This freshwater fish disease page provides the common name, symptoms and treatment options for your sick freshwater fish. Before you use any medication on your tank make sure that you have properly diagnosed the freshwater fish disease and try to figure out why your tropical fish have the disease or problem to start. Many diseases are brought on by the fish being stressed due to transport or water quality issues. If you've just set up your tank, please read about new tank syndrome. It's a very good idea to have a small quarantine tank for new fish so that you may monitor the fish for a few weeks before adding the fish to your main tank. You can also use the quarantine tank for your fish that come down with a freshwater fish disease and can avoid adding chemicals to your main tank. Always practice good fish acclimation techniques and don't rush things. Try to determine the underlying problem before medicating. Often times there are water quality issues that need to be remedied first.

Get and use an aquarium test kit and take the appropriate measures to correct the water in your aquarium. Whenever you use any type of medication on your tropical fish, first remove any carbon in your filtration system. If left in, the carbon will remove the medication from the water, doing you no good. Read the directions on the medication bottle very carefully! To sum up, first determine the cause of the freshwater fish disease, fix any obvious problem(s) (water quality problems and tank mates), figure out which disease your fish has by closely observing the symptoms and then treat only if necessary. Ammonia poisoning is easily preventable. Avoid adding expensive and less hardy tropical fish until the aquarium has cycled. For more information on cycling your aquarium please read about the aquarium nitrogen cycle. use a substance called zeolite to help absorb ammonia but the best solution is to ensure that your aquarium has cycled and that your tank is not overcrowded.

If your tank has not yet completed the nitrogen cycle, you will need to perform frequent water changes to keep the ammonia levels down. Read the following thread for detailed information on how to deal with this: How To Get Rid Of Camallanus / nematode Worms Dropsy or Malawi Bloat Ich, Ick or White Spot (Ichthyophtirius) Small white spots showing up mainly on the fins but also on the body. It looks like your tropical fish has salt all over it. More information on Ich This is a fairly common fish disease and your local pet store should have medication you can use. Ich usually arises due to poor water quality. You can increase the temperature of your water to 82 degrees Fahrenheit to speed up the cycle time of this parasite. Remove any carbon filtration before using medication because the carbon will absorb the medication. Easily preventable by using a quarantine tank for a few weeks before introducing new arrivals into your main tank. For detailed directions on how to deal with Ich, read the following thread: ICH (ICK) Life Cycle and Natural Treatment

There are medications available such as Tetracycline from Mardel Labs. Before using medication though try increasing the quality of the foods you are feeding your fish, separate them from any fin nippers and step up your water change schedule. More information on Fish Fin Rot Be sure to give your fish the best water you can by performing frequent water changes. fake fish tank for saleIf your fish gets a disease they may develop secondary fungus infections. fish tank film keiraMedications such as Jungle Labs Binox Crystal will treat fungus problems. fish tanks for sale lexington kyMore information on Fish Fungusjellyfish tank to buy

Hole in the Head - HITH, sometimes referred to as Head and Lateral Line Erosion - HLLE Nitrite / Nitrate poisoning is not a disease but will kill your tropical fish if not remedied. It results from having a large bio-load on the filtration system or from not performing enough water changes. Perform a partial water change immediately and monitor the nitrite and nitrate levels closely until the situation is resolved. r2d2 fish tank for saleYou may have too many fish in the tank and will need to perform more frequent water changes. fish tank hood manufacturersNitrite readings on your aquarium water test kit would indicate that your tank is still in the aquarium nitrogen cycle nitrite phase, or it is undergoing a mini-cycle if you've recently added more fish to the tank. Check the temperature of the water.

Higher water temperatures require higher levels of oxygen. You will need to increase the aeration in the tank with air stones and/or power heads and increase the flow rate with your filters. Try to decrease the temperature of the water by floating ice cubes in plastic baggies and turning off the tank light. If sun light is entering the tank from a nearby window, try closing the shades. Also, if you have an overcrowded aquarium you will definitely need to increase the aeration in your tank. This is usually the result of a bacterial infection. Try to give your fish the best water possible by performing frequent water changes. To treat this problem you can use a treatment such as Tetracycline from Mardel Labs. If possible, increase the quality of food given. Supplement with vitamin enriched foods. More information on Fish Pop-Eye Fish have a difficult time staying upright and may hang in the water. Goldfish are especially prone to problems with the swim bladder. Author : Mike FishLore