Using Thermometers in Your Aquarium

By encasing the heater and thermostat in separate tubes, one is enabled to place the heater in one corner and the thermostat in another. This is supposed to insure a more even distribution of heat, since the heat must travel through the entire tank to reach the thermostat. In theory it is all right, but in actual practice it has hardly proven necessary. Water circulation itself distributes the heat readily enough.

Any type of thermometer can be used in a fish tank that is partitioned into several sections. Judge the wattage required by the capacity of the tank. Place the thermostat and heater in the center section or in adjoining sections. The end sections may be a few degrees cooler than the center, but the difference will not be appreciable.

To make sure that your thermometer is giving the correct reading, place your thermometer alternately in warm and cold water to see if it rises and falls properly. Wash the thermometer carefully, and place the bulb edge under your tongue. An accurate thermometer will read close to 98.6° F., which is body temperature. A variance of 2° or 3° is not important, however, since aquarium temperatures are not that critical.

Check a new thermometer for breaks or spaces in the mercury or “spirit” column. These often occur because of jostling during transit. To eliminate such breaks, place the thermometer on a piece of ice until the indicator has retracted completely into the bulb. When the indicator fluid is allowed to warm up, the column should be continuous.

Treating Cotton Mouth Disease (Mouth Fungus)

Cotton Mouth is one of the most difficult diseases a fish can get. It is also known as Mouth Fungus and, in case of infestation, the fish has to be treated as soon as possible. This type of illness is highly contagious, infectious and, in many cases, deadly. It is even more contagious than the spot disease.
One of the clearest symptoms of the Cotton Mouth is a white fungus round the lips and the chicks. Also, in most cases the lips become swollen and they rot. You will notice that rotten lip pieces come in and out of the fish’s mouth while he breathes. This along with lose of the appetite and a state of apathy are the clearest signs of infection. If the fish doesn’t get treatment in due time, the infection eats away its frontal part of the head and finally, the fish dies.

Many specialists even recommend that the fish is killed if he gets this disease so that the infection doesn’t spread among the other fish in the aquarium. If you encounter this problem, ask yourself if trying to save one fish is worth the life of all the others in the tank.

If you decide to treat your fish, here are some ideas of what you can do:

- clean the fish’s lips with a 5% silver mercury solution.

- mix Terramycin and Aureomycuin (dissolve 50mg per gallon of water) and pour it into the talk water. Results could appear within 48 hours.

- take a soft cloth and dip it into a strong salt solution. After that you swab the mouth of the infected fish with it and then put the cloth into a jar containing salty water.

Besides these remedies, a very popular treatment is the Methylene blue solution. This means you have to stick the fish into a jar or bucket and color the water blue with methylene blue solution and leave the fish there to sit and get treated.
All these remedies could work really well if you do them as soon as possible.