish diseases can be a real problem or beginners and experienced hobbyists. I've just added UV sterilizers to my tanks to better manage a recent Mycobacteriosis outbreak in my Rainbowfish.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

I was hoping you'd know off the top of your head. LOL It's been a h*ll of a week.
http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/BugsyCostia0503.html

Costia are 5-15 microns in size. I added the quickfilter today and picked up a couple of extra filter sleeves. It's good I've been running the 100 micron pads cuz the first day they clogged every couple of hours. They really cleaned up the water in prep for the 1 micron filter.


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## yalej (Dec 8, 2004)

I've been thinking about UV sterilizers as well. How often do you run it Diana, and what do you use for water movement through the sterilizer?

Dennis


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> Originally posted by Betty:
> I was hoping you'd know off the top of your head. LOL It's been a h*ll of a week.
> http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/BugsyCostia0503.html
> 
> Costia are 5-15 microns in size. I added the quickfilter today and picked up a couple of extra filter sleeves. It's good I've been running the 100 micron pads cuz the first day they clogged every couple of hours. They really cleaned up the water in prep for the 1 micron filter.


Betty, I'm afraid I don't have too much information on the tip of my tongue. Moreover, what's there is quickly forgotten!









Later I looked up the size of Costia, which is what you found. Also, the size of all protozoa ranges from 2 to 2,000 microns. Therefore, the Quick Filter should filter out all disease-causing protozoa such as Costia.

Here's a website I found with a "Costia movie". I like this website for fish diseases.

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/costia.htm

When I cured Ich using the Transfer Method combined with Quick Filters, I sterilized the filter material in hot dilute chlorox. I rinsed and reused it. I also added a little water conditioner to the tank to take care of residual chlorine.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> Originally posted by yalej:
> I've been thinking about UV sterilizers as well. How often do you run it Diana, and what do you use for water movement through the sterilizer?
> 
> Dennis


Dennis, I'm going to start a new folder for UV sterilizers so the subject doesn't get buried in the Costia folder.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

Now we have Velvet!!!
Both the goldies and the tetras/danios.
Velvet's lifecycle is similar to ich, so I've set up a 20 gallon QT tub with a quickfilter and a seasoned HOB filter. I'm thinking about doing your modified bucket to bucket method with the tetras. Thoughts?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> Originally posted by Betty:
> Now we have Velvet!!!
> Both the goldies and the tetras/danios.
> Velvet's lifecycle is similar to ich, so I've set up a 20 gallon QT tub with a quickfilter and a seasoned HOB filter. I'm thinking about doing your modified bucket to bucket method with the tetras. Thoughts?


Dear Betty,

I'm not sure that I can help you with the specifics of treating 'Velvet' since this is one fish disease that, thankfully, I have not yet encountered.









However, I share your frustration with fish diseases. It really takes the fun out of having aquariums.

My Rainbowfish, which were infected last year with Mycobacteria, seem to be doing okay since I installed the UV sterilizers last month. Improvement is subtle but fish, thankfully, have stopped dying.

I believe that my healthy Rainbowfish can fight off almost any disease when they are not continually bombarded with bacteria or parasites in the water.

If the UV sterilizers are working properly, they should kill all disease organisms in the water--ich, Mycobacteria, etc.

As everyone on this forum should know, I am not into "High-Tech". However, the incidence of fish diseases is so common in newly purchased fish that UV sterilizers seem like a reasonable curative. In my case with Rainbowfish, the cost of installing the sterilizers is cheaper than my starting all over with new fish, plants, etc.

I went for 15 years with no need for UV sterilizers. If your fish are healthy, rejoice!


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## imported_BobB (Feb 26, 2005)

If you have the time and space to hold your fresh water for water changes, potassium permangnate is an alternative to UV...and a lot cheaper.I use 55 gal drums, add enough PP to turn the water red and let it set for a day or two. The PP can be neutralized with hydrogen peroxide in a matter of seconds. Just putting a strong light over it will do the same thing but will take a day or two


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thanks for the tip. I don't do water changes but every 3-6 months, so the PP wouldn't work in my case. 

