5 Characteristics of Fish Affected by Aeromonas to Watch Out for!

Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria is the bacteria responsible for the death of 125 tons of fish in West Java in 1980. So you need to know the characteristics of fish affected by Aeromonas to avoid this disease outbreak.

Aeromonas disease attacks various types of freshwater fish, ranging from carp, carp, tilapia, catfish, koi, tilapia, and other types. So, you need to be aware of this Aeromonas disease.

The adage says prevention is better than cure. For this reason, we need to recognize the causes of Aeromonas disease so that we know how to prevent it.

Recognizing Diseases from Aeromonas Bacteria

Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria is one of the bacteria that attacks freshwater fish. This bacterium will cause the fish to experience bleeding in parts of the body, especially the chest, abdomen and base of the fins.

You need to recognize the early signs of an Aeromonas attack on farmed fish. This is because the Aeromonas bacteria cause it to attack quickly so it needs special handling.

Infections from Aeromonas bacteria can also be fatal to your farmed fish. This bacterium can cause death in fish while in humans it can cause diarrhea. 

Aeromonas bacteria can spread rapidly causing high numbers of fish deaths (80-100%), in a short period of time (1-2 weeks).

Then where did Aeromonas bacteria come from? This bacterium can be found in ponds with a high organic matter content, so it is important to clean the pool regularly.

4 Causes of Fish Affected by Aeromonas Disease

By knowing the causes of fish affected by Aeromonas disease, you can prevent this disease. Here are 4 causes of fish exposed to Aeromonas bacteria.

1. Poor Pool Water Quality

The low quality of fish farming pond water is a factor causing the emergence of Aeromonas disease. This is because Aeromonas bacteria can quickly grow and develop in water that has a high organic content or is dirty.

2. Density of Fish

When the stocking density of fish is too high, it will cause the fish to become stressed. This is what triggers the occurrence of Aeromonas disease in cultivated fish. 

Not only that, too high a density causes disease to spread quickly. Density is also associated with a decrease in the quality of pond water.

3. High Temperature

Extreme fluctuations in pond water temperature are one of the factors that cause Aeromonas bacteria in fish. Aeromonas bacteria will easily develop quickly at high water temperatures.

4. Bad Feed

Bad feed is the cause of Aeromonas disease in your farmed fish. Lack of nutrition in fish can reduce the body's immunity from fish, so that the resistance of fish to disease can decrease.

5 Characteristics of Fish Affected by Aeromonas

Aeromonas disease in fish needs to be treated early, because this disease is dangerous and can spread quickly. The following are the characteristics of fish affected by Aeromonas.

1. There are ulcers

Fish exposed to Aeromonas have ulcers on their body parts. If you see any ulcers on the fish, you must be vigilant because this could be the result of Aeromonas. 

In addition, in other types of fish such as koi fish, fish that are attacked by Aeromonas appear red spots on their body parts. 

2. Less Slimy

Fish affected by Aeromonas disease become less slimy. In fact, fish need mucus to reduce friction with water, so fish affected by Aeromonas become lazy to move. This is seen in koi fish.

3. The fins are falling out

The characteristics of fish affected by Aeromonas are that their fins are damaged and fall off easily. This causes the balance of the fish to be disturbed.

4. Loss of Appetite

If your fish loses its appetite, you need to watch out for it, it could be Aeromonas disease. Fish will experience a decrease in appetite due to inflammation.

5. Easily Injured Body

Fish affected by Aeromonas disease are prone to injuries. This is because the fish lose mucus, so the fish's body will easily rub against the water.

4 Tips to Prevent Aeromonas Disease in Aquaculture Fish

To prevent before treating, you need to prevent Aeromonas disease from occurring in cultivated fish. Here are 5 ways to prevent Aeromonas bacteria.

1. Improved Pool Water Quality 

Previously, we already know that the cause of Aeromonas bacteria is poor pool water quality. So you need to improve the quality of pool water by cleaning it regularly.

The decline in pond water occurs due to several factors such as feed that has accumulated at the bottom of the pond because it is not eaten. Therefore, you must provide the right amount of fish feed so that the feed can run out.

2. Improved Nutrition

Fish that lack nutrition will easily get sick, so make sure the fish that you cultivate have adequate nutrition.

Sometimes as cultivators, we forget to provide feed. Or the conditions in the pond are raining heavily, so the feed is not given.

3. Avoid high stocking densities

Fish density is a big factor in pond water quality. High stocking density causes a decrease in oxygen content and an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the water. 

This will indirectly increase the temperature of the aquaculture pond water. In addition, the amount of dirt produced will also increase so that the quality of the water will also decrease.

You need to find out in advance the optimum stocking density for each type of fish being cultivated.

3 Ways to Treat Aeromonas Disease in Fish

If you have tried to prevent Aeromonas disease in fish, but you still get this disease. Relax, there is a way to treat it! Here's how to treat Aeromonas disease in fish!

1. Isolate Infected Fish

If you find infected fish, immediately separate the sick fish from the pond. This is because Aeromonas disease can spread very quickly. Don't let other fish get infected.

2. Administration of antibiotics

Aeromonas bacteria can be killed using antibiotics. You can give it to Mr. / Ms. Mix antibiotics in the feed. However, the dosage needs to be adjusted so that not too many antibiotics are used.

3. Water Quality Management

The next step that you can take is to manage water quality. When an outbreak of Aeromonas disease occurs, of course, the bacteria nests a lot in pool water. Therefore, you need to replace the pool water with clean water.