Tag: nutritional deficiency

A closer look at fish feeding – Part 6 – Health and nutritional deficiencies – by Jessie Poon

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish

Health and nutritional deficiencies

The biological definition of optimum health in fish is the absence of disease, physical stress, and the ability to maintain growth, reproduction and stable metabolism.
Reduced growth is the most common clinical sign of any deficiency, however, for each vitamin and mineral type, deficiencies may present in more specific ways. These are tabulated below (Craig, 2009).

Table 1: Vitamins deficiencies and their symptoms

Vitamin

 Symptoms/ signs

Vitamin A

Eye/ vision problems (haemorrhagic eyes, eye lens deformation, eye lesions), oedema, haemorrhagic kidneys and skin.

Vitamin C

Anorexia, low disease resistance, slow wound healing, cartilage deformities, poor growth, scoliosis, haemorrhagic skin, liver, kidney, intestine and muscles.

Vitamin D

Scoliosis, tetany (white muscle), low bone ash, calcium, phosphorus.

Vitamin E

Nutritional myopathy, oedema, light skin colour, reduced reproductive activity, ceroid deposition, kidney and pancreas degeneration.

Vitamin K

Slow blood clotting, skin haemorrhages, anaemia

Vitamin B1 (thiamin)

Low haemoglobin, lethargy, poor appetite, skin haemorrhages.

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

Cataracts, cloudy eye lens, eye lesions, dark skin colouration, anaemia, fin erosion, anorexia.

Vitamin B3 (niacin)

Anorexia, oedema, lethargy, reduced co-ordination, skin lesions, loss of appetite, tetany.

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)

Clubbed gills, eroded gill membranes, erratic swimming, liver necrosis.

Vitamin B6

Convulsions, rapid breathing/ gasping, erratic swimming, nerve disorders.

Vitamin B7 (biotin)

Muscle atrophy, gill degeneration, fatty liver, colon lesions, increased skin mucous.

Vitamin B12

Anaemia, poor appetite, low haemoglobin.

(Cho, 1999) (Soyaqua, 2008)

Table 2: Mineral deficiencies and their symptoms

Mineral

 Symptoms/ Signs

Magnesium

Renal calcinosis, poor growth, lethargy.

Iodine

Hyperplasia of thyroid gland, goiter.

Zinc

Cataracts, slow growth, skin and fin erosion.

Copper

Deformed collagen and bone development

Iron

Anaemia, low haemoglobin.

(Cho, 1999) (Soyaqua, 2008)

Luckily for us, good quality fish foods suited to a variety of fish species are easily available at your local fish shop. The staff at Boronia Aquarium can help you choose the right kind of food to satisfy each and everyone of your fishes.