When Do You Know When a Fish Is on His Side

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Fish are graceful, low-maintenance pets. They come in many varieties and colors that you tin can mix and lucifer in an aquarium to create a hit addition to whatever abode. However, they can exist susceptible to stress and illnesses. Proper care, tank maintenance and your ability to diagnose symptoms volition assist keep your fish healthy and allow you to deal with any issues that may come upward.

1. 1

   Notice your fish. Run across how your fish swims, breathes, eats and interacts with other fish. Get an thought for what is normal and then you know when something aberrant is going on. A healthy fish has a decent appetite and is an active swimmer in your tank.^[1]

2. ii

   Learn about your fish species. You will need to inquiry specific requirements for the tank size, temperature, maintenance, equipment and food needed to keep the blazon of fish you have healthy. Table salt h2o and fresh water fish take different requirements.

   • Saltwater fish need more maintenance and are non every bit hardy as near freshwater fish. Their water limerick must be checked regularly. You will need special equipment, such equally a hydrometer to regularly measure the specific gravity of the h2o likewise equally quality common salt mixes. ^[two]

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3. 3

   Avoid stressing your fish. A low-stress surround is the best way to keep your fish salubrious. When fish are stressed, their allowed organization is weakened so they are more than susceptible to illness. Preventing stress through regular maintenance and care will become a long way to protect your fish from getting ill.

   • Regularly maintain the tank through partial h2o changes. Modify nigh a quarter of your tank's h2o every other week.^[3]
   • Feed your fish a nutritious, varied diet. Virtually fish can exercise fine and fifty-fifty thrive on candy scrap, stick or pellet food. Calculation some variety in their diet volition help add some nutrition and fiber, such every bit frozen or freeze-stale bloodworms, live or frozen brine shrimp and some vegetables.
   • Do non overfeed your fish.^[4] Feed your fish only what they will eat in 3 minutes. Not only can excess nutrient foul the water, but information technology tin also make your fish ill.
   • Check to make sure your filtration organization is working finer. Filters remove harmful toxins such every bit ammonia and nitrites from the h2o.
   • Give your fish plenty tank room to live comfortably. Don't overcrowd them. A good rule-of-thumb to follow is no more i inch (2.5 cm) of fish per gallon.
   • Put only compatible fish species together. You don't want your fish to eat, hurt or aggressively compete with each other. Peaceful fish will exist stressed if kept with ambitious fish as well as fish species that communicate differently through body language.

4. iv

   Maintain water temperature. Your tank'south temperature needs to friction match the needs of your fish. Keeping the tank too common cold or warm will stress your fish. For example, goldfish prefer temps under lxx °F (21.i °C), while most tropical fish need the water to be around 73–79 °F (23–26 °C). ^[5]

5. 5

   Get your fish from a reputable store. Fish that accept been living in an overpopulated, muddy tank will be nether stress and could carry disease that might infect all your fish. Spend a petty more for quality fish rather than fish that could die less than a month later.

   • The store's fish tanks should exist clean with agile, brightly colored, unstressed fish.
   • The shop should offer render policies on fish and provide full credit on fish that die the kickoff few days afterwards purchase.
   • Sales staff should be knowledgeable nigh fish as well every bit tank set, sizes, inhabitants, diseases, ect.
   • More often than not, stores that specialize in aquariums and fish are best.

6. 6

   Acclimate fish before adding them to your tank. Adding fish direct to your tank tin stress fish and even kill them. The water in your tank and the store tank likely differ in temperature and h2o composition. The fish needs to gradually become used to its new environment.

   • Continue store water out of your tank because it tin can carry diseases or parasites.
   • If you can, quarantine new fish for two weeks before adding them to your tank. In this example, get the fish used to the quarantine bowl or tank'south h2o first—not the main tank. Watch for signs of disease and adjust the water or medicate, if needed.
   • Gear up the fish bag in your tank. Afterwards thirty minutes add ¼ cup of tank h2o into the bag. Do this every fifteen minutes for an hour. If the handbag gets too total simply remove extra water. Afterward, net the fish and place information technology in its new tank.^[vi]
   • For the first few weeks, spotter new fish carefully for signs of stress and disease.

