Calcium Deficiency in Fish - Discussion

Roan Art

Roan Art

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Recently someone posted the following to the r_m_l:

I have a 60 litre (15g) tank with a breeding group of M.praecox. A few months ago I noticed 2 of the females had developed bent spines. The other 4 seem fine. The only other symptom is the males seem to go berserk when I go near the tank. They dart around, jump, bang into things. They never used to do this.

I am thinking TB.

Are there any other causes of bent spine? I remember reading an article by Dave about a snail kill treatment causing this in M.pygmea.

I usually change 50% of the water weekly in this tank, but during my recent house move this tank was left at my old placed and neglected for awhile. This is about the time I noticed the spines. It was in a sunny position and got rather green.

If it is TB, should I destroy all 6 fish? They don't seem to be getting any worse. And I haven't seen any other systems usually associated with TB. Apart from the darting behavior the other 4 seem fine....​
The response:

Have you considered there may be a lack of calcium in the water. One of the symptoms of calcium deficiency in fish is to be very skitish. The fish will dart around terrified when you are near the tank. It may also explain the bent females. Having to produce eggs, the females will use more calcium than the males. Hence the males are not bent too.

An easy fix is to grind some egg shell (next time you have bacon and eggs for breakfast) to a fine powder then add it to the tank. I do this as a matter of course when I start a new tank and also in my fry raising tanks as their bones need the calcium for strong developement. I dont know how much is enough but you wont kill them if you add too much. I usually just put a pinch in.​
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We've had a few people post with fish with bent spines and I decided I would throw this up for discussion.

What do YOU think? I'm referring to the calcium difficiency, not necessarily to the treatment recommendation.

Roan
 
as the mythbusters say, "Sounds plausible"
 
You would really need more info on the GH and the Ca++/Mg++ concentrations plus feeding info to be able to judge at all well. Mineral deficiencies or imbalances are hard to read and evaluate. Without data other than anecdotal care and lack thereof, it is pretty much groping in the dark.
 
Feeding the fish some snails would provide them with extra calcium. I feed my cichlids snails once a week. I'm not sure how much calcium fish actually 'extract' from the water itself.
 
RTR said:
You would really need more info on the GH and the Ca++/Mg++ concentrations plus feeding info to be able to judge at all well. Mineral deficiencies or imbalances are hard to read and evaluate. Without data other than anecdotal care and lack thereof, it is pretty much groping in the dark.
Click to expand...
True, true. I've posted the question on the GH and hopefully he will respond with that.

Going forward, RTR, DOES calcium difficiency cause those types of symptoms?

Oh, here's a response that just came through:

I hadn't considered it until Gunther mentioned it the other day. My tap water is very hard so I didn't think calcium would be low.

It would make sense. I had a huge snail out break around the time I noticted the skittish behaviour and bent spines. I guess the snails would use up alot of calcium for the shells?

I add a small measuring cup of Shell Grit the other day, about 50mls. And I added another small amount today. They seem to be less skitish..​

Sounds a little contradictary.

Roan
 
Slappy*McFish said:
Feeding the fish some snails would provide them with extra calcium. I feed my cichlids snails once a week. I'm not sure how much calcium fish actually 'extract' from the water itself.
Click to expand...
Not all fish will eat snails, though.

Of my M. parva, M. duboulayi and M. affinis, the duboulayi are the only ones that eat snails. In fact, they fight with the clowns over them, but only the littlest ones.

They don't eat the shells, though. They mouth the snail until it separates from the shell and spit the shell out through their mouths and gills.

Roan
 
Yes, I suppose only the largest fish would bother to eat the snails shells and all. My Salvinis swallow and crunch them all up leaving nothing behind. These are common water/pond snails and garden snails, btw.
 
there is a disease that is affecting fish..particularly te salmonid fish.
it's called whirling disease.

"During the past decade the metazoan organism Myxobolus cerebralis, a European parasite that causes whirling disease in many salmonid fish species, has spread so that it now infects hundreds of streams in the northeastern and western United States. Whirling disease now affects wild fish and fish hatcheries in 23 states. This parasite employs both a fish host and an aquatic worm host known as Tubifex tubifex. By damaging cartilage and placing pressure on the nervous system, whirling disease can kill young fish directly, or cause infected fish to spin without control so that they succumb quickly to predators. Once established in a stream, the parasite cannot be eradicated, nor can its worm host, without significantly damaging the ecosystem. Whirling disease has no known human health effects. " montana edu

I am not sure if this is a problem in aquariums but it it food for thought.
 
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