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Fish are susceptible to fish diseases just as any other organism. There are hundreds of afflictions that can effect the health of fish. Fish disease has remained a rudimentary branch of veterinary medicine. The reasons are their miniature nature makes tests more difficult and cheap price of most fish exceeds expensive tests and medication cost. Fish diseases can be referred to as etiology organ/system most severely affected. Communicable disease can easily affect most fishes in the aquarium due to limited volume of water and increased number of fish compared to natural environments. Many diseases in captive fish are avoidable and preventible. Water conditions are important factors. In spite of all precautions, disease episodes may still occur in the aquarium especially when fish face environmental stresses.

 *Who hears the fish when they cry?*
 - Henry David Thoreau 1849

1 Prevention
2 Fish disease etiology
3 Fish disease by affected organ system
4 Fish Disease treatment
5 Complications
6 References
7 External links

Prevention

Disease cures are almost always more expensive and less effective than simple prevention measures, including moving between fisheries to avoid spreading disease.

Identified precautions:

Avoid introducing infected stock into the water.
Avoid stressing the fish
- Keep fish in ideal water conditions
  - Don't overcrowd the aquarium
  - Don't overfeed the fish
  - Fish bowls? No please.
Don't introduce external disease sources
- Qurantine newly bought fish
- Don't buy from shops with diseased fish
- Think about introducing other plants and invertebrates
Monitor the fish
- Keep a close look at the fishes at least a couple of minutes a day, such as during fish feeding.
- As a rule of thumb, if the fish appears distressed, remove it immediately and monitor it for a couple of days.
Remove infected fish from your populated tank
Avoid using unknown chemicals in your tank
- Never use soap or detergent when cleaning out anything that is to be in the aquarium

Fish disease etiology

Myxobolus cerebralis triactinomyxon

Bacterial infections
- External bacterial infection
  - Pseudomonas fluorescens
    Cotton Mouth, Mouth Fungus, Chondrococcus columnaris
    Scale Protrusion
    Myxobacteriosis
    Tail Rot & Fin Rot
- Internal bacterial infection
- Frunculosis (Aeromonas salmonicida)
  - Fish Dropsy
    Red pest
  - Septicemia
    - Pop Eye
  - Mycobacteria
    - Fish Tuberculosis, (Curved Spine), Crooked Spine, Mycobacterium piscium
Fungal infections
- Saprolegnia
  Ichthyosporidium
  Fungal cataract
Mould infections
- Water moulds
  - Oomycetes
    Saprolegnia
Parasitic Disorders
- Gyrodactylus salaris
- Protozoa
  - Malawi Bloat
    Costia
    Ichthyophthirius
    Cryptocaryon
    Oodinium
    Trypanosoma
    Velvet disease
    Brooklynella hostilis
    Hexamita
    Glugea
    Henneguya
    Chilodonella
- Myxosporea
  - Ceratomyxa shasta
    Kudoa thrysites
    Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae
    Ceratomyxa shasta
- Microspora
  - Neon Tetra Disease Pleistophora hyphessobryconis
- Helmintic
  - Leeches
    Nematoda
    Trematoda
  - Platyhelminthes, Flat worms
    - Planaria
      Monogenea
  - Cercaria and Metacercaria
    - Black Spot, Diplostomiasis
- Crustaceans
  - Argulus (Fish louse)
  - Copepods
    - Lernea Anchor worms
Viral Disorders
- Koi Herpes virus (KHV)
  Infectious salmon anemia
  Lymphocystis
Metabolic Disorders
Water conditions
- Physical conditions
  - Too many fish
  - The tank is too small
  - New tank syndrome (NTS)
- O₂
  - Insufficient aeration
- PH
  - Acid Water
  - Alkaline Water
  - pH fluctuations greater than 0.2 units/day
  - Adding concentrated acid/alkaline (Chemical burns)
- Water Hardness
  - High GH
  - Low Gh
- Temporary Hardness
  - High Kh
  - Low Kh
- Water temperature
  - Water Too hot
  - Water Too Cold
- Poisoning
  - Ammonia Poisoning
    Nitrite poisoning
    Copper Poisoning
    Clorine Poisoning
    Chloramine Poisoning
Malnutrition
- Undefined
  - Rotting nose disease
- Underfeeding
- Overfeeding
- Wrong food
- Foods not varied
- Vitamin deficiency
  - Fat Soluble Vitamins
    - Vitamin A
      Vitamin D
  - Water Soluble Vitamins
    - Thiamine (B1)
    - Riboflavin (B2)
    - Nicotinic Acid (niacin, B3)
    - Pantothenic Acid (B5)
    - Pyroxidine (B6)
    - Cyanocobalamin (B12)
    - Ascorbic Acid (C)
      - Hole in the head disease
    - Biotin (H)
    - Choline
    - Folic Acid (M)
    - Inositol
    - p-Aminobenzoic Acid
    - Vitamin E
- Mineral deficiency
  - Calcium
- Constipation
Injuries
- Incompatible species
- Improper handling
- Sharp decors
Tumors
- Benign
- Malign
Congenital Abnormalities
- Beneficial
  - Albinism
  - Extra finnage
- Undesirable

