Prevention, of course, is the best way to handle diseases. Most can be entirely prevented by excellent aquarium maintenance. Keeping disease causing organisms out of the tank in the first place is a good start and may be accomplished by practices which include quarantining new fish, thoroughly washing plants to remove possible disease carrying organisms such as snails, and promptly removing any dead or dying organisms. Keeping your water conditions at an ideal range will go a long ways towards keeping your fish strong enough to fight off infectious organisms. Make sure your pH is not too extreme. Watch your ammonia and nitrite levels and keep an eye out for other toxins in the water. Don’t overcrowd your tank (the popular inch to gallon rule applies only to very small fish; larger fish have a much greater body mass per inch and require much more water to remain healthy). Perform regular partial water changes (regular meaning at least every two weeks, not every two years) whether or not the tank looks dirty. Larger fish or more crowded tanks will benefit from more frequent changes. Provide an appropriate and adequate diet (but be careful not to overfeed—make sure your fish eat everything you give them and are not getting too fat or skinny). Most fish do well on flake but can benefit from the addition of freeze-dried, frozen, and live foods (be careful about possible infections when using live foods), but some fish require specialized diets.

Notes on Medications:

Most medications you find will indicate what they should be used for. Try to find an accurate diagnosis, then treat for the most likely cause first. Some medications will treat for multiple illnesses, and some may be combined to treat more than one illness at once, but make sure they are compatible before you mix them together. (There should be information on included with the medication, and most have a phone number that you can call if you have questions).

Some illnesses, such as ick, will respond to salt treatments (1-Tbs. salt/ 5-gal. water) if they are treated in the very early stages.

Can you catch an Illness from your fish?

The good news is, probably not. Some sources indicate that there are no diseases that humans can contract from fish, others claim that some forms of Tuberculosis may be communicable. Just to be on the safe side, avoid drinking tank water and don’t expose an open wound to tank water.

Euthanasia

Sometimes there is no treatment for a disease, or the fish is too sick to recover. In these cases, the fish will need to be euthanized. As difficult as this may be for many of us, it is sometimes necessary. Freezing is a fairly quick and very effective method, but there are others. Try to keep it humane and as painless as possible for the fish. Whatever you do, never release a sick fish (or any fish for that matter) into the wild. Such actions can have devastating results.

<--Back to part II physical indicators