MOST COMMON FISH DISEASES
Lot of aquarium keepers know that there are hundreds of bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections that can infect the health of your fish. Opposite to popular belief, fish are highly sensitive animals, and environmental changes, no matter how small, can trigger periods of illness and stress.
In order to stop illness, or to prepare yourself should infection or disease become present in your fish tank, you may wish to consider:
- If you have a large aquarium, you may want to invest in a small fish tank to set up as a hospital tank. Treating a single fish in a hospital tank will be both cheaper and easier than treating your whole aquarium.
- You will be in need to remove any activated carbon for the period of treatment; otherwise, it will be ineffective, because it will absorb the medication from the water,
- A lot of fish diseases are the result of stress, and poor water quality plays a big factor in this. The incorporation of a good aquarium filter to continue optimum water conditions can significantly reduce the risk of disease, and regular water changes.
- Freshwater aquarium salt can be added to your tank to support fish recovering from illness. The electrolytes help the promotion of good health, reduce stress levels and heal wounds.
- The regular inclusion of a multivitamin treatment can boost the immunity of your fish and help prevent disease, as well as for those recovering from an infection.
Fortunately, most diseases are easily diagnosed and treated, however spotting the signs early is often essential to recovery.
Outlined below are a number of the more common illnesses to influence freshwater aquarium fish, along with details on their symptoms and advice on how to treat them.
Dropsy
Cause:
Dropsy is normally caused by a bacterial infection of the kidneys which activates fluid retention, even though it can also be caused by the poor water quality and micro-organisms in your aquarium. The disease usually affects fish experiencing stress, which compromises their immune system.
Symptoms:
- Loss of appetite
- Protruding scales around the swollen area
- Sluggish and lack of energy
- Swollen abdomen
Treatment:
Early diagnose of the disease is crucial to the success of treatment. Parasite treatment can be applied to your tank over the course of 2 days, but one treatment should work.
Perhaps the most significant treatment is to get red of the underlying cause of stress for the fish, and providing supportive care to the sick fish. Examining the water quality, ammonia levels, temperature, tank mate compatibility and other diseases present in the tank are highly recommended.
Fin Rot
Cause:
Fin Rot is often a symptom present in other illnesses, however, this can happen as a stand-alone issue. This is usually a result of a bacterial infection, which causes the fins or tail to fray as the body’s immune system is lowered whilst fighting off the illness. Fin rot can also be caused by stress, where fish are injured or bullied by aggressive tank mates.
Symptoms:
- Fins colour may fade
- A progressive deterioration of the tail and/or fins
Treatment:
Firstly it is advisable to make sure that your pH levels are correct. Adding salt to the water can help treat this illness by adding electrolytes to assist repair fins. Typically fin rot resolves itself with time, however a treatment of Myxazin can be applied in to the water.
Fungus
Cause:
The most common causes of fungus are poor water quality and large amounts of decomposing material that exist in the aquarium. It often happens when fish are suffering from an injury or another illness is present.
Symptoms
- If left untreated, the fungus will kill a fish by continuing to eat away at the fish’s body.
- Initially, it looks like a white or grey growth in and on the skin, mouth or fins
- Excess mucus present
- Over time the fungus will develop a cotton wool like appearance
Treatment:
Fungus can be cured by using a fungal treatment with four separate applications to make sure that it does not burden the already stressed fish.
Aeromonas salmonicida .
Cause:
These bacterial infections are usually caused by poor water quality and poor diet. This can cause stress in your fish which lowers immune system and allow any bacterial infection to set in.
Symptoms:
If your fish has a bacterial infection, these are some of the common signs that you will see:
- Ulcers on gills
- Red spot on the body
- Swollen abdomen
- Enlarged eyes
Treatment :
If your fish deal with a bacterial infection, your vet will prescribe antibiotics based on the present bacteria. There are some medications that you can buy online or at a local aquarium store to help cure bacterial infections.
Septicemia
Cause:
Firstly the virus particles in the water infect gill tissue and then they move to the internal organs and the blood vessels. To weaken them, causing hemorrhages in the internal organs, skin and muscle. Your fish can also be infected if they eat infected fish.
Symptoms:
- Unusual behavior.
- Anemia
- Bloated abdomens.
- Rapid onset of death.
Treatment:
Normally when curing fish illnesses we recommend antibiotics be used sparingly but in this case, we strongly suggest starting with them. The bacteria in the blood can quickly overcome a fish and antibiotic treatment is usually the most effective and quickest method for treatment.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Cause:
The bacteria have become highly pathogenic and opportunistic uunder stressful conditions such as overcrowding, malnutrition , poor water quality , inadequate, aggression or bullying issues .
Symptoms:
- gill necrosis
- hemorrhagic septicemia
- friable liver
- splenomegaly abdominal
- distension
Treatment:
The best way to cure Pseudomonas infections is by identifying the primary stressful event that caused the fish to lower the immune function. Possible solutions depending on the primary issue, may include pond maintenance or better aquarium, removing fish from the environment, buying new food, and adding decor items or other environmental improvements.
Hemorrhagic Septicemia (Red Pest)
Hemorrhagic Septicemia is also known as Red Pest due to the distinct red streaks that can be seen on your fish.
Cause:
Various organisms or an Ammonia spike can be the cause of Hemorrhagic Septicemia .This is often caused by poor water conditions with high amounts of decomposing organic debrisa´. Poor Redox and high levels of nitrate and tend to be common when Septicemia is present.
Symptoms:
- Erratic swimming
- Gasping at the surface
- Distinct bright red streaks on fins
- Bulging eyes
- Bloated abdomens
Treatment:
There’s no known medication for this disease. As the disease is external, internal treatments aren’t usually effective, except in slight cases. If that’s the case, clean your aquarium and treat it with a disinfectant and clean it.
Vibrios
Vibriosis is one of the most widespread fish diseases
Cause:
the bacteria of the genus Vibrio is the cause of Vibrios.
Symptoms:
- Weariness with necrosis of skin and appendages causing malformation of the body
- slow growth
- internal organ liquefaction
- blindness
- muscle opacity
- mortality
Treatment:
Vibrios is a disease that can be cured by antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin which is a synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic that is effective against gram-negative and some gram-positive bacterial pathogens of fish.
