Diagnosing sick fish

Sk8r · 01/30/2014, 08:32 AM

Here are a few broad rules.
1. If you need advice on diagnosis/treatment, go to the forum called Fish Disease.
2. Don't delay about it: sickness in fish goes from zero to fatal in a day or so in some cases.
3. you need to distinguish a) parasitic infestation b) bacterial infection or c) viral infection. In the case of a)---your tank is infested, like fleas in your carpet. In the case of b) it's not that communicable, usually. But check your alkalinity! A fish has a slime coat that protects against this sort of thing: bad alkalinity (it should read 8.3-7.9) can strip that coat away and expose the fish to bacterial infection: so can a cut or injury. And in the case of c) the most common one, lymphocystis, doesn't seem to spread. You may lose that fish, however.

4. In the case of parasites, you have to get FISH (not inverts) out to quarantine and do something about the infestation in your tank. Copper is one treatment, but it will kill some fish, and it will kill your tank. The touted garlic and miracle cures don't really work, either. Garlic is an appetite stimulant and a vegetable some fish really like. It's a good thing, but it's not a cure. The Disease forum has instructions for treating your fish and freeing your tank of the pests. It's not true that you 'always' have them. I haven't seen a case of ich in the last 2 tank setups, nor do I expect to. Parasites have to be eradicated in the tank, usually by starvation. 8-12 weeks is usually enough.

5. In the case of bacterial infection, which usually manifests as a swelling, a fuzzy film, or hazy patch, or a reddish spot, copper doesn't work, and you need an antibiotic, and you can't add an antibiotic atop a copper treatment. It takes days to remove copper from a hospital tank, and these diseases kill in a few days. Antibiotic is the treatment. Careful dosing is essential: an ATO is almost indispensible for keeping the level of dose accurate. Remember those bacteria in your main tank sandbed? Yep. They can be hurt and killed by an antibacterial treatment. There are two kinds of bacteria, gram negative and gram positive, and a broad-spectrum treatment kills both, including sandbed bacteria. Extract the sick fish to a separate tank.

6. In the case of a viral infection, just feed well, and hope. It's not likely going to pass to another fish. The common virus is lymphocystis, which looks white, but cauliflowerlike and very tiny, as opposed to the ich pimples, which are white, but distinct and rounded. Takes good eyesight to tell the difference.

7. Injury. Fish heal amazingly. They can regrow fins, repair skin and scales. A fin rip is nothing, but it can get infected.

8. Bad water. Check that alkalinity weekly. This is THE most common reason well fish come down with problems.

HTH.

cakemanPA · 01/30/2014, 09:13 AM

Please make this a sticky. Great stuff

snorvich · 01/30/2014, 09:42 AM

In line with what Sk8r is saying above, many (most?) aquarists rely on visual symptoms on the fish to diagnose parasites. Better technique would be to learn to read the fish's behavior. Flashing, reclusiveness, fast breathing, hanging near the surface or water returns, or sensitivity to light are all precursors to a fish displaying visual signs of a parasite. Visual signs, in the case of brook or velvet, may actually be too late. Also, many of the ich deaths reported are more than likely velvet related; ich, because of the exponential character of the life cycle usually takes longer to actually do a fish in.

Alleysaurus · 03/08/2014, 04:36 PM

I think my Coral Beauty has a bacterial infection as he has a circular white patch on his side that loooks like dead scales. It started yesterday morning, was much larger, and yesterday he had a couple white fuzzy spots on the fin next to the spot. Today fins spots are gone and the white spot on his side appears to be shrinking but the fish is breathing quickly, swimming slowly around or in place, and seems to sway slightly to his unaffected side. On another forum someone said to maybe just Observe? I don't want to loose him though.
I have a 20 long I can set up as quarantine with no filter, but I have a couple extra power heads. I would need to buy a heater... Yesterday I bought a medication with Tertracycline Hydrochloride as the active ingredient. Should I continue to observe or treat right away? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

