Chilodonella

Chilodonella is an oval ciliate found mainly on the gills of the fish and at a later stage on the skin. It is a protozoa, these are divided into three categories: Celiates, Flagellates and Sporoza. The disease causes skin cloudiness and the unicellular organisms are between 100 – 150 μm in size. Just compare, the thickness of a human hair is about 50 μm (=0.05 mm). When fish are infected, they get breathing problems, the gill lids open and they hang at the water surface gasping for air. They may also lie on the bottom. In an advanced stage of infection, the parasite also appears on the skin, producing more mucus and causing skin cloudiness.

Chilodonella reproduction occurs by simple cell division. Parasites that reproduce by cell division can lead to a huge increase and thus worsening of the problem within a very short period of time.

Treating chilodonella

Treating the infection can be done very well with a good agent against protozoa. Prevention is always better than cure. The infection usually occurs in poor quality pond water, where the pond filter is not equipped with activated filter carbon. A filter with activated carbon is the way to go. In addition, regular measurement of the water values is recommended to intervene in time. Supplementary feeding with good quality food increases the resistance of the fish, allowing them to easily survive the diseases.