Fish Diseases
Good fish care is important when you are talking about fish diseases. The risk of any type of fish disease in the tank or aquarium can be greatly reduced by purchasing a smaller tank to be used for quarantine. Place any newly purchased fish into the tank for 10-15 days to make sure that the fish are healthy before adding them to the main tank eliminating the risk of infecting the other fish in the main tank, this will stop the spread of fish diseases amongst the already established healthy fish in the aquarium.
The quarantine tank is also useful if any fish from the main tank have health problems or look as if they are suffering from fish diseases and need to be separated. The tank does not need to be expensive to set up as it only has to be small and basic with an internal power filter and a thermostat to heat the water to the correct temperature to ensure good fish care.
Fish care problems can occur from time to time even in the best kept fish tanks or quariums, as long as the diseased fish are spotted and treated as soon as possible they can be cured.
White spot (ichthyopthirius)
White spot is one of the most common fish diseases found in an aquarium. The symptoms are, the fish will start to flick their bodies against any items in the tank, if you see these actions look closely at the fish and you will not notice tiny pinhead sized white spots on the fins and body of the fish, these fish must be treated as soon as possible otherwise death is imminent.
This fish disease is usually caused by stress or shock and if caught soon enough it can be cured. Before rushing off to the pet shops for medication try to eradicate this quickly and effectively by simply raising the thermostat temperature of the tank by 10 degrees for 24 hours, then turn the control back to normal. Do not try to raise the temperature by adding hot water to the tank this will do more harm than good.
Fungal problems
Fungi spores are naturally present in all aquarium set ups, but if the fish are healthy they will not be affected by them.
Mouth fungus is usually found in fish that are bottom dwellers where a crushed-gravel substrate is used.
Body fungus is caused when fish have been roughly handled as this abrasive action can cause damage to the skins protective layer, resulting in fungal spores attacking the surface of the skin. If you purchase a fish that is a bottom dweller make sure you handle it carefully at all times and only use rounded gravel on the bottom of the tank.
If you keep mollies in a tank where no salt has been added white spots/patches may appear on the body, looking very similar to white spot, but do not treat them for this fish disease as it will not cure it, simply put the Mollies into a salt bath for a short period of time then replace them back into the tank.
Try to make sure that the fish you are about to purchase are in good health, look out for sores or lesions to the skin, discolorations, damaged fins or fish that are not actively swimming around must be avoided. It would be helpful if you notice any fish of this description to point them out to the fish owner so they can be treated.
Velvet (Oodinium)
Another one of the common fish diseases is Velvet. Velvet can easily be confused with white spot as it looks very similar, the difference being that velvet is a parasitic infection which attacks the skin and normally starts on the crown and sides of the back. The spots are very fine like dust or powder and are more golden in color. This fish disease is quite easy to spot and curable.
Ideally place the infected fish into the quarantine tank that you have already set up and place 1oz of aquarium salt per 3 ½ Gallons of water, leave the fish in the tank for 2 or 3 days, then check to see if the spots have gone, if not add another 1oz of salt to the tank and check again in 1 or 2 days and the fish should then be cured. If this method does not work you can purchase a number of different treatment like Coppersafe, Aquasol, Maracide, or Malachile green.
Ulcerations
Ulcerations are quite easy to detect, they appear underneath the surface of the skin starting off as a small lump and slowly growing larger, similar to boils. If left untreated the skin will break open taking on the appearance of an unsightly pink wound with white around the edge, if left too long ulcerations can turn to Septicemia so it is important to spot this disease as early as possible to give the fish a better chance of survival.
To cure this fish disease, place the infected fish into the quarantine tank that has been filled with clean water, raise the temperature a few degrees then add the recommended medication to the tank. Chloramin-t, Potassium Permanganate or antibiotics are ideal medication to purchase.
