The maintenance of aquariums and the breeding of fish is a very common hobby. In their practice, aquarists often encounter the problem of preserving the health of fish and other aquarium inhabitants.
Diseases of aquarium fish
What are the diseases of aquarium fish, how to treat them and what preventive measures to take?
Diseases of aquarium fish are divided into infectious and non-contagious.
Infectious diseases are caused by the actions of one or another pathogen. They can be infectious (caused by plant pathogens: bacteria, fungi, viruses) or invasive (caused by various parasites of animal origin).
Non-contagious diseases of aquarium fish are not caused by the actions of any pathogens, they can occur when exposed to certain environmental factors. We remember that the habitat for aquarium fish is created artificially. At the same time, many miscalculations are possible, that is, the created conditions can not always be called optimal.
Non-contagious diseases of aquarium fish can be:
- chemical origin (that is, all kinds of poisoning);
- physical origin (diseases associated with improper care, violations of the temperature regime, bad water, etc.);
- diseases associated with improper feeding of fish (improper selection of feed, quantity, feeding regimen).
Diagnosis of diseases of aquarium fish
How to understand that the fish is sick? Any relatively experienced aquarist can easily distinguish a diseased fish from almost completely healthy.
The behavior of a diseased fish by the sum of these or other characteristics differs from the characteristic and typical behavior of other fish of the same species and age. Such a fish swims differently, algorithms, trajectories and routes of movements change. Fish can start to stay in unusual places for it.
As a rule, in most healthy fish, the dorsal and caudal fins are straightened, the fins in the diseased individuals are compressed, their movements are unnatural.
Wobbling of various kinds and frequent reciprocating movements (with the exception of the movement of the gills) also indicate certain problems and diseases.
Bad signs are scratching on the ground, objects or plants, tarnishing of body color, glitter of eyes and scales. Sometimes diseased fish do not eat well - loss of appetite is caused by poor health.
In some diseases, the feces of the fish acquire the appearance of sufficiently long filaments hanging from the anus.
Diseases of fins in fish can also occur in both the natural habitat and aquarium contents.
How to treat diseased aquarium fish?
If you notice any of the above symptoms, you need to take certain measures, more precisely, a set of measures. In any case, competent and timely preventive measures can save the inhabitants of your aquarium from most problems.
And yet, how to treat aquarium fish?
You can treat diseased fish in a common aquarium or in separate quarantine vessels, which in most cases, of course, is more effective, especially when it comes to contagious diseases.
Treatment is conducted using a variety of special zoopreparations, which can be found in pet stores and veterinary pharmacies. The methods and doses are usually reported on the labels. Fish (or fish) should be treated until complete recovery (in the first stages without aeration). Transplant the recovered fish into a common aquarium is possible only in case of full recovery. By this time it is not bad to clean or change the water, objects and walls of the aquarium in order to avoid re-infection.