The best treatment is prevention.
This means doing regular water changes, feeding appropriately, providing a thrivable environment, and always quarantining new fish.
However, if you find your fish isn't acting himself, or appears differently, he could have a complication. Review the symptom chart below to find out what it could be. |
Symptom Chart
Frayed Fins |
White Fuzz |
White Mucus |
White Spots |
Gold Dust |
Lethargic |
Won't Eat |
Bloated |
Red Lesions |
Rubbing on Things |
Gasping |
Bumps |
Clamped Fins |
Color Loss |
Enlarged Eye |
Raised Scales |
Pinholes |
|
Septicemia |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||||
Columnaris |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||||
Fungus |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||||
Slime Disease |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||
Ich |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||||||
Velvet |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||||||
Internal Parasite |
x |
||||||||||||||||
Fin Rot |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|||||||||||
Swim Bladder Disorder |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||
Popeye |
x |
||||||||||||||||
Constipated |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||||||||
Poisoning |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||
Tumor/Cyst |
x |
||||||||||||||||
Dropsy |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|||||||||||||
Fish Lice |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||||||||
Hexamita |
x |
Click images for original sources.
Treatment
Swim Bladder Disorder - Caused by overfeeding, stress, or damage to swim bladder.
-Perform a 50% water change and test water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. -Lower water level to make it easier for the fish to breathe. -Feed small amounts of a varied, high quality food. -Fish should recover on his own. |
Parasites - Caused by toxic water conditions; stress; introducing infected fish.
⬤Ich ⬤Velvet ⬤Slime Disease ⬤Fish Lice ⬤Internal Parasite -Perform a 100% water change. -Raise water temperature to 80-85°F. -Treat Ich & Velvet with Ich-X -Treat Slime Disease with Furan-2 -Treat Fish Lice with a bath of potassium permanganate. Drop 10mg of the product in a liter of water and bathe fish for 15 minutes. -Treat Internal Parasites with Prazipro |
Bacterial Infections - Caused by toxic water conditions; stress; introducing infected fish; fluctuations in temperature.
⬤Columnaris ⬤Septicemia ⬤Popeye ⬤Dropsy -Perform a 100% water change. -Treat Columnaris with Furan -Treat Septicemia and Popeye with KanaPlex -Dropsy is a symptom of organ failure and is usually fatal. |
Hexamita - Caused by an intestinal infection brought on by toxic water conditions or stress. Difficult to diagnose, as only the symptom is the fish not eating.
-Perform a large water change and test water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. -Treat with MetroPlex -Review the betta food page and consider if poor nutrition is the culprit. |
Treating with SaltMany of the above diseases, if caught in the early stages, can be treated with pure sodium chloride; salt. Ich, Internal parasites, Columnaris, and Popeye can be treated with salt as an alternative to medicinal treatment.
|
The salt controversy...
|
Prevention
As stated above, the best treatment is prevention.
|
Additional Prevention
Some people use low doses of salt as a preventative measure against diseases. However, long-term exposure and improper dosing can result in more problems then good. I prefer using Indian almond leaves in my tanks, which is a more natural method. The leaves release tannins which have antimicrobial properties, and flavonoids which have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
|
You can add a leaf or two to a tank and let it decay, or you can extract the tannins and flavonoids in a few simple steps.
|