One of the things we have to deal with in the aquarium hobby is diseases. It’s unfortunate but just like with any other living thing they happen. Our hope with this video is to help you identify some of these fish diseases, how to treat them and how to prevent them from happening in the first place.
Unfortunately we won’t be able to show you examples of each fish disease, who has that kind of footage but the hope is we can describe it in enough detail where you’ll get the point.
#10 Ich
Ich is by far the most common fish keeping disease and pretty much every fish keeper has dealt with it at one time or another, it can also be argued to be the disease that kills more fish than any of the others listed in this video.
Ich is present in the environment of most aquariums but if your fish are strong and healthy they’ll build up an immunity to it, it’s when the fish are under severe stress their immune system drops and they become susceptible to it.
#9 Dropsy
Dropsy is caused mainly by poor water conditions and improper diet. This usually effects herbivores who are given too much protein and not enough green. You’ll know your fish has dropsy if they appear lethargic and bloated like they’re constipated. They’ll also lose a lot of their color and won’t be in the mood to eat anything.
#8 Popeye
Popeye is a bacterial infection where fluids build up behind the fishes eyeball causing it to bulge outward and look like the eye is about to pop out. It’s usually caused by an injury to the eyeball by another fish, the fish gets startled and slams into something or even a fish keeper that isn’t careful enough when handling the fish.
#7 Fin Rot
Like many of the diseases on this list fin rot is caused by poor water quality, stress or aggression from other fish.
The fishes fins get damaged allowing bacteria in and causing an infection and literally make the fins start rotting off.
#6 Hole In The Head
Hole in the head is a disease that is most commonly associated with Oscars but it’s not something that only Oscars get.
It’s a parasitic disease that can effect many freshwater and saltwater fish and if caught early can be treated pretty effectively.
#5 Gill Flukes
Gill flukes are a parasite that’s like a teeny tiny worm that you wont be able to see with the naked eye.
This is frustrating because your fish could have flukes but show no real signs as far as huge sores or lesions on their body.
You’ll just notice them acting lethargic and slow, there might be a little redness but that can be difficult to see on certain fish especially goldfish.
#4 Swim Bladder
If your fish is having swim bladder issues it’s one of the saddest things you’ll ever see. A fish not being able to swim properly is like a bird not being able to fly, it’s just sad.
Anyway what is a swim bladder? Think of it like a life jacket for your fish. It’s an organ that’s full of gasses that allows your fish to swim rather than just sink.
#3 Velvet
Velvet can present itself similarly to ich but it’s very different and in my opinion much more deadly. Most of the time when you have ich in your tank you can do some pretty simple treatments and get it under control but velvet can wipe out your entire tank before you figure out what’s going on.
#2 Cloudy Eye
Cloudy Eye is pretty self explanatory, it’s a haze over the eye that can progressively get worse and may mean that your fish can lose vision in that eye or lose the eye completely.
The answer to what causes cloudy eye is simple, it’s you not doing your job as a fish keeper.
#1 Columnaris
Columnaris is a nasty one, there’s allot to talk about so let me just read off the symptoms.
If your fish has columnaris they’ll have
Ragged fins
Ulcers on the skin
White or cloudy fungus like patches
Mucus on gills, head and dorsal fin area
A color change in their gills
Rapid breathing and a loss of appetite
I told you it was nasty
Columnaris is caused by basically all of the common mistakes that we all make
Stress
Overcrowding
improper diet
poor water conditions
This is a bacteria that is highly contagious that enters the fish through their mouth, gills or an open wound.
If you run into this you gotta go in with antibiotics and understand that this disease is highly contagious so there’s no need to isolate your fish in a hospital tank.
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