Fish Illnesses
Time is crucial with all fish ailments. Few problems will correct themselves without
treatment
and early treatment is often required for best success.
If fish are well cared
for, disease is a rare occurrence. On those occasions when a fish becomes ill,
having
information at your fingertips is critical, in the below document we have covered most
diseases that
you will
likely come across owning your own aquarium.
Stress
Behavioural Signs of Disease or Sickness
Disease Treatment Methods
Bacterial Infections
Viral Diseases
Fungal Diseases
Parasitic Infestations
Other Health Problems
So, everyone knows what stress is, but everybody’s meanings are different.
I am referring any condition
in which the normal biological functioning of an animal is
disrupted.
It can happen to any animal, including your saltwater aquarium fish. Poor living conditions
weaken your
saltwater fish and lower the fish’s resistance to disease.
This is when the fish
is most vulnerable to diseases. In biological terms, the normal biological function of
an
animal
is called its homeostasis.
Anything that disrupts the animal’s homeostasis is a stressor, and the animal is said to be
stressed.
It will become obvious to you if your fish is healthy or not when you look at it.
Appearance and
behavior
will look different than normal.
This is not really complicated.
You feed your fish everyday so this is the best time to look and really examine if there
is something
wrong.
Perform water tests, make and check notes, and look at the list of conditions here.
Hopefully you'll
be able to isolate the cause.
Common Causes:
-
Poor Water Quality
-
Injury
-
Lack of Nutrition
-
Overcrowding
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-
Not being hungry or loss of appetite
-
If they were eating before and suddenly lose interest in food tells
you something
is wrong.
-
Try giving them something that they usually can't refuse. Like live
food for example.
-
Another symptom to look for is laziness
-
They may be hiding all the time and they typically keep their fins folded close to
their body.
- Maybe not swimming at all.
-
Spending too much time at the surface hyperventilating or gasping
-
This is not necessarily sign of disease, but probably and indication of poor water
quality
and low dissolved oxygen.
-
Rubbing onto surfaces or twitching
- Normally associated in fish infected with parasites. They rub themselves against
gravel
and aquarium decorations.
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Direct aquarium treatment
This involves applying therapeutic agents directly into your aquarium with the fish that has
the disease.
This method is sometimes called long bath. This is not always effective though.
In other cases, medication may be absorbed by the aquarium decorations or filter media or
they may
be toxic to filter bacteria.
Fish medications are also toxic to invertebrates. It is better to isolate the fish in another tank.
The hospital tank
Other aquarist isolates the fish that is infected in a quarantine tank.
This is also called the isolation
tank.
The fish or invertebrate can be evaluated for signs of disease before
it is introduced into the main
aquarium.
It’s ok not to set up another smaller isolation tank before you introduce
the fish to the main aquarium.
But I highly recommend using or setting up
a hospital tank to isolate the ones that are suffering
from disease.
It will reduce the likelihood of the disease spreading to others. It helps you to treat the
fish without
subjecting other fish to the treatment. It also helps observe and diagnose the
ailing fish.
As you become more and more expert in this hobby, you will get expensive fish that you
won’t want
to expose to disease. A hospital will be mandatory. It can also be used as a
quarantine tank as long
as it has not recently housed a fish that has a disease.
Internal medication
Some remedies must have to be done internally. This is usually done by injection or by
feeding
the remedy to the fish.
Do not do the injecting yourself if your not experienced! Feeding the fish the food that is
medicated
is as hard as well.
This treatment method is somewhat successful. So try to avoid this option if you can.
The 'dip' treatment
This one involves removing the infected fish from the aquarium and dipping it into a bath
containing
therapeutic agent or fresh water.
The dip is brief enough so that you will not injure the fish, but long enough to kill the pathogen.
This method doesn’t treat the main aquarium, just the fish.
The freshwater dip involves dipping a saltwater fish that is infested with parasites into
a freshwater
bath for three to five minutes.
It is prepared as follows:
-
Fill a 1- to 2-gallon container full of conditioned fresh water. Match the temperature
and
pH of the main saltwater aquarium.
-
Ad a quart of saltwater to the batch to reduce the osmotic shock to the fish.
-
Net the fish and place it in the container for three to five minutes.
