Chilodonella

Chilodonella is an oval ciliate occurring in particular on the gills of a fish and in a later stage on its skin. It is a protozoa, which is subdivided in three categories: Celiates, Flagellates and Sporozoa. It causes skin cloudiness. Its size ranges between 100 and 150 μm. Just for comparison, the thickness of a human hair is about 50 μm (=0.05 mm). If fish have been contaminated with Chilodonella, they will get breathing problems, their the gill covers will be open and they will be hanging at the water surface. It is also possible that they are hanging on the bottom. In a far advanced stage of infection a parasite will also occur on the skin, which will start producing more mucus, which is referred to as skin cloudiness.

Propagation of Chilodonella occurs by simple cell division. Parasites which propagate by cell division may provide an enormous increase in a very short time, which implies worsening of problems.

Treatment of Chilodonella

Treatment can be done quite well, applying a proper means against parasites. Prevention is always better than cure. The infection usually occurs in pond water of bad quality, because the pond filter has not been equipped with activated carbon. A filter containing activated carbon is the device. Besides you are recommended to measure the water values regularly so that you can take action in time. Additional feeding on quality increases resistance of a fish, so that it can easily live through any disorders.