Small Animal Talks’ Dr Anne Fawcett interviews Dr Richmond Loh about his career and fish.

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Check out the interview here –
http://www.smallanimaltalk.com/2013/11/does-goldfish-have-three-second-memory.html

Dr Anne Fawcett is a Sydney-based small animal veterinarian and journalist who also lectures in veterinary science at the University of Sydney. "Small Animal Talks" is for veterinarians, pet owners and anyone who thinks about how they might improve the lot of non-human animals.

Stressed-Out Tadpoles Grow Larger Tails to Escape Predators.

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Tadpoles are commonly used in school classrooms to teach us about growth, development and the environment. Did you know that you can tell a lot about the tadpole’s environment just by looking at their tails? This report concludes that stressed tadpoles have shorter and taller tails.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130305200204.htm

Are you thinking of having your own backyard aquaponics?

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

I learnt a thing or two about aquaponics by building my own and after attending an aquaponics conference in Hawaii last June. I learnt that five Australian cities occupied the top six positions in keyword searches for ‘aquaponics’, followed only by Honolulu. These cities have a keen interest in leading the way towards creating sustainable food production with minimum carbon footprint. This is truly an excellent way to grow vegetables and fish, and at the same time, recycle the water over and over again.

After examining many commercially available and backyard aquaponics setups, I have learnt that many aquaponics systems do not cater for the needs of fish. The Fish Vet’s system puts the health and welfare of fish at the forefront and yet does not compromise the productivity of plants.

The stand alone system is fully self-contained, is environmentally friendly and has a low carbon footprint because it is made partially from recycled materials. It is truly self-sufficiency made simple.

The system can also be customised to suit your needs.

Place an order today on page 9 of the shopping cart – http://thefishvet.com.au/shop/shopping.html

Follow me on: Facebook "Fin Page" – YouTube – Blog – Linkedin – Twitter

—
Yours sincerely,

Dr Richmond Loh DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics & Pathobiology), CertAqV.
Aquatic Veterinarian | Adjunct Lecturer Murdoch University | President-elect WAVMA |

Secretary Aquatic Animal Health Chapter – ANZCVS.
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA.

Mobile Veterinary Medical & Diagnostic Services for fish and other aquatic creatures.
http://www.thefishvet.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)421 822 383

Why do people inject carbon dioxide in aquaria?

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

This is a good paper supporting the reason why some of us just can’t seem to get our plants to flourish, and why some aquarists who are into their planted tanks use carbon dioxide injection (provided that plant nutrients are also available [fertilizers and trace minerals]). So, if you want a beautiful underwater garden, you’ll need to invest in a carbon dioxide injection system.

 

 

Aquatic Botany
  Volume 110, Number 1-2 (October 2013)
     CO2 availability rather than light and temperature determines growth and phenotypical responses in submerged Myriophyllum aquaticum
   Authors: Ana Carlota Eusebio Malheiro, Peter Jahns, Andreas Hussner
   Author Affiliations:
no affiliations available
   Source: Aquatic Botany, Volume 110, Number 1-2 (October 2013)
   Page Numbers: 31 – 37
   Available Full Text:
Full Text: Subscription Required to view full text
Format: PDF
Size: Unknown
Location: Publisher’s Site
Authentication: Publisher’s Site
   Abstract: •We studied the impact of light, temperature and carbon on growth of submerged Myriophyllum aquaticum.•CO2 acts as the major trigger for plant growth, rather than light and temperature.•M. aquaticum responded to changes in CO2 with both morphological and physiological acclimations.
   Citation: Ana Carlota Eusebio Malheiro, Peter Jahns, Andreas Hussner . CO2 availability rather than light and temperature determines growth and phenotypical responses in submerged Myriophyllum aquaticum. Aquatic Botany, Volume 110, Numbers 1-2 (October 2013), pp. 31-37, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=47E9A159ADBAE30672DA&gt;
   URL: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=47E9A159ADBAE30672DA

More insight into the class action brought against the government mishandling of the abalone viral ganglioneuritis (AVG) outbreak in Victoria.

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Once the virus was detected, abalone licence holders saw their catch drastically drop by as much as 90%. The virus-affected area accounted for approximately 32% of Australia’s abalone exports before the outbreak.

The claimants to the class action are seeking compensation for damages and losses suffered because of the outbreak of the virus, which allegedly caused a reduction of the permitted annual abalone harvest quota, decreased abalone sales, and reduced profits and the value of holding an abalone licence.

The Victorian Government has declined to comment, saying the matter is now before the courts. However, at the time of the outbreak of the virus, the current Victorian Premier, Dr. Denis Napthine, accused the then Labour Government of an “absolute failure” to control the epidemic. Dr. Napthine compared the epidemic to the foot-and-mouth disease of the abalone industry. He also pointed out that it would take as much as 10 or maybe 15 years for the industry to recover from this virus. Experts, however, cannot predict if and when abalone will repopulate to the point where the industry will recover.

