Tropical Fish Diseases

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Male and female guppies

Unfortunately, even the most well maintained fish tank once in a while suffers an epidemic. Tropical fish diseases can be caused by everything from stress to decomposing substances contaminating the water. Here are a few tips to prevent and treat diverse diseases.

A good way to prevent a number of tropical fish diseases is to clean and monitor your fish tank regularly. Get rid of any dead fish or decomposing plant matter as soon as you find it.

If you have any specially fragile fish, it may be a good idea to quarantine them by placing them into small plastic bags while you clean. 

Also, make sure not to substitute all of the water in the fish tank, as it contains useful bacteria that are significant for the wellness of your fish.

Over feeding or feeding your fish the wrong things can result in a number of tropical fish diseases too. In addition to being hard on their digestive systems, neglected food tends to release harmful amounts of ammonia and nitrate into the water, especially meat flakes or neglected live food. The decaying of the food also drastically effects the oxygen and pH levels in the water as well, which can be extremely hard on both strong and fragile fish.

Finally, simple stress can cause a broad variety of tropical fish diseases. Signs of stress can include anything from drastic color changes in your fish to changes in behavior.

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Guppy

Common signs include gasping, clamped fins, trouble swimming and others. In noticing these signs quickly, you can diagnose different disorders and have them treated as soon as possible. 

You can decrease stress by turning off your fish tank's light at night, refraining from tapping on the glass, and making sure there are no extreme changes in the water temperature.

These causes often consequence in a diversity of tropical fish diseases.

Velvet, for example, is when there are white spots obvious on the scales. This is usually caused by parasites and treated easily.

Ich or White Spot, is a similar disease that is usually caused by heightened stress levels. 

Fin rot is caused by the presence of a malignant bacteria in the water that bit by bit eats away at your fish. 

Finally, the dreadful Dropsy is characterised by swollen bodies and scales that stand out from the body. There is usually no treatment for this—the best thing to do is to get rid of the fish before it spreads to others in your fish tank. Learn more about tropical fish diseases and check out our recommended resources.