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1. 1

   Check for symptoms of stress. Your fish will non be acting similar they normally exercise. They may seem distressed, accept no appetite, hide, have nicked fins or sores.

   • If your fish is near the surface gasping for breath, this means information technology'due south probably not getting enough oxygen. This can happen due to poor water circulation, gill harm, or toxins in the water.
   • Fish that are always in hiding bespeak that either its companions are too aggressive or the tank doesn't have enough cover such equally plants or rocks for the fish to feel condom while swimming.
   • Fish with nicked fins or wounds that don't heal might be the target of aggression from other fish. Minor cuts should heal quickly. Stress may be suppressing the fish's immune organization so it can't heal normally. Check to brand sure y'all have followed skilful care and maintenance techniques and remove aggressive fish.

2. 2

   Cheque for symptoms of illness. Fish can get diseases such as parasites, fungus or infections. If your fish is sick, then that fish has likely been stressed for some reason. On top of treating the disease, you will need to remove the stressors to ensure the fish gets better and no others get sick.

   • Fish who are sick may non seem hungry or may spit out food.
   • Ill fish may lay at the bottom of the tank for long periods of time and seem lethargic.
   • Some ill fish may rub their body on tank décor to scratch themselves.
   • Sick fish often acquire a dull color and plough pale or gray.
   • The tails or fins of sick fish may be clumped, closed, stiff, or seem to exist falling apart.
   • Sick fish will have open up sores, white patches, lumps or spots on their body.
   • Some sick fish may have swollen or protruding eyes.
   • Differences in scale appearance could indicate affliction, such as if scales are raised.
   • An abnormally swollen or hollow belly is another sign of a sick fish.

3. iii

   Diagnose bacterial infections. Fish with bacterial infections tin be very ill. The bacteria causing the infection can be either gram positive or gram negative just unless yous consult a veterinarian you may not know which blazon of bacteria is the trouble. Your fish may require antibiotic treatment.

   • Tail Rot or Fin Rot—Fins or tails appear to be getting shorter or falling apart with reddish areas that may be infected.
   • Dropsy—A fish with dropsy may have a swollen belly, raised scales and take a pine-cone advent.
   • Popeye (Exopthalmia)—The fish may have cloudy, protruding eyes or a bubble over the centre region. One or both optics tin exist affected.
   • Tuberculosis—Fish affected with tuberculosis may die suddenly. Symptoms tin can include open sores, torso deformities, raised scales, fin and tail rot, and greyness lesions. People tin can grab this deadly disease from treatment infected fish. Do not handle ill fish and disinfect your easily after touching tank equipment.
   • Septicemia (Red Streaks)—The fish may have bloody red streaks across its torso or fins. They may too have clamped fins, bloating, ulcers, gasp for air and sluggishness.

4. iv

   Diagnose fungal infections. Like bacteria, fungus is naturally present in your tank. When fish are stressed or injured, the mucous layer they produce that protects them from infection becomes damaged. They are then susceptible to fungus.

   • Cotton fiber Wool Disease—There may be white, yellowish-brown, or whitish-gray growth on the body, fins or rima oris. These growths may wait like cotton tufts and tin appear on the tiptop of the fish every bit well. There could be redness around infected areas, along with lethargy, loss of ambition and torso rubbing.

5. 5

   Diagnose parasite infections. Fish with internal parasites may take a normal ambition simply notwithstanding appear to lose weight. They may likewise be lethargic.

   • Ich (Ichthyophthirius)—This status is caused by a parasite and will show upwardly as white dots all over the fish'due south torso and head that look similar salt. Fins may be clamped.
   • Velvet—The fish may exist lethargic, take clamped fins, poor appetite, loss of colour, may dart virtually and rub its body against décor and substrate.
   • Body Slime Infection—A fish with this condition will exist covered in a white film that tin be raised in some areas, cloudy eyes and clamped fins.

