using vit-b12 ok during hypo?

[guardrail]

exactly as the title says. Is using vit-b12 to get a fish to eat ok during hypo treatment or is it toxic to them?

 

[Spracklcat]

Yup--works fine. Just crush a tablet into the water an hour before you feed.

 

[fishyvet]

If you are doing hypo then the fish will not take up much vitamin through the water via skin, gills, or drinking as directed by the fish's osmotic gradient. Also, B vitamins are quickly degraded in water and by light. I do not think that adding a vitamin pill will hurt your fish, but I am doubtful it will help them either.

Garlic is a potent appetite stimulant for most fish as is live food. You can also buy vitamin supplements to enrich the food which would be a more potent means of delivering the supplements.

Good luck with your hypo!

 

[Spracklcat]

I'm confused . If the fish doesn't have a concentration of B12 in the system, but the water does, doesn't the osmotic gradient lead the B12 to diffuse into the fish? And how does salt or no salt affect the gradient for B12?

Plus, in humans B12 uptake is not passive--it is receptor-mediated in the intestine. Is it different in fish?

 

[kevin2000]

You might consider using some live brine shrimp to jump start a fish into eating mode --- never met a fish that wasn't really sick that would turn down LBS.

 

[fishyvet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11174540#post11174540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spracklcat
I'm confused . If the fish doesn't have a concentration of B12 in the system, but the water does, doesn't the osmotic gradient lead the B12 to diffuse into the fish? And how does salt or no salt affect the gradient for B12?

Plus, in humans B12 uptake is not passive--it is receptor-mediated in the intestine. Is it different in fish?

I assume B12 uptake is active but I'm unsure if anybody has cared to work out the exact mechanism in fish.

Since salt water has a higher osmotic concentration than the fish, the fish is constantly loosing water to its environment. As a consequence, marine fish constantly drink water to remain hydrated. Fresh water fish have the opposite problem; they have a higher osmotic concentration than their environment hence they are constantly battling over hydration.

We can use a marine fish's physiology to use immersion medications as practically oral meds because the fish will constantly be drinking all the meds in. If the fish is in hypo, the osmotic gradient is more of a level playing field and the fish will not drink as much water.

Practically speaking, it has nothing to do with a higher concentration of B12 in the water than in the fish; it has to do with the number of osmotically active molecules which drive the gradient.

 

[Spracklcat]

then perhaps you can just use a higher dose in hyposalinity. Or wait until the fish is back in normal water.

 

[fishyvet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11174540#post11174540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spracklcat
I'm confused . If the fish doesn't have a concentration of B12 in the system, but the water does, doesn't the osmotic gradient lead the B12 to diffuse into the fish? And how does salt or no salt affect the gradient for B12?

Plus, in humans B12 uptake is not passive--it is receptor-mediated in the intestine. Is it different in fish?

I assume B12 uptake is active but I'm unsure if anybody has cared to work out the exact mechanism in fish.

Since salt water has a higher osmotic concentration than the fish, the fish is constantly loosing water to its environment. As a consequence, marine fish constantly drink water to remain hydrated. Fresh water fish have the opposite problem; they have a higher osmotic concentration than their environment hence they are constantly battling over hydration.

We can use a marine fish's physiology to use immersion medications as practically oral meds because the fish will constantly be drinking all the meds in. If the fish is in hypo, the osmotic gradient is more of a level playing field and the fish will not drink as much water.

Practically speaking, it has nothing to do with a higher concentration of B12 in the water than in the fish; it has to do with the number of osmotically active molecules which drive the gradient.