Read more here.

Aquatic Animal Health Technical Workshop – February 2014 – University of Sydney.

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st February 2014

Hosted by Sydney University, Camden Campus

Program: the workshop program will consist of presentations from participants and will cover a number of disciplines including molecular biology, histology, microbiology and virology.

Participant cost: project funding will be used to subsidise participant costs for travel and, depending on participant numbers, some accommodation costs.

Participant numbers a maximum of 30.

Please reply with an expression of interest to Lynette Williams (Lynette.Williams) by the 11th December for the 2014 workshop.Details of accommodation options will follow.

This email has been distributed to previous workshop participants and subscribers to the FRDC Aquatic Animal Health SubprogramHealth Highlights Newsletter. Please forward to other interested parties.

Lynette Williams

Coordinator

Lynette.williams@csiro.au

Follow me on: Facebook "Fin Page" – YouTube – Blog – Linkedin – Twitter

—
Yours sincerely,

Dr Richmond Loh DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics & Pathobiology), CertAqV.
Aquatic Veterinarian | Adjunct Lecturer Murdoch University | President-elect WAVMA |
Secretary Aquatic Animal Health Chapter – ANZCVS.
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA. Mobile Veterinary Medical & Diagnostic Services for fish and other aquatic creatures.
http://www.thefishvet.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)421 822 383

Looking for more books? Check out this site.

The Fish Vet - Perth, WA20130720-225350.jpgwavma.jpg?w=780

10 American Foods That Are Banned in Other Countries… Why was salmon listed as #1?

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

I was recently forwarded this scaremongering email and my reply was….

“This is another non-factual email that’s doing the circuit. After reading the first bit about the fish, I decided to stop reading.

 Salmon is currently being imported to Australia, but only as frozen commodities due to the risk of introducing exotic biological agents.
Astaxanthine is a phytochemical, not a petrochemical. It’s natural and has anti-oxidative properties and plays a role for UV protection for developing salmon eggs. Many of the grains we ourselves eat at genetically modified. The use of pharmaceuticals in food production animals are highly regulated, because they are the same drugs used to treat human conditions. They are only used when it is necessary, they have to abide by witholding periods and they must be used under veterinary prescription.”

You can have a read for yourself and tell me what you think…

 

R<><

 

 

Americans are slowly waking up to the sad fact that much of the food sold in the US is far inferior to the same foods sold in other nations. In fact, many of the foods you eat are BANNED in other countries. Here, I’ll review 10 American foods that are banned elsewhere, which were featured in a recent MSN article.
Seeing how the overall health of Americans is so much lower than other industrialized countries, you can’t help but wonder whether toxic foods such as these might play a role in our skyrocketing disease rates.
 
#1: Farm-Raised Salmon
http://i1.wp.com/media.mercola.com/themes/mercola/images/slideshow/farmed-salmon.jpg?zoom=1.5&w=735
If you want to maximize health benefits from fish, you want to steer clear of farmed fish, particularly farmed salmon fed dangerous chemicals. Wild salmon gets its bright pinkish-red color from natural carotenoids in their diet. Farmed salmon, on the other hand, are raised on a wholly unnatural diet of grains (including genetically engineered varieties), plus a concoction of antibiotics and other drugs and chemicals not shown to be safe for humans.
This diet leaves the fish with unappetizing grayish flesh so to compensate, they’re fed synthetic astaxanthin made from petrochemicals, which has not been approved for human consumption and has well known toxicities. According to the featured article, some studies suggest it can potentially damage your eyesight.
 
Where it’s banned: Australia and New Zealand
How can you tell whether a salmon is wild or farm-raised? The flesh of wild sockeye salmon is bright red, courtesy of its natural astaxanthin content. It’s also very lean, so the fat marks, those white stripes you see in the meat, are very thin. If the fish is pale pink with wide fat marks, the salmon is farmed.
Avoid Atlantic salmon, as typically salmon labeled “Atlantic Salmon” currently comes from fish farms. The two designations you want to look for are: “Alaskan salmon,” and “sockeye salmon,” as Alaskan sockeye is not allowed to be farmed. Please realize that the vast majority of all salmon sold in restaurants is farm raised.
So canned salmon labeled “Alaskan Salmon” is a good bet, and if you find sockeye salmon, it’s bound to be wild. Again, you can tell sockeye salmon from other salmon by its color; its flesh is bright red opposed to pink, courtesy of its superior astaxanthin content. Sockeye salmon actually has one of the highest concentrations of astaxanthin of any food.