6. six

   Diagnose other illness. Some diseases are syndromes that tin can take multiple causes, such as viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic or genetic. You may need to consult the advice of a specialist to effigy out what is causing the disease.

   • Swim Float Affliction (SBD) or Bloat—Your fish may have problem swimming, non be able to stay upright, or swim on his side.
   • Puffy Gills—This condition causes inflamed, carmine gills and gasping for breath.^[vii]

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1. 1

   Quarantine your fish. Putting your fish in a sick bowl or tank may help keep the illness from spreading. It will also make it easier to administrate medications. Make sure to utilise tank h2o from the chief tank to keep from stressing your fish further.

2. two

   Check that the main tank'south water quality, temperature and pH are acceptable. Check for toxin buildup. Expect to see if any other fish are showing signs of stress or disease. Quarantine other sick fish and try to discover out why your fish are stressed.

3. 3

   Treat all illnesses as soon as possible. A fish specialist or veterinary tin aid you decide on proper handling for your fish and provide prescription medications. Though fish medications for most fish illnesses may be available at pet stores, many have non been evaluated or approved by CVM. For this reason, you lot may not exist certain whether they contain the correct amount of drug or are rubber and effective.

   • Always read and follow medication directions. Don't overdose your fish. Make sure your fish are not a species that is sensitive to the ingredients.
   • Utilize antibiotics sparingly. Antibiotic resistance is a real problem around the world that occurs when bacteria mutate and are no longer affected by the antibody treatment. E'er attempt other treatments first and do non medicate healthy fish.
   • Consider euthanizing very sick fish. Sometimes treatments just exercise not work then be prepared this possibility.

4. 4

   Treat bacterial infections. Frequently, cleaning the fish tank and keeping weather condition optimum can assist your fish recover from an infection. Yet, using a product such as API Melafix Antibacterial Fish Remedy, Maracyn, antibacterial fish food or another antibiotic may help.

   • Dropsy can be treated by adding no more than than two.5 teaspoons of epsom salts to the tank per ten gallons (37.9 L) of h2o. This will draw some of the backlog water out of the fish's body. Feed your fish antibacterial fish food for vii-x days. Maracyn Ii added to the water can likewise help.
   • Fin-rot needs to be cured chop-chop because information technology can spread to the torso. Treat with warm, make clean h2o, a few drops of garlic juice, and a product that replaces the slime glaze, such as Stress Coat by API. You may demand Maracyn or an antibiotic like tetracycline.^[8]
   • Popeye can exist treated similarly to other bacterial infections with Maracyn or tetracycline and antibiotic fish food. ^[9]
   • Septicemia- A combination of Maracyn, other antibiotics similar Kanamycin Sulfate and antibiotic fish nutrient is the best fashion to treat this.^[ten]

5. v

   Treat fungal infections. Treatment for fungal infections, such as cotton fiber wool affliction, includes salt baths using freshwater aquarium common salt, an antifungal agent like phenoxyethanol or Rid Fungus. You lot can as well effort applying the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial amanuensis, Gentian Violet. ^[xi]

6. six

   Treat parasite infections. Many organisms can brand your fish ill. Formalin-based medications and copper sulfate are the nearly mutual treatments for parasite infections. However, changing sure conditions in the tank tin can also get rid of them.

   • Ich can be treated with medication that is formalin based, contains malachite greenish, methylene blue or copper sulfate. ^[12]
   • Body slime infection tin can exist treated with formalin-based medication, copper sulfate or potassium permanganate. These parasites are also sensitive to salt and temperature. Raising water temperatures to 86 °F (xxx °C) and adding salt at a dose of 0.four to 0.7 ounce per gallon for 7-fourteen days tin can cure slime disease.
   • Velvet disease can exist treated by dimming the lights of the aquarium. Since velvet is acquired by a protozoan that needs chlorophyll for nutrients, a lack of light starves the organism of food.^[thirteen]

7. seven

   Treat other conditions. You tin can try to treat the symptoms of syndromes with the treatments already mentioned. More than frequent water changes and tank maintenance can oft help clear up problems in a few days or weeks.