The infected fish, snails, etc will be constantly shedding pathogenic Mycobacteria into the water. The UV sterilizer will kill the bacteria in the water as it passes through the filter. Thus, the number of bacteria that the fish are exposed to is kept low.


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## imported_BobB (Feb 26, 2005)

Just to play Devils Advocate here....
Yes, UV will kill the pathogenic bacteria, along with all other bacteria. What effect will killing off all the "good" bacteria have on the long term health of the tank?? Or short term, for that matter.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

By good bacteria, I'd bet you mean non-pathogenic bacteria. That's an interesting question. There are lots of bacteria in the substrate doing various things... and lots of bacteria in biofilms doing various things. According to Tim Hovanec, the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrAte live mostly in oxygenated biofilms. 

One of the bacteria the koi folk worry about is aeromonias. From what I understand, it's a facilitative anaerobe and it digests the casing off of fish poop and is always present. It is a common pathogen tho. Opportunistic I think, taking advantage of wounds or stressed fish. They're big into bare bottom with bottom drains and good mechanical filtration to keep debris/poop at a minimum.

I wonder what bacteria are normally present in the water column. 

are you thinking the UV might kill the normal "flora" and open a niche for pathogens? Given it's constantly killing anything in the water column that flows thru it, I'm not sure you'd see that kinda effect.

It does make me wonder tho... given in the natural planted tank method, we let poop accumulate to decompose and replentish nutrients in the substrate. Are there more bacteria present in the water column cuz there's more food for them present (compared to a tank that's either bare bottom or vacuumed regularly)?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> Originally posted by BobB:
> Just to play Devils Advocate here....
> Yes, UV will kill the pathogenic bacteria, along with all other bacteria. What effect will killing off all the "good" bacteria have on the long term health of the tank?? Or short term, for that matter.


It's always nice to have a Devil's Advocate. Otherwise, I get bored.









Keep in mind that almost all bacteria, including Mycobacteria live attached. They live in the filter material, on the fish's skin, in the soil, on the plants leaves, etc. Then the bacteria colonies (or biofilms) shed off a few bacteria into the water. These bacteria "float" around in the water to establish new colonies elsewhere (or infect new fish). I doubt that they remain long in the water (less than a day).

There's still plenty of bacterial activity and colonization even with the UV sterilizer. For example, imagine the fate of bacteria shed off by a colony of bacteria growing on an old plant leaf. One individual moves through the water and attaches to the aquarium glass and sets up a new colony. Another individual attaches to the filter material and establishes another colony in the filter. Thus, bacterial activity (good and bad) goes on unabated.

The UV sterilizer doesn't kill all bacteria just a portion of those looking for new colonization sites.

The UV sterilizer helps when there are infectious organisms in the tank (usually brought in by newly purchased fish). Think about it this way. Infected fish are constantly shedding pathogenic bacteria into the water (from their gills, intestines, etc). The tank water becomes full of these bacteria, because you have a lot of fish in a some volume water (not like out in a river or lake). Thus, healthy fish quickly get infected and infected ones get re-infected. The fish never has a chance to develop immunity.

The UV sterilizer changes things by killing the infectious bacteria that are in the water. It doesn't kill all the bacteria, but enough that the fish have a fighting chance.

I'm pleased that my fish seem to have stabilized since I added the UV sterilizers. However, it will be a year (or more) before I can draw any real conclusions. Mycobacteriosis is a very slow-developing disease.

I did fine without a UV sterilizer for 15 years, because I was lucky. None of the fish I introduced into my tank apparently had this pathogenic Mycobacteria. However, last year I bought quite a few new Rainbowfish and introduced them without quarantine. That was the mistake that I'm paying for now.


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