Preventing Tropical Fish Diseases

Keep your little guys looking great!

Photo by Peter Gustafson

 

Although some tropical fish diseases can be quite common, there are preventable measures you can take to ensure your fishes are healthy and happy.

Most times fishes suffer from minor ailments or infections that are results of poor tank water management, or even the presence of parasites in the tank.

Here are some precautions you can take to prevent your fishes from catching any illnesses:

• Carefully inspect your fish’s skin for unusual spots or swelling.

• Gradually allow your fish to adjust to the tank water by isolating the fish for up to two weeks in a quarantine tank. This period provides time for the fish to adapt from the tank water at the shop to the tank water at your home.

• Make sure you keep the tank water temperature at a stable level that is suitable for your species of fish. The pH of the water should also be at a suitable level for your species. Ask the shop what are suitable levels for your species of fish.

• Regularly change the water in the tank. This allows you to limit the amount of ammonia, nitrate, and carbon dioxide in the tank, as well as to filter out as much waste as you can.

• Filter as much chlorine as you can out of the water you place into the tank. This may get tiresome to do, but is essential to maintaining healthy water for your fishes.

• Try not to stress the fishes, as like humans, when fishes become more stressed they become more susceptible to illness. Don’t put too many bright lights near the tank.

• Don’t overfeed your fishes. It’s tempting to just feed your fishes as soon as you get them just to make sure they work. But this can lead to health problems, and also any food that is left uneaten becomes more waste around the tank, which again may cause problems for the fish’s health.

• Don’t mix-and-match fishes that are inappropriate. For example, don’t buy goldfishes to complement your tropical fishes; although they may gradually adapt to each other, goldfishes require water temperatures below about 18C, whereas tropical fishes usually live in temperatures in the mid-20C. Make sure the fishes are suitable to be mixed if you want different species in the same tank.

Prevention is always better than intervention when it comes to tropical fish diseases, in fact, with diseases of any kind.

If you want to learn more about ways you can prevent tropical fish diseases, and receive other advice on caring for your fishes, have a look at Katy’s Tropical Fish.