1. Quarantine sick and/or new fish if you can afford to set up a nice "sick tank" with a proper filter, heater and perhaps a hideout. No gravel to ensure easy cleaning.
3. Remove carbon from filter. Carbon is what usually absorbs nasty things dissolved in the water. In this case, it would deactivate the meds. Sometimes this means you have to take out the entire thing because some filter pads have built in carbon compartments. Again, if you could set up a qt tank, that'd be great. You could just run a simple sponge filter on the separate tank.
4. Observe fish daily. Keep track of medication, doses, water changes as instructed.
5. Don't stress fish with loud noises, movements etc. let them rest. Don't keep incompatible fish in the same qt tank!
6. Even after they heal, watch over them for another week to see if the symptoms are all gone!
7. Try to determine the causes for the disease so you can prevent it from recurring. Prevention is the best defense against diseases!
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Tropical Fish Diseases (the following info is based on my readings, I haven't had experiences with any really sick fish yet! Thank goodness)
*means it could indicate some other disease
1. Stress/Depression
- Loss of energy - lethargy*
- No appetite, eats little or not at all*
- Seems sad =(
- Doesn't swim actively to greet you
- Hides often, rarely comes out
- Heavy breathing*
- Chased by other fish
- Tries to jump out of the tank!*
- Looks pale, thin, weak*
- Give the poor guy some time, your patience and keep a watchful eye from a distance.
- Don't tap the tank glass or constantly press your nose up against it. You probably look larger than life and very threatening to such a small fish. Unless your fish is an Oscar. But maybe Oscars get stressed too??
- If it's a new fish, give him/her a few days, sometimes even a week to adjust
- Avoid housing fish with incompatible tank mates
- Leave them alone.
- Turn the lights off - rest time!
- Most fish will snap out of it eventually. Just make sure you give him the best environment possible (good filtration, heating, hideouts, plants etc).
2. Ich/ White Spot Disease
- Fish has little white specks all over her body.
- Scratching against tank glass, ornaments, plants etc.*
- Highly contagious
- Easy to cure with Ich meds- Mal Green or Copper
- Brought on by stress and colder water temperatures
- Raise tank temperature to 80F
- Parasitic disease
3. Dropsy
- Extreme bloating not caused by overfeeding
- Puffy scales that stick out like a pine cone as many say
- Difficult to treat, contagious!
- Treat with antibiotics in food
4. Fin Rot
- Bacterial infection destroying fish fins
- Caused by stress, bullying, bad handling, poor water conditions
- Change aquarium water
- Melafix or other antibiotics
5. Nipped Fins
- Fins are missing or have torn bits*
- Usually will grow back in a week or two if fish are healthy
- Caused by incompatible tank mates, aggressive fish, pecking orders
- Can be fixed faster with Melafix
- If it doesn't stop after a week or two, separate fish.
6. Fish Tuberculosis (TB)
- No cure, fish must be euthanized
- Ulcers, bleeding*
- Lethargy*
- Loss of appetite*
- Curved back, weird swimming angle
- Extremely skinny, empty stomach*
- Scales fall off*
- Fins get frayed as if something bit it*
7. Velvet Disease
- Sprinkling of gold/yellow dust on fish
- Parasitic disease, much like Ich
- Can be treated with Methylene Blue and acriflavine
- One or two puffy protruding eyes
- Cloudy eyes = bacterial infection
- Might be caused by poor diet, bad water conditions
- Spots of blood INSIDE fish's body*
- Is a side-effect of other diseases such as TB
10. External bleeding/wounds
- Spots were scales came off and there's blood/scab
- Caused by aggressive fish, bullying
- Can be treated with Melafix
- Separate fish
- Reduce as much stress as possible
- Change aquarium water often
11. Gill/Skin Flukes
- Rapid breathing*
- Constant scratching/rubbing against aquarium & decorations*
- Red, inflamed gills*
- Gills wearing away
- Fungus/Mucus across body*
- Parasitic disease
- Sometimes you can actually see the little hooked worms hanging off the fish's side or gills (ew!)
- Look like thin black threads
12. Fungus Rot/ Mouth Fungus
- Cotton-y, wool like tufts hanging on fish's body, esp. mouth in the case of mouth fungus
- Sometimes look like white spider webs
- Loss of appetite, lethargy
- Treat with Fungal meds - Pimafix etc.
13. Hole in the Head Disease
- Parasitic disease
- Holes in head, along fish's back
- Caused by nutritional deficiencies - you should improve fish's diet!
14. Swim Bladder Disorder
- Very common
- Fish doesn't swim properly, wobbles*
- Sinks to the bottom or uncontrollably floats to the top
- Caused by constipation, overfeeding or infection
- If it's just constipation or overfeeding, it should heal in time by itself
- Feed fish peas and veggies to promote digestion
***If your fish stays still for a long period of time, unresponsive, and it happens to be night time, he's sleeping!! Stop over-worrying. Not every movement, speck and spot is a symptom of disease! Go out and do something else instead of pining by the tank, stressed out ***
References
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Mouth%20Fungus
The Complete Aquarium by Peter Scott
The Tropical Aquarium by Dick Mills
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