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There are good and bad bacteria. And all bacteria are microscopic one-celled organisms
are
capable of reproduction at a very fast rate.
Remember that some bacteria are beneficial to the aquarium in the nitrogen cycle.
But some can cause infections.
Fin Rot
 
Common Causes:
Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Vibrio bacteria
Symptoms:
This bacterial infection causes erosion or rotting of the fins and the fin rays. The base of
the fins reddens.
In an advance stage, it spreads to the skin causing bleeding to the gills.
Treatment:
You can remove uneaten food, do a partial water change, and change the activated carbon
in
your filter.
The antibiotics furanace, augmentin, and ciprofloxin may be effective.
Fish Tuberculosis or Wasting Disease
Common Causes:
Mycobacterium bacteria
Symptoms:
There’s really no external sign for this kind. If your fish looks fine from the outside
appearance
and looks healthy, it will be hard to recognize if it is internally infected.
Fish that are infected though may live a year or more. Skin lesions, emaciation, labored
breathing, scale loss, frayed fins and loss of appetite are all signs of this infection.
Unfortunately, by the time these symptoms are recognized, it is probably too late to save
the fish.
Treatment:
This bacteria are transmitted orally through raw infected fish flesh, detritus, and feces
of the infected fish. They can also infect skin wounds and lesions.
The best treatment is prevention. Try not to feed raw fish and shellfish to your saltwater
fish.
Antibiotics, including kanamycin, erythromycin, and streptomycin, can be used.
If the saltwater aquarium is heavily infected with this type, it must be sterilized and the
water should be discarded
Vibriosis or Ulcer Disease
Common Causes:
Vibriobacteria
Symptoms:
Variety of symptoms are associated with this disease. They can include lethargy, darkening
of color, anemia, ulcers on the skin and lower jaw, bleeding of the gills, skin and intestinal
track, clouded eyes, loose scales, pale gills and sudden death.
Treatment:
This bacteria commonly go straight to the intestinal tracts of a healthy fish. They become
dangerous only when stress allows infection.
Poor water quality, crowding, excessive handling, and copper treatments are common
causes of stress in saltwater aquarium fish. Immersion treatments with antibiotic
compounds have met with some success.
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Viruses are microscopic organisms that thrive by invading the cells of their hosts.
In most cases, there are no treatments for the few viral diseases of the saltwater aquarium.
Cauliflower or Lymphocystis
Common Causes:
Cystivirusvirus
Symptoms:
Fin and body lesions are raised, whitish, warty and have a lumpy texture like a
cauliflower.
It may take three to four weeks for these lesions to reach their full size.
The infection is not really fatal, but it can be transmitted to other fish in the saltwater
aquarium.
Treatment:
The only treatment is to isolate the fish immediately and let the fish’s immune system
deal with the infection.
This may take as long as several months. Other hobbyist scrape the lesion off the fish.
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Fungi are plan-like organisms. Some are parasitic on fishes.
Ichthyophonus Disease, Whirling Disease
Common Causes:
Ichthyophonus fungus
Symptoms:
These fungi goes to the internal organs, infecting the kidney, heart, spleen and liver.
Signs include emaciation, spinal curvature, darkening or paling of the skin, roughening
of the skin, fin erosion, and skin ulcers. Erratic swimming behavior can be a symptom too.
Treatment:
This parasitic organism has a complex life cycle. The fungal cysts are usually ingested by
the fish, where thy burst and enter the bloodstream, infecting the internal organs.
Fishes that has this kind of disease typically die up to two months after being infected.
Treatment is hard because of the internal nature of this disease.
The infected fish should be removed right away from the aquarium to prevent other
fishes from becoming infected.
Exophiala disease
Common Causes:
Exophialafungus
Symptoms:
Lethargy, disorientation, and abnormal swimming are the signs.
Treatment:
No treatment is known. The best thing to do is to isolate the fish to prevent others fishes
from contracting the fungus.
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Marine velvet
Parasites can have various effects on the fish’s health. They can infest all organs, and depending on the site and intensity of infestation, they are more or less harmful.
Common Causes:
The dinoflagellate protozoan Amyloodinium ocellatum
Symptoms:
You can usually see the infection on the gills then it spreads to the skin. It becomes
dull, patchy and velvet-like.
