Aquarium Fish Disease
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Your aquarium can also be subjected to disease from the fish that you put in it. Fish that you buy in the pet store may already be harboring illness or disease before you even take them home. Even if the fish don’t look sick they could still be on their way to getting sick and infect the whole tank. So when you buy fish be sure to inspect all the fish in the aquarium to ensure that they all look healthy, not just the one you are purchasing.
Common Aquarium Fish Disease:
Fin Rot
This disease is caused by bacteria that literally rots the fins away. It usually will happen to a fish that is stressed out or has an injury in the fin - the bacteria gets at the injury and eats away at the fin. If you notice your fish fins looking ragged than they may have been rot. Most healthy fish, however, can heal on their own, but if your fish are stressed the need need some help dealing with this bacterial infection.
White Spot
Sometimes called Ich which is short for Its real name Ichtyopthirius, this aquarium disease manifests itself on your fish by looking like little white spots. This is actually a parasite that attaches itself to your fish and feeds on the tissue of your fish. This parasite can multiply pretty rapidly in your tank and will start to affect all your fish if left unchecked.
Hole In The Head
This aquarium disease affects mostly cichlids and literally causes holes or pits in the head of your fish. This is thought to be caused by the fish living in water that is high in nitrates. So if you notice little dots or pitting and the heads of your cichlids you might want to get a test kit and see how high your nitrate level as. Performing water changes and to get the nitrates on to a manageable level might help solve the problem.
Fungus
One needs to be careful when diagnosing aquarium fish disease as often times a bacterial infection will look like a fungus. True fungus looks like fluffy white cotton and will happen at the site of an injury in your fish. This can be attributed to bad water quality so if you see thunders on your fish it’s time to do water change!
Most aquarium fish disease can be controlled with frequent water changes. Aquarium fish can actually be quite long-lived if you give them the right environment. Remember not to overcrowd the tank, not to overfeed, and to be sure the temperature is right for this Issue have in the tank. If you perform this important maintenance then you probably won’t have to worry about disease in your aquarium.
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