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DIV align="center"> Knowing your fish — how they eat, how they swim, how they look, and whether they like the surface, middle, or bottom of the tank — will be your greatest help in telling whether they are sick or not. As with any other living thing, when fish are sick they look and behave differently. Recognizing these changes early can mean the difference between life and death, not only for the affected fish, but for all the fish in your aquarium. In such a small and closed ecosystem as your aquarium, once a disease, fungus or parasite affects one fish, it can quickly spread through the water to all the others. Signs of Illness Fortunately, the signs of illness are pretty much the same for all species of fish. They include: Clamped fins, fins held close to the body Frayed fins Bloating Enlargement of the eyes Erratic swimming and shimmying Drifting close to the bottom or gasping for air at surface Scraping themselves on plants or filters Loss of appetite White spots on fins or body Parasites on body Cottonlike patches on fins or body Fish that are normally active remaining still Swimming Disorders If fish are swimming slowly or with clamped fins, gasping at the surface, listless, not eating, or if their gills are purplish rather than bright pink-red they are not getting enough oxygen. Check your water’s pH, nitrates and ammonia levels. Do a few water changes and check your filters. Bloating and Enlarged Eyes Perhaps a bacteria infection, perhaps not. This is referred to as “dropsy” and is difficult to treat. Quarantine your fish in a separate tank. Frayed Fins This may be a matter of a fish being nipped at by an aggressive tank mate. Damaged fins, however, can lead to fin rot, which means an infection by bacteria or fungus. It's best to quarantine a fish until its fins heal. Parasites on Body Parasitic worms can enter the tank from new fish or new plants. If they attach themselves to your fish they can quickly kill them and move on to another victim in the tank. Quarantine the fish, remove parasites with tweezers and treat spots with a touch of mercurochrome. White Spots On Fins: Scraping Against Plants or Filters These are sure signs of ich, Ichthyopthirius multifiliis, and it’s caused by a protozoan parasite. Don’t bother with quarantine since if one fish is affected, the creature or its offspring are present in the entire tank. Various ich treatments are available at aquarium shops. These are the most common diseases that will affect your fish. While fish stores sell a number of antibiotics and antifungal treatments the best defense against these diseases is to maintain the water quality of your tank, do frequent water changes, make sure the new fish you buy are healthy, keep new fish or plants in quarantine for a week or two before putting them into the community tank, and knowing how your fish behave in order to recognize possible problems when they first appear. At the first sign of a problem, quarantine the fish, but don’t be too eager to begin treatment with antibiotics or antifungals since these can do as much harm as good if used too frequently. The main reason I am writing is because I bought a blue tang . He has been in my tank for 72 hours. When I came home this evening and looked at my tank I saw right off that my tang had small white dots all over him, fins and all. Looks like white chicken pox. Is that ick? All my other fish look fine. I am not prepared to treat for icky and the pet stores are all closed now but I could run out to Wal Mart. I heard that high salinity could trigger ick so I checked and to my surprise it was 1.026 so I did some water changing and got it back down to 1.022. So what should I do now? Do I need to act fast and how fatal is ick or whatever my tang has? Regards, Larry Answer, I am sorry to hear that your new fish has Ich, the stress of moving the fish to your new environment is the reason for the parasite infestation. The water change was a good idea but you really need to move the new fish to a hospital tank to treat it. The best and only treatment that I recommend is called No-Ich, it can be used in the aquarium and will not hurt the invertebrate or the other fish. No other remedy can compare to it. The problem is that you should have it on hand at the beginning of any infestation. Those white spots will fall off of your tang and multiply by the thousands. Ich can be your worst nightmare. You will probably lose more of your other fish during this epidemic. I am surprised that you have never heard of it before. Do not use anything with copper in it. You need to do something as soon as possible. Purchase Probiotic Marine Formula at this site: Click HERE This product must be in your fish medicine chest at all times "The Aquarium Doctor" Thanks for your quick reply. I understand that your fish cannot be treated for ich but rather your tank is treated to keep the parasites that fall off from multiplying. My tang is eating good but he does seem to be in some stress and he rubs himself on the rocks at times. Where did the parasites come from? you said the stress of moving him to a new tank is the reason for the infestation but don't they have to come from somewhere or can they just breakout? Do you think there are other parasites in my tank now? I don't understand the urgency to treat if the parasite cannot be effectively killed while on the fish and is treated while lying on the tank bottom waiting to multiply. I have just noticed the ich so they won't be falling off for a couple of days. I will get the treatment tomorrow but it sounds like you just hope your fish is healthy enough to survive and try to keep the ich from spreading and coming back through treatments and water changes. Tell me where my reasoning is wrong please--- Answer,the microscopic parasite is in the water at all times. It is also transferred to your tank by new fish, new water or equipment. When the fish is under stress, such as traveling, moving,, temperature change, poor water quality, other fish that may bully them, over eating,, poor lighting,, being