   • If your fish looks bloated, information technology may be constipated. To care for this, become a frozen pea. Vanquish information technology, thaw it, and cut into tiny pieces. Feed a few of these to your fish, and so feed information technology nothing for a few days. You tin also try feeding live, frozen, or freeze-dried daphne for the aforementioned results.

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1. 1

   Change part of the water regularly. Not changing the water regularly is the nearly common cause of illness in fish, so this is one of the almost of import things you tin practise to keep your fish salubrious. Monitor the h2o quality and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels by using water testing kits from your store. This will tell you how often and how much you demand to change.

   • Never change all of your tank water at one time. This change in water chemistry will likely stress your fish. Yous should not modify more than ane/three of the h2o in any 24 hr period.
   • Some aquariums can exercise ok with changing i/4 of the h2o every two weeks. However, near pet fish owners will need to do it more than often. Changing 25% of your tank'due south h2o every other week helps to dilute and remove nitrates as well every bit replace trace elements and important buffers used upwards by bacteria.^[14]
   • Y'all volition also need to remove wastes hiding in the nooks and crannies of your aquarium. To practise this, vacuum the gravel when you alter the water. The exception to this is saltwater aquariums that use live substrates at the bottom.

2. ii

   Perform regular maintenance on your filter. If your filter is not removing ammonia properly considering information technology is chock-full, your fish will become stressed and eventually die. Cleaning the filter usually involves either rinsing them in used tank water or vacuuming them.

3. three

   Treat tap h2o. Tap water has chlorine or chloramine in it then information technology'due south prophylactic for us to drink. Withal, these chemicals are toxic to fish and damages their gills, causing stress and illness.

   • Yous will demand to add the chemical sodium thiosulfate, bachelor at fish stores, to the water before adding tap water to your tank. This will neutralize chlorine in the tap water.
   • Chloramine can be neutralized through the utilise of products such as Amquel. These chemicals take care of the ammonia and chlorine in the chloramine molecules.
   • If you don't want to apply chemicals to remove chlorine, you can leave circulating h2o via a filter or air-rock in a saucepan or tank for 24 hours.

4. four

   Go along the water pH stable. Your fish will become stressed from rapid pH changes in tank water. Aim for a pH betwixt 6.five and 7.five. This is ideal for nearly fish.

   • Tank water tends to go acidic over time because of nitrates that build up. The pH can be raised or lowered using chemicals such as muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid tin can raise the phosphate level in your tank and cause algae growth.
   • Ever treat h2o for pH adjustments prior to adding it to the tank.
   • You tin can too bubble CO2 (carbon dioxide) through the tank via CO2 injection systems. This will lower the pH without the need for chemicals.

5. v

   Add plants. Aquatic plants can assistance your aquarium constitute its own natural eco-system, protect from early fish loss, release oxygen, keep algae at bay and purify your h2o. Plants can too make your tank wait really cool! ^[15]

   • An aeration unit may non exist required if you take healthy, aquatic plants in your tank. ^[16]
   • Aquatic plants volition use upwardly toxic ammonia and nitrites in your tank to grow. Faster growing plants like Cabomba, Ludwigia or Egeria Densa or other stalk species tin remove a lot of ammonia rapidly.^[17]

6. 6

   Add together algae eaters. Your fish will benefit from having algae eaters control potentially harmful algae in the tank. These include shrimps, snails, and algae-eating fish.^[18]

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Add New Question

• Question

  How do you lot acclimate fish from 1 tank to another?

  

  Craig Morton
  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Doctor Inc.

  Craig Morton is the CEO of Aquarium Doctor Inc. based in Huntington Beach California and servicing Orange County, Los Angeles County, and the Inland Empire. With over 30 years of aquarium experience, Craig specializes in creating custom aquarium designs along with aquarium installation, service, and maintenance.

  

  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Md Inc.

