Articles: Why Do Fish Get Sick?
There are several reasons as to why fish get sick and we will go
through most everything here. First off though, you must
understand that, we have bacteria and other pathogens present all
over this earth we are on. In the air, in the water, in the
foods we eat and the air we breathe. Did you ever see the
movie "War of the Worlds?", with or with out Tom Cruise, the story
is true (except for the aliens of course), and who even knows about
that anyway.
So, knowing that we have pathogens present literally everywhere,
there is no way to: Pre-treat your fish for a disease, or have a tank or
pond so clean that pathogens will not live in it. It is
especially bad to have an aquarium or pond that is too clean because
you will not let the beneficial bacteria develop that are needed to
eliminate the ammonia and fish wastes.
Fish can get sick from pathogens living in the water, or
pathogens that are naturally present in their protective slime coat.
Fish can also become sick from too much stress (have you ever had a
stress cold?), a person that constantly dumps chemicals or
medications into the water (hypochondriac), poor water quality,
overcrowding, nutritional deficiencies, live foods, ammonia and
nitrite burn, lack of oxygen, electrical problems with ungrounded
pumps or lighting equipment, lye leeching out of concrete or bricks
in the pond, too much oxygen or just plain being moved to a
different tank or pond. Boy, if fish could talk!
Fish can be unhappy in their aquarium for example, and have a
poor coloration or even turn completely black on you. They
will hide in the corner, or behind tank decorations, seem listless,
have a poor appetite etc. Discus are famous for this, and so
are some of the very colorful African cichlids. We have had
some cichlids turn black on us before, then move them to a different
aquarium and "boom", the next day the fish look completely
different.
From time to time, we also have fish that will become ill here at
National Fish Pharmaceuticals. We have had one central system
set up here for the last 4 years that has had no problems at all
until a few months ago. All the fish in the system came down
with gill flukes. We treated that problem, and a month later
they broke down with pseudomonas. So we treated that as well.
The fish did fine for another 5 months, and then we came in one day
to see one of our prized cichlids affected by abdominal dropsy.
So even as professionals, we have seen our share of problems as
well, and occasionally must treat for a disease outbreak.
We have had people call and say "We've had a Koi pond for years
and never had a disease problem until now". Well, sounds like
they have taken good care of their fish all these years, but all
that needs to happen is a bird shows up one day that has septicemia,
and drinks out of the waterfall. Ten days later the fish all
have red streaks in them, and you must treat with an antibiotic to
cure the problem.
Best advise we can give is... always have a way to quarantine
your fish, whether it be in an aquarium or even a smaller pond.
Have medications on hand, just in case. Have a way to heat
your pond or isolation tanks, and expect the un-expected.
Murphy's law definitely applies to the tropical fish hobby.
Remember: Water quality is key, in any environment that contains
tropical fish or Koi.
Best Regards,
Dr. Gary Aukes; Pharm D, Dr. Brian Aukes; PhD and the staff of National Fish
Pharmaceuticals.
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Fish Articles
Why Do Fish Get Sick?
Freshwater Fish & Koi
Marine Fish
- Amlyoodinium
- Cryptocaryon Irritans
- Brooklynella Hostillis
- Euronema & Miamiensis
- Fungal disorders
- Gas Bubble Disease
- Gill Flukes & Parasites
- Hexamita
- Marine Fish Viruses
- Mycobacterium (TB)
- Pop Eye (Exopthalmos)
- Streptococcosis
- Vibrio Bacteria
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