Got a Sick Fish? By Jonathan Lowrie If you have a dire emergency, and cannot find the information you need and cannot wait for response on the forums, then you should begin with these basic steps. For a freshwater system, do a 50 percent water change. A water change of this size should help negate any problems with water quality. It will remove fish wastes, and also help stabilize pH, and remove ammonia, and nitrite. Also, reduce food by 50 percent. Until it can be determined how much food you feed, it is safe to cut back. Overfeeding is a leading cause of water quality problems. Don't forget to test the water. If you can test the water, and find an abnormal value, you can work to correct that problem.
Catching a disease early is the key to success. If you wait until the last minute, it may be too late. Fish usually hide signs of disease until they are close to death, so as soon as you notice a problem, act on it. WATER QUALITY The chemistry of water and water quality is one of the most confusing aspects of keeping fish. We have to think of the water of our aquariums just like the air we breathe. We don't like smog, or automobile exhaust, or bad odors, or chemicals in the air. Well, fish don't like pollutants in their water. For all aquariums, the basic parameters to monitor on a regular basis are pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and hardness. PH deals with the acidity, or alkalinity of water, meaning is it an acid or a base. The pH scale goes from 1, an acid to 14 a base, with 7 being neutral. Most freshwater fish prefer a neutral (pH 7.0) range. Other water parameters that should be tested are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Please see the following article about 'cycling a new aquarium' for more information on these. Ammonia is very toxic to fish, and can build up rapidly, so steps need to be taken to eradicate it in order to treat the aquarium. Usually a large water change will solve the immediate problem of the high levels. We must then become aquarium sleuths and figure out WHY it was high to begin with. Was it overfeeding? Overcrowding? Maybe the filter malfunctioned. To best treat our fish, we need to know why they got sick in the first place. Copyright 2003 by Jonathan Lowrie. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Other Resources AquariumHobbyist.com has a full line of species forums where you can discuss fish species with other owners, and hobbyists.
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For a marine system, do a 30 percent water change. Make sure to use the same salinity and temperature water. Again, this procedure will help alleviate any water pollutants and make them less toxic to the animals of the tank. If you see external parasites, a 3 minute freshwater dip, with water that is chlorine free, and of the same temperature may be used. Only do this with fish, and not corals or other animals, and only do this if you see parasites like saltwater ick (Cryptocaryon) or Velvet (oodinum).