  Skilful Answer

  

  Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

  Exit the fish in its bag at first. Submerge the plastic bag in the tank and allow information technology sit for 30 minutes. At that point, add together near 1/4 loving cup of tank water to the fish'southward purse. Add together more than water after 15 minutes. Do this for 1 hour. Then, scoop the fish up in a internet and transfer the fish to a tank.

• Question

  How long can a fish tank go without a h2o change?

  

  Craig Morton
  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Physician Inc.

  Craig Morton is the CEO of Aquarium Doctor Inc. based in Huntington Beach California and servicing Orange County, Los Angeles Canton, and the Inland Empire. With over 30 years of aquarium experience, Craig specializes in creating custom aquarium designs along with aquarium installation, service, and maintenance.

  

  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Doctor Inc.

  Skillful Answer

• Question

  What do I do if my fish has an infection?

  

  Craig Morton
  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Physician Inc.

  Craig Morton is the CEO of Aquarium Physician Inc. based in Huntington Beach California and servicing Orange County, Los Angeles Canton, and the Inland Empire. With over 30 years of aquarium experience, Craig specializes in creating custom aquarium designs along with aquarium installation, service, and maintenance.

  

  Aquarium Specialist, Aquarium Doctor Inc.

  Expert Reply

• Question

  My fish is gasping for air, and his tail seems to be falling off. What's wrong?

  

  Do you accept a pump/filter? Please provide more description (what kind of fish, more symptoms, pictures) but the tail falling off is Non a skilful sign! Exercise more research ASAP or seek help at a pet store.

• Question

  My lesser feeder is sucking everything. Is this bad?

  

  No. That'southward what they practice.

• Question

  My brother's fish is pond about happily, but mainly staying around the filter. What does this mean?

  

  AwesomeSaucy

  Community Reply

  If the fish is staying around the filter, it probably ways he is not getting plenty oxygen. Try getting a new filter.

• Question

  My fish is non doing annihilation and I don't know why. Is he just staring into thin air?

  

  I mean, as long as he isn't showing signs of distress or infection, it doesn't audio like a problem to me. He'south a fish; he's not overly complicated.

• Question

  My fish eats the food and then spits it and again eats it. Is this bad?

  

  Shadow_wolf_52

  Community Answer

  Not necessarily. The food is probably likewise large for your fish. You tin try cut or mashing the food into smaller pieces, or changing the food type.

• Question

  Is brown algae in an aquarium bad?

  

  Brown algae is caused past poor lighting and poor h2o chemistry. Brand sure your tank is clean and examination the water for ammonia and nitrites. Then yes, information technology's bad.

• Question

  My goldfish doesn't swim around much, generally hides backside the pump just under the surface. It doesn't eat much. He'southward an but fish in a ane.5 gal tank.

  

  Yeah, it's tank is wayyyyyyyyy too small. No fish can comfortably thrive in a tank that small. The answer is uncomplicated, purchase a 10-fifteen gallon tank and rehome him. He'll be so much happier and guaranteed to live longer. He'll also demand a filter, btw.

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• Prevention is key. It is easier to keep your fish healthy through diligent care and maintenance than it is to treat a sick fish.

• If you have 2 or more than fish, plough on your filter or air supply 24/vii so that your fish have enough oxygen for breathing.

• You lot tin add about 1 TBS of freshwater aquarium table salt (not iodized table salt!) for every 5 gallons (18.9 L) of water to a freshwater tank to inhibit bacteria and mucus growth. ^[19]

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About This Article

Article Summary X

If you think your fish might be ill, bank check to run into if information technology'south staying shut to the surface of the h2o and gasping for air, which might mean information technology's short of oxygen. If your fish loses its ambition or spits out food, take this as a sign information technology'due south sick. You lot may too come across your fish lying at the bottom of the tank and interim lethargic. Additionally, bank check if the fish'due south tail is stiff, closed, or falling apart, since these are all signs of sickness. In addition, yous may notice open soars, spots, or lumps on its torso if your fish is unwell. For tips on how to care for your fish's sickness, including when to quarantine them, keep reading!

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