4 MOST COMMON FISH DISEASES
In this hobby there are ups and downs. Even when we keep our tanks in pristine conditions, excellent water parameters, careful in not over feeding, and sticking to a regimented maintenance schedule we will still face sickness and even fish loss at some point in our journey as aquarists. Do not lose heart as we can prepare ourselves with knowledge in how to prevent, recognize and treat illnesses we may face.
Some common symptoms you may see are, heavy breathing, clamped fins, lethargy, flashing and no appetite. These symptoms are pre cursors to many diseases so it's almost impossible to pinpoint what the cause could be.
I am a firm believer in isolating a sick fish for a few reasons. I don't want to run the risk of this sickness spreading and if treatment is called for, I will treat the fish in the isolation tank alone rather than treat healthy fish for the sake of one. The third is probably to most important. Allowing your fish to heal in peace without harassment from other fish causing more stress will in my opinion, speed up the healing process.
Let's go over a few common diseases and their symptoms.
Swim Bladder Disease.
The swim bladder is just that a sack or bladder of air that helps keep the fish buoyant. When a fish has a swim bladder problem it will have difficulty swimming or controlling it's movements through the water, even to the point of looking like it's paralyzed. Often this is accompanied with heavy breathing due to the stress of trying to swim.
Swim bladder issue can result from physical issues like jumping from the tank and hitting the floor. More common than that, are nutritional problems, poor diet and constipation.
The first thing I recommend is to isolate the fish. Next we will up the salt content as much as doubling the dose. This will help with buoyancy, ease their breathing and improve their digestion. You can also raise the temperature a couple degrees. Don't feed your sick fish for the first 3 days. Then on the 4th day try them on a few shelled peas. It may take a day or two for them to accept them. Once they do then you can soak a few pellets in salt water and try them on that. Providing this sickness has been caught in time it can be successfully cured but it does take time. 3-6 weeks minimum.
Feeding your fish regular supplements of high fiber foods such as shelled peas and spinach can help to relieve constipation. Including these in their diet is a form of prevention.
Malawi Bloat.
This is a common disease among African Cichlids. The symptoms include, distended bellies, laboured breathing, little to no appetite, white stringy feces, hiding in corners and lethargy. Unfortunately this disease is often fatal once these symptoms have manifested themselves.
Malawi bloat is caused by too much high protein foods in their diet. Poor water quality, causing stress which in turn lowers their immune function which allows the protozoans in their intestinal tract to multiply. The protozoans are micro organism that live in the intestinal tract. Once they begin to multiply they can cause a blockage.
In treating Malawi bloat the first step is to do a large water change. Remove the affected fish to an isolation tank. There are many medications for this so I won't highlight any particular one, but I do recommend doubling or tripling the dose. As I said this disease is often fatal so an aggressive treatment is necessary to combat this illness. You will see improvement within a week if it's going to be successful. It may take longer so continue the treatment until the fish is either better or dies. I personally haven't had success with treating bloat. I have had two fish affected and both died.
Ich or White spot
This is probably the most common of the three I've mentioned. Ich is quite easy to identify as it looks like someone salted your fish. You will see small white bumps on your fish from head to toe, fins included. These are the physical signs you will see. Before the spots appear there are some indicators that may suggest a ich problem. Pre warning symptoms of this disease again include clamped fins, lethargy, heavy breathing, flashing or rubbing themselves on the substrate, rocks and other surfaces and loss of appetite. The problem with these sypmtoms are a common indicator to other diseases as well making it almost impossible to guess at this point.
Ich has a life cycle beginning with the feeding stage. At this point you can not see any spots yet. It feeds on a nodule formed in the skin or gill. After it feeds it falls off and settles on plants, rocks and other surfaces in the tank. It enters an encapsulated dividing stage. It can divide up to 10 times. It's at this point that it attacks the fish. This is a repetitive cycle that last 7 days from beginning to end. A 10 day treatment is recommended for successful treatment and annihilation of this disease.
This is my primary reason to remove and isolate any fish I suspect of being sick. If it's caught in time you can avoid it spreading through the entire tank. Once the physical signs appear you will need to treat the entire tank as that is when it becomes contagious. Even after removing the sick fish in this case it's best to treat your entire tank just to be safe.
Ich will need a 10 day period for it to die off completely. The first thing you want to do is double the salt content. Next you must raise the temperature over the course of about 5 days , increasing gradually until you reach a temperature of 90 degrees. Ich can not survive in high temperatures or high salt content water. Once you have reached 90 degrees you begin to bring the temperature down in the same way. This will be a total of 10 days. There are medications that can treat Ich but in my experience I have found high temps and increased salt does the trick.
The only prevention for this disease is quarantining your new fish as that is how it will enter your aquarium.
Popeye.. And I don't mean the Sailor man.
This is when one or both eyes appear to be bulging out. The cause of this is simply a bacterial infection. Usually the bacteria has the opportunity to enter the eye following an injury. Possibly swimming into a rock and scratching the eye.
The best remedy is to simply do frequent water changes for a few days and feed vitamin enriched foods. There are also medications that can be used but I have never had to medicate my fish for this disease. Good clean water is one of the best ways to keep your fish healthy and improve any sickness you may see.
These are the four are the most common ailments although there are many more. I strongly suggest you do a little research and equip yourself with knowledge so you are prepared. I have dealt with each of the sicknesses at one time or another during my journey. It comes with the hobby and can't be avoided. A little preparedness is your best defense.