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Fish Health Articles;
"Fin Rot"
"Fin Rot" is used to describe any of a number of infections, illnesses or conditions that cause a fish's fin(s) to appear frayed, torn or even missing.
"Ich" = White Spots?
Over the past few months, I've spent a fair amount of time at the microscope, trying to get a better feel for which parasitic infections are common, as well as which medications are effective. I've learned quite a bit during this time, including ...
"Jumpers”
Why do fish jump out? Without delving too far into fish psychology, it's safe to say that some fish have learned to take to the air to avoid predators, and others have learned to slither across land to other bodies of water. They may simply resort ...
"Stressed Fish"
29784 You should be aware of the type of stress that will be present in your tanks and select fish known to tolerate such conditions well. For example, if your water is hard and alkaline, you´re best off selecting fish that thrive under such ...
Aquarium Lighting Is Important For The Health Of Your Tank
Getting the proper amounts and types of lighting in your fish tank is vital to the health of your fish and plants. Even though your fish are in an aquarium inside your home, they still need to experience light as they would in nature so you want to ...
Buying “Sick Fish”
Many hobbyists are under the mistaken impression that it is possible to have fish that are absolutely free of parasites, bacteria and other possible disease-causing organisms. However, that is no more possible in the aquatic world than it is in ...
Controlling algae
Controlling algae. Controlling algae is an urgent topic. From the following material you'll get an outline of the battle, which is fought along seven main fronts, viz: physical control, limiting nutrients, allelopathic chemis ...
Diatoms (and a Dinoflagellate too)
Diatoms. The familiar brown incrustations on glass and plant leaves and rocks that cause trouble in freshwater tanks, which we sometimes still miscall "brown algae," are the ...
Fat Fish I: Obesity
On occasion, fish are noticed to appear to balloon up, sometimes up to double their expected girth. There are several possible causes which will be addressed in future tips, but for now let's look at plain old obesity. Do fish really get " ...
Fat Fish II: Blockage
Other occasional causes of bloated looking fish are being egg-bound or constipated. Neither of these conditions are well documented in current aquarium literature, but some anecdotal evidence has been handed down in the last century or so. What h ...
Fat Fish III: Kidney Disease
In freshwater fish, the main function of the kidneys are to expel water that is constantly entering the cells by osmosis. If the kidneys fail or are weakened, the fish begins to balloon up with excess water, leading to conditions often called &quo ...
Fish Stress
Fish stress can be caused by a number of things and it is important that you learn to recognize the signs to prevent the serious problems which stress may cause, or be a result of. While serving as a useful indicator of how your t ...
Freshwater "Ich"
"Ich" (short for the scientific name Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, the single celled parasite that causes the infection) is perhaps the most commonly seen disease in tropical aquarium fish. What does it look like? Ich is commonly des ...
Freshwater Dip
Just as a bath in salty water can alleviate some freshwater diseases (see Salt As Medicine), a short-term dip in freshwater can address certain saltwater infections. What it treats. Freshwater baths can help rid the skin and gills of saltwater fi ...
Green Water
These photosynthesizing protists are the true green base of the whole freshwater food chain. In the old biological schemes, in which every organism had to be "either a p ...
Lack of Oxygen
Oxygen is precious to all animal and plant life, including the fish in our aquariums and ponds. When it is in low supply, fish suffer, and may become ill or even die. Here's where oxygen goes: Fish: fish and other aquatic animals breathe in ...
Miracle Cure? - or Snake Oil?
Ahhhhh... the Wonder of Science. If the modern aquarist needs to boost, promote, enhance, replenish, maximize, minimize, control, reduce or prevent anything, there's a bottle on the dealer's shelf that promises to accomplish just that. According ...
Nitrates in Freshwater Aquarium Systems
"Oh no! I've got "high" nitrates! What to do?"... First and foremost, understanding what nitrates are, their sources, alleviation and relative placement in a/the grand scheme of "water quality" is absolutely necessary ...
Nitrogen Cycle, Aquarium Cycle
This information presented below may be rather boring to most people, but it is absolutely essential to understand this process if you want to be successful at keeping tropical fish! Some call it the biological cycle, the nitrification p ...
Overcrowding
There are two basic warnings that even most beginning hobbyists have heard: don't overfeed, and don't overcrowd. And yet many aquarists, of all levels of experience, have a natural tendency to try to squeeze "just a couple more" fish into ...
pH : To be or not to be considered?
Whenever one surfs the net or refers to a book about fish-keeping, pH would be a short-listed, important point of concern. Many of us have read articles/books saying fishes are not tolerant to wide pH ranges or pH fluctuations. But is pH that impor ...
Physical defenses.
Besides its immune system, the fish has some physical defenses against external bacterial or parasitic attacks. The fishes' first layer of protection is the epidermis, the outermost ...
Quarantine Tank - How To Set Up for Tropical Fish
Do I Need A Quarantine Tank? Ah, yes, the often dismissed but very necessary part of the tropical fish hobby, the infamous quarantine tank. Do you really need one to be successful in this hobby? For freshwater fish you may be able to get by withou ...
Quarantine.
There is a substitute for Quarantine. It is called Luck. A quarantine tank is one of the most potent tools for success in keeping fish. Anyone who tells you differently is pandering to ...
Salt As Medication
An almost forgotten treatment for many common freshwater fish parasites is plain old aquarium salt. Used properly, a saltwater bath can be very effective in eliminating "ich", velvet, Trichodina, Chilodonella, and a number of less common p ...
Sick - or Infected?
Many aquarists assume sickness and infection are all interchangeable terms and go on to treat every fish that has torn fins, cloudy eyes, or abnormal swimming behavior with antibiotics or other medicine. This course of action is often unsuccessful ...
Storing Dry Fish Food
Who among us would snack from a bag of potato chips after it's been sitting open in the cabinet for a couple of weeks? Probably, and hopefully, nobody. And yet, how many of of would give a second thought to feeding our prized fishes from a can of ...
Stress
Stress: a pre-condition for disease. Over and over, scientists tell us "many pathogens do not appear until the fishes are under s ...
STRESS!
There is probably no single tip that improves the chance of success with tropical fish than, "Avoid Stress". When fish have to deal with stressful conditions, they can quickly lose vitality and become more susceptible to infection or oth ...
Stunting Fish , "But don't fish grow only to the size of their aquarium?"
"But don't fish grow only to the size of their aquarium?" We hear this question on a seemingly daily basis, as we tell customers that certain fish are likely to outgrow their home aquarium. In a common scenario, a customer with a 10 or ...