Atlantic Fish

I can't find a list of Atlantic fish and coral species online. I was told that introducing Atlantic fish to a tank with Indo-pacific fish could potentially be dangerous even with quarantine due to Indo-pacific fish not having immunity to many Atlantic parasites and diseases that are carried by Atlantic fish that have no sign of disease. I recently added a royal gramma (gramma loreto) to my tank and my two year old true percula (amphiprion percula) came down with some sort of bacterial infection even after the gramma had three weeks of quarantine. I did also add a small colony of zoa polyps a week before the gramma. Is there risk of disease jumping from polyp to fish? Do you need to Quarantine coral? The clown (bozo as my wife named him) is doing fine after being treated with antibiotic meds and will be ready to go back home in about a week and there is no sign that the gramma is sick. Has anyone heard of this? Could there be another explanation? My water is testing perfect on multiple kits and my coral and other fish are doing great. Still I’m now interested in an Atlantic species list because I would rather have a biome than a hodgepodge of the worlds oceans. Thanks.

 

Wow, good questions. Usually, disease is specific to genus or family, at least in the world of mammals. I would assume the same goes for corals and fish. However, there is a point to be made with mixing fish from different areas of the ocean. Kind of like when the Europeans brought smallpox to the Native Americans here in this great land. I wouldn't be too concerned over it. I have a mix in my tank and have never had a problem with it. Nor have I heard of it (only 6 months as a serious aquarist)......but I am a forum geek and I do read a lot.

 

I assumed it was similar to smallpox as well… I found out that many wholesalers put fish from different oceans into separate systems for that reason. And it’s not until they get into a store or home aquarium that they are introduced to fish from different areas. But smallpox is a virus, what about bacterial infection which humans can get from breathing dust. So couldn’t a coral introduce a bacterial infection on a fish through water? (Doubt it but just throwing it out there.) Is 3 weeks long enough for quarantine? Once I started using a QT tank I have had no problem in my show tank for two years and I assumed that there wasn’t a problem until now. I rarely put new fish in my tank anymore but this has me scared since I am attached to my fish.

 

Well i don't think that a bacteria can change between species since their make up is different. All the same if your LFS had bacteria in their water it could transfer with the coral to your tank. Quarantine is a good idea.

 

Hmmmmm. Interesting. I am going to look this one up. For the virus to enter a cell, it needs to identify with proteins on the surface, then let itself in to use the hosts cellular process to replicate itself. Technically, a virus is not even a lifeform (by definition). It cannot replicate without a host. Wow......I will have to look this up. Great way to get the brain going dude. I will have an answer to this by morning.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

some bacteria can jump between species. There are three ways in which bacteria replicate, in one case bacteria transfer genetic material from one to another, in a second case they just pick up dna from the environment, and in a third, bacterial viruses carry dna from one bacterium to another (HIV type). there is a chance that bacteria will be transmitted to other species, especially if they had a common ancestor around the same time when the bacteria evolved too.


PharmrJohn may have some more info.

As far as quarantine goes, I learned the hard way. I did not qur my fish, added them to the tank. Yesterday I lost my puffer to ick, and now I am doing hypo salinity treatment, a pain in the buttox.

Disease can jump, through mutations, and what I wrote above, and we have only learned so much through science. There's a lot we dont know. That is why we come here together and share experiences.

Thanks and good luck.

 

Bacterial infections are very likely to jump species. Even between species such as birds and humans you'd be surprised as to how many genes we have in common. Many proteins, tissues and even some organs are also common among different species. I would say fish are usually pretty close in terms of genetic makeup, despite the long distances between them. GL with this and on most marine fish websites where they sell fish you can find information about a certain species' motherland.