Fish disease by affected organ system

Neurological Disorders
Body Cavity
Eye Disorders
- Cloudy cornea
- Blindness
- Cataract
- Black Spot
- Pop Eye , exophtalmia
Fecal Disorders
Fin Disorders
- Fin rot
Gallbladder
Gill Disorders
- Gill flukes (Dactylogyrus )
Intestinal Disorders
Kidney Disorders
Liver Disorders
Locomotor Disorders
- Spine
  - Scoliosis
Mouth disorders
- Cotton Mouth
Skin Disorders & Changes In Color
- Anchor Worm
  Black spots (diplopstomiasis)
  Chilodonella
  Costia
  Dermocystidium
  Fish Lice (Argulus)
  Fungus
  Ich (white spot disease)
  Scale Loss (stress)
  Skin flukes (Gyrodactylus)
  Slime Disease
- Ulcers
  - Ulcerative dermal necrosis
- Velvet
Swim Bladder Disease
- Congenitally deformed
- Tumor adjacent to the swim bladder
- Constipation
- Malnutrition
- Chilling
- temperature fluctuations
- Serious parasitic infestation
- Serious bacterial infection

Fish Disease treatment

Basics

If the disease cause is not obvious, check water conditions, including temperature, pH, GH, KH, NH3, NH4, PO4, NO2. Observe the fish for symptoms. Check any recent changes.

Hospital Tank

Diseased fish should be isolated whenever possible so they are not likely to spread infections among other healthy fish in the tank. The best way to isolate sick fish is to set up a hospital tank. If possible move all sick fish to a hospital tank, without sand, live plants and decorations. If the treatment is an antibiotic antiseptic or copper based, remember to remove all carbon from the filtration system. Make sure the biological filtration in your aquarium which cycle harmfull ammonia and nitrites is not destroyed by drugs. The tank should be furnished with a reliable heater that will not permit much temperature variance. The tank should be furnished with an air stone. After treating the sick fish, disinfect the tank.

Baths

An alternative means of treating a fish is to give it a short bath in a bucket containing water and a medication or salt.

Salt bath

A salt bath is a good way of treating the fish without damaging the beneficial bacteria. It is a good antiseptic and fungicide. Most table salts may contain additives like magnesium sulfate to keep them from clumping and appear whiter, which might not be beneficial to fish. Aquarium salt is recommended, although Kosher salt or rock salt is satisfactory.

Heat Therapy

Heat therapy of raising the water temperature, can be administered to kill certain parasites. The temperature should be raised gradually. Sometimes diseased fish cannot handle such a temperature change, or the species can not tolerate high temperatures. Discontinue treatment if any side effects occur. Aeration is necessary since less oxygen is dissolved in warm water.

Medications

Commercial fish medications are not regulated by any government agency. This means that some commercial medications have not been tested for safety or effectiveness. Thus some medications may be completely useless and may be even harmful to aquarium inhabitants.

Treatment Options

Conservative treatment
- Temperature modifications
- Changing water conditions
Pharmaceuticals
- Drug baths
- Topical drugs
- Feeding drugs
- Injecting drugs
Surgery
Killing the fish

Example drugs used in Fish treatment

Antibiotics
- Tetracycline
  Chloromycetin
  Amoxicillin
Antihelmintic
- Parachlorometaxylenol
  Dimilin
Antifungals
- Phenoxethol
Antiseptics
- Malachite green
  Formalin
  Potassium permanganate
  Methylene blue
  Mercurochrome
  Acriflavine, (trypaflavine)
  Mardel's Maroxy
  Quaternary ammonium compounds: (QACs)
  Monacrin (monoaminoacridine)
Chloramine-T
Copper
Organophosphates
Salt
Anti constipation
- Parrafin oil
  Glycerol
  Castor oil
Other
- Trichlorofon
  Maracyn
  Paragon
  Metronidazole
  Trifon
  Oxygenex

Complications

Nitrogen cycle

Damaging Nitrogen cycle
Damaging aquarium plants
Damaging freshwater invertebrates in aquarium
Overdose

References

ISBN 1564651606 Manual Of Fish Health
ISBN 1582450498 AZ of Tropical Fish Diseases & Health Problems, Peter Burgess
ISBN 0866227032 Handbook of Fish Diseases, Dieter Untergasser
ISBN 0764113380 A Commonsense Guide to Fish Health - Fairfield

Fish Guide

Fish diseases

Contents