White spots are visible on section of intact skin.
The fish’s behavior may include fasting, gasping, scratching against objects, and
sluggishness.
Death can occur in as little as 12 hours if infected. Tangs, clownfish, and angelfish are
especially susceptible.
Treatment:
The organism has three stages to its life cycle and only one of them is parasitic. No
effective
treatment is known, but copper-based products and some antibiotics are effective.
A freshwater dip sometimes digs out the parasites from the host but does not kill them.
Treatments are often dragged and the entire aquarium must be treated to fully destroy
the infestation.
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Marine white spot, cryptocaryoniasis, marine ich
Common Causes:
The ciliate protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans
Symptoms:
Early signs are fasting, cloudy eyes, troubled breathing, excess skin mucus and pale skin.
White spots appear on the skin, gills, eyes and death usually follows within a few days.
Treatment:
White spot organisms are hard to control. The freshwater dip may be effective in killing
parasite on the fish but does little to the aquarium. Prolonged immersion in copper products
is the most effective treatment.
Uronema disease
 
Common Causes:
The ciliate protozoan Uronema marinum
Symptoms:
External ulcers, muscle and skin bleeding, lethargic behavior, cloudy eyes, and sloughing of the skin are signs. They usually die right away if infected because of the impaired circulation of the gills.
Treatment:
Freshwater bath followed by prolonged immersion in a formalin bath a day later is effective.
Tang turbellarian disease, black spot
 
Common Causes:
Paravortex flatworms
Symptoms:
Even if the name implies that only tangs are infected, this is not the case. Many can be
infected by this flatworm.
The early phase, the organism would look like numerous dark spots over the fins, gills, and
body. Other signs include fastening, listlessness, paling or whitish skin, and scratching
against objects.
Treatment:
As most parasitic infestations, crowding allows the disease to spread to other fish in the
aquarium.
Freshwater bath, triclorfon, formalin or praziquantel immersion can be effective.
Tremode infestation
Common Causes:
Monogenetic trematode worms
Symptoms:
Many species of this worms are too small to see without a microscope. They normally
infect gills, eyes, skin, mouth and anal opening.
The infected fishes usually rub themselves against objects in the aquarium, trying to remove
these parasites.
These often causes damage that leads to bacterial infections.
Treatment:
Immersion in fresh water, mebendazole, praziquantel or trichlorion is effective against trematodes.
Crustacean infestation
Common Causes:
Copepod, isopod, and argulid crustaceans
Symptoms:
Most of these tiny, crab-like organisms are visible to the naked eyes. Copepods remain
fixed in the same position while isopods are argulids move over the surface of the fish,
causing tissue damage.
Fishes that are infected swim erratically, rub against objects in the aquarium and jump.
Bacteria infect lesions.
Treatment:
Remove the ones that are infected immediately. Remove the decorations as well and dry
them to kill the egg masses or immerse them in 2 percent bleach solution for two hours.
Treat the infected fish with fresh water, trichlorfon or malathion baths.
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Just when you thought there could be no more, here are a couple more that you need to be aware of.
Head and lateral line errosion
Common Causes:
Poor water quality, nutrient deficiency, possibly a parasite
Symptoms:
Like the freshwater disease called hole-in-the-head, holes develop and enlarge in the sensory
pits of the head and down the lateral line on the body.
The disease progress slowly and the fish does not seem to behave differently. Advanced stages
can lead to bacterial infection and death.
Treatment:
There are no specific treatment, but some recommended the use of the freshwater
antibiotic flagyl. Check your water quality and make the necessary adjustments. Make
sure
that you are also meeting the fish's nutrional needs. Get a variety of food for their diet and
add vitamin supplements to their food.
Poisoning
Multiple causes including buildup of nitrogenous compounds (ammonia, nitrite), household chemicals (smoke, cleaners, fumes) and tap water constituents (heavy metals, chloramines)
Symptoms:
Low levels of toxins in the water stress the fish that can lower their resistance.
Higher levels causes abnormal behavior such as darting movements, jumping, and gasping at the surface of your aquarium water.
Treatment:
Be sure that activated carbon is used to remove toxins. Do a water change, about 20-40% of water should be replaced.
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