frightened, or any thing that may cause stress, the parasite attacks the fish and kills it within a few days. The dropping and spreading parasites attack the other fish that were not originally effected by the stress. The problem is that you must kill the active parasites that are on the fish and also the ones that are dropping off of the fish before the damage is done. A fresh water dip is effective but causes more stress if the fish is not caught quickly. It also causes stress on the other fish which at this time should not be weakened. Raising the water temperature also helps, 80-82 degrees. Copper type remedies are very effective but quite dangerous if overdosed. Copper also will get in the sand, rocks, coral and never leaves an aquarium, ruining it forever for invertebrates which it will also kill. You will not see the parasites fall off of the fish. You must act quickly and also get a supply of Probiotic Marine Formula for the next outbreak. Click HERE "The Aquarium Doctor" Dear Aquarium Doctor, A friend recently gave me his ten gallon fishtank because he no longer had the desire to continue with the hobby. The water in the tank was so dirty that I could barely see the zebra danios in the tank. (The water was brown) I cleaned it out by doing water changes and suctioning out the sediment in the bottom of the tank. Now he claims that I have messed up the biological system in the tank. He never cleaned his tank or made water changes and he never had problems with his fish. While I struggle to keep a clean tank, I've had problems with my fish. (I'm referring to freshwater fish). Was I wrong to clean out the sediment in the tank? Sincerely, Erlin Dear Erlin, there can be too much of anything. You should and must keep the aquarium balanced. Never clean the aquarium, rinse the media in the filters, change no more than 25% of the water at a time, siphon the tank often. Remember too much waste and dead plants can cause phosphates and ammonia which can cause sickness, or death as well as algae. The bacteria in the biological system does work for you. You have not destroyed it unless you put chlorine or bleach in the water. Always test your water for proper pH. I feel that you have not harmed the biological system. It sounds as if the aquarium was entirely too filthy. You did the right thing. I am sure that your fish would thank you. Would you want to live in that type of environment? Your friend was half right, but again, to much biological build up can cause an unsightly aquarium that smells bad and eventually causes sick or dead fish. "The Aquarium Doctor" Our interest extends beyond these pages, to promoting conservation and aquaculture research projects worldwide-from helping understand environmental changes, to saving the endangered reefs, and endangered species with captive bred freshwater and marine life. Opinions expressed are based on personal experiences and knowledge that gained through books and practical application.   55 years of experience. Fishvet.com/diagnosis charts.htm Click HERE follow the chart(s) to find most likely disease as well as suggested treatments. Click HERE Knowledge is power. Understanding the causes and prevention of disease is one of the best ways to ensure success in the hobby. We have provided the following articles to help build your knowledge and to be used as a reference tool when you are looking for specific disease information. Please click on the links above to view any of the articles.

M Question..........I'm having troubles or troubles on the way , just looked at my fish tank and all my fishes are on the surface...????? Not enough O2 ....or is it the snail's???? please help regards,,   Robert Schmidbauer Answer..........Robert..... Not enough O2 is probably the problem, but I would not blame this on the snails. Most likely there is another gas present in your water making it difficult for your fish to breathe. Check your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Perhaps the surface of your tank is not moving vigorously enough thus blending o2 in at an acceptable rate. The other possibility is a protein film at the surface is not allowing the exchange of gases. If there is a thin film of protein on the surface, do a 1/4 water change and move your tanks surface area more vigorously. All the air bubbles in the world won't help if your water quality does not have the ability to hold oxygen chemically. When water is polluted it retains less free oxygen. The lower the Ph, the less oxygen also, so it may be as simple as changing water to move the ph back up slowly.. "The Aquarium Doctor" Question.........I was wondering what causes ick? I have been putting the preventive medicine in every week but despite my efforts about 2 weeks ago, I had a female guppy die in less than 48 hours from the first noticeable spot from ick. I did what the medicine said and turned the heat up and put in the drops every day, After she died, I kept putting the drops in every day for about another week, then went back to once a week but I left the heat turned up a little higher than normal. I had planned to do this for another week before I went back to normal. Then yesterday, I noticed 2 small ick spots on my other female guppy. And I am figuring that she will die soon too. She is pregnant and I'm afraid if she has her fry, they will all be infected too and I have waited anxiously to see her have them. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Is my tank too dirty? I have 1 female left and she is also ready to have babies any day, will any of this affect her or her babies? I keep them separated in 2 different breeder nets. Will that help or will it matter? Any info on Ick will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Diane Answer..........Diane...... Ick is a parasite and it attacks fish when they are experiencing environmental stress . It could be from high ammonia or fluctuating water temperatures. Ick can be very contagious and if the conditions that are bringing the ick on in the first place are not corrected it will continue to spread. It is best to raise the temperature to kill off following generations of ick, but the medication alone is not enough the water quality must be improved as well. For a period of about 2 weeks changing a small quantity of water every other day for this period. Also keep the feedings light so ammonia levels are kept to a minimum at this time. Remember some scaleless fish are sensitive to many ick medicines so be careful if it is to be used in a tank housing loaches or smooth catfishes. Click HERE "AQUARIUM DOCTOR" Thank you for your answer about my Glassfish. I had wondered about swim bladder disease because of the erratic swimming. Unfortunately, the fish died after I sent you the message. Now I'm really concerned about the rest of my fish. Water conditions seemed good and everyone else seems healthy. I don't have any live plants in my tank. I'm a beginner with a 2 month old tank and am avoiding tackling the added variables of live plants. You suggest frequent water changes. How often is that with a new tank? I did one as soon as I got your message. It had been about 3 weeks since the last one. Thanks a lot for your help. You provide a great service to the members and I've learned a lot just by reading your questions and answers. Holly Answer: Holly, you should change 25% of your water at least every two weeks or if readings call for it , sooner. I defiantly advise live plants in the aquarium. "The Aquarium Doctor" Hello Doctor. Well, this is a learning experience for me and hopefully will make me a better hobbyist. I have talked to several people who have gone through the ich thing and talked to my local dealer, Sandy's pets. Sandy's started me on a flake medication food. They said to get some liquid garlic to add to the food and that seems to help. I have tried to find no ich but no one around here seems to carry it. Could you tell me the closest dealer? I am in Louisville KY. My tang is eating good but it appears that the white spots may have started dropping off leaving a dull white mark on the fish and it looks like maybe four or five new white dots have appeared. Is this the way it progresses? So far none of my other fish have become infected. So I would like to get some no ich if I can get it in time. Regards, Larry Hello Larry, I sent you the information on the No-Ich. As far as I know it cannot be obtained in your area. Remember I have over 2000 members that rely on my help. I have found nothing that will help as well as No-Ich by the Fish-Vet Co.... Even if your fish die because of this invasion you should have the No-Ich on hand to treat the fish immediately at the next emergency. If you are worried about the cost or the shipping expense, remember that it works when used as directed and the other cheap remedies will most likely let your expensive fish die or contaminate the aquarium, plus the retail store will always add the shipping cost into their markup and the price would be comparable. In the fifty plus years in this hobby I have tried them all. "The Aquarium Doctor" Question.....Is there more than one type of Ich? Answer......Yes, Ich Identification: Oodinium & Cryptocaryon Don't make the mistake of confusing Oodinium (Amyloodinium ocellatum - a.k.a. Velvet, or Coral Fish Disease) with White Spot Disease (Cryptocaryon irritans). They are similar, but two quite different types of Saltwater Ich. The key to successful parasite control is understanding both of these types of Ich and treating them accordingly. ICH Question: I have a glassfish that is acting strange. It was at the surface and started flipping over sideways in a spiral toward the bottom. Then it rested on a plant. Now it is swimming upright but seems unsteady. Water conditions are all in the normal range. The tank is 20 gallons.     Holly Answer:   The problem with your glassfish sounds like he may be suffering from high nitrate poisoning. Unfortunately there are very few test kits available to measure nitrates in freshwater aquariums. The high nitrate conditions can cause internal bacterial infection such as swim bladder disease. The best remedy to cure your Glassfish would be to do frequent water changes and remove as much organic debris as possible. Medication often does nothing if the conditions that are causing the disease are not corrected. Adding plants to your aquarium can also help to reduce nitrate levels and also adds to the beauty of your tank. Please let me know if things improve or not. "The Aquarium Doctor" Question........Hi, Thank you so much for providing this service. I was wondering if you have a favorite recommendation for handling an Ich problem in a reef tank. Getting fish out of an established reef to treat in a hospital tank is difficult. I found a company in Pennsylvania, CHEM-MARINE (717-654-0298), who produces a medication called STOP-PARASITES. They say that it doesn't contain copper and claim it can be added to the reef without effecting corals and other inverts. However, you need a lot of the product and it's expensive. I know that some say to slowly increase the temperature and leave things alone for awhile. What do you think is the best solution? Thanks... Tommy Greaf Answer..........Tommy .... I tend to agree with slowly increasing the temperature but also improving water quality by making a water change. Another medication that works well is quinine, this has no effects on inverts. my favorite way to treat ick in a reef tank however is a freshwater dip. To do this prepare a freshwater solution that has been declorinated and is at a ph of at least 7.8 and the same temperature as the water the fish is coming out of. Then catch the ailing fish and dip him in the freshwater for approximately 20-30 seconds. if the symptoms do not clear repeat the process on a daily basis until the ick has started to decrease. It is not necessary to administer this dip until the ick is completely gone. Dipping can be very stressful to the fish and if the symptoms are stating to disappear they will probably continue to disappear as the fishes immunities are better able to combat the ick. Good Luck Purchase Probiotic Marine Formula at this site: Click HERE "The Aquarium Doctor"