01/30/2014, 08:32 AM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Diagnosing sick fish Here are a few broad rules. 1. If you need advice on diagnosis/treatment, go to the forum called Fish Disease. 2. Don't delay about it: sickness in fish goes from zero to fatal in a day or so in some cases. 3. you need to distinguish a) parasitic infestation b) bacterial infection or c) viral infection. In the case of a)---your tank is infested, like fleas in your carpet. In the case of b) it's not that communicable, usually. But check your alkalinity! A fish has a slime coat that protects against this sort of thing: bad alkalinity (it should read 8.3-7.9) can strip that coat away and expose the fish to bacterial infection: so can a cut or injury. And in the case of c) the most common one, lymphocystis, doesn't seem to spread. You may lose that fish, however. 4. In the case of parasites, you have to get FISH (not inverts) out to quarantine and do something about the infestation in your tank. Copper is one treatment, but it will kill some fish, and it will kill your tank. The touted garlic and miracle cures don't really work, either. Garlic is an appetite stimulant and a vegetable some fish really like. It's a good thing, but it's not a cure. The Disease forum has instructions for treating your fish and freeing your tank of the pests. It's not true that you 'always' have them. I haven't seen a case of ich in the last 2 tank setups, nor do I expect to. Parasites have to be eradicated in the tank, usually by starvation. 8-12 weeks is usually enough. 5. In the case of bacterial infection, which usually manifests as a swelling, a fuzzy film, or hazy patch, or a reddish spot, copper doesn't work, and you need an antibiotic, and you can't add an antibiotic atop a copper treatment. It takes days to remove copper from a hospital tank, and these diseases kill in a few days. Antibiotic is the treatment. Careful dosing is essential: an ATO is almost indispensible for keeping the level of dose accurate. Remember those bacteria in your main tank sandbed? Yep. They can be hurt and killed by an antibacterial treatment. There are two kinds of bacteria, gram negative and gram positive, and a broad-spectrum treatment kills both, including sandbed bacteria. Extract the sick fish to a separate tank. 6. In the case of a viral infection, just feed well, and hope. It's not likely going to pass to another fish. The common virus is lymphocystis, which looks white, but cauliflowerlike and very tiny, as opposed to the ich pimples, which are white, but distinct and rounded. Takes good eyesight to tell the difference. 7. Injury. Fish heal amazingly. They can regrow fins, repair skin and scales. A fin rip is nothing, but it can get infected. 8. Bad water. Check that alkalinity weekly. This is THE most common reason well fish come down with problems. HTH. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/30/2014, 09:42 AM	#3
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	In line with what Sk8r is saying above, many (most?) aquarists rely on visual symptoms on the fish to diagnose parasites. Better technique would be to learn to read the fish's behavior. Flashing, reclusiveness, fast breathing, hanging near the surface or water returns, or sensitivity to light are all precursors to a fish displaying visual signs of a parasite. Visual signs, in the case of brook or velvet, may actually be too late. Also, many of the ich deaths reported are more than likely velvet related; ich, because of the exponential character of the life cycle usually takes longer to actually do a fish in. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

01/30/2014, 09:13 AM	#2
cakemanPA Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hummelstown, PA Posts: 2,353	Please make this a sticky. Great stuff

03/08/2014, 04:36 PM	#4
Alleysaurus Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 25	I think my Coral Beauty has a bacterial infection as he has a circular white patch on his side that loooks like dead scales. It started yesterday morning, was much larger, and yesterday he had a couple white fuzzy spots on the fin next to the spot. Today fins spots are gone and the white spot on his side appears to be shrinking but the fish is breathing quickly, swimming slowly around or in place, and seems to sway slightly to his unaffected side. On another forum someone said to maybe just Observe? I don't want to loose him though. I have a 20 long I can set up as quarantine with no filter, but I have a couple extra power heads. I would need to buy a heater... Yesterday I bought a medication with Tertracycline Hydrochloride as the active ingredient. Should I continue to observe or treat right away? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!