Aquarium Fish Health: The White Spot Disease And Its Treatment

One of the most frustrating moments in the life of a fish breeder or fish owner is when one or more fish dies. And this is one of the most common problems aquarists face. But sometimes, no matter what you do, death is inevitable especially in a fish tank. Many diseases are caused by internal or external parasites that live in the tank.

This is why you should observe as often as possible your fish and detect the problem in early stages. Many diseases, if discovered quickly, can be treated.

White Spot disease is one of the most common infections that appear on fish and is caused by the parasite - Ichthyophthirius Multifillis which swims and attaches itself to the fish.

Here are some behavioral symptoms in a fish that is infected with White Spot disease. If you notice some of them, start a treatment.

- The fish looses its appetite and has no response to food

- It stays constantly on the water surface or on the ground
- If it stays on the water surface it opens the mouth frequently and gasps for air

- The fish has a tendency to get close to the rocks and rubbing the body to against them

- Lethargy and a general state of weakness

- Hovering in a corner

- While swimming, the fish keeps the clamps up.

But one of the most obvious signs of infection is the pin head-size white spots that appear on the fins and sometimes on the whole body. This is a clear sign of infection with White Spot Disease.

This ailment can be treated with a solution of Methylene Blue. This solution can be bought from a chemist or from any fish shop. The treatment is like this: a 1% stock solution is poured into 0.8 to 1.0ml per gallon of tank water. Ad all the amount at once and repeat the process in a day or two. Before you start the treatment it is good to remove the dirt from the bottom of the tank and use aeration with bubbles near the water surface. A dirty tank bottom could inactivate the solution by absorbing it.

It is very important not to interrupt the treatment till all the white spots are gone. After the spots disappear, change all the tank water because a long exposure to the Methylene Blue chemical can affect the fish’s fertility. If used in a weak dosage, the Methylene Blue has no side effects to young fish and also to aquarium plants.

If your filtration system is charcoal based, you should consider removing it, so that the Methylene Blue isn’t absorbed by the charcoal.

Treating Cotton Mouth Disease (Mouth Fungus)

Cotton Mouth is one of the most difficult diseases a fish can get. It is also known as Mouth Fungus and, in case of infestation, the fish has to be treated as soon as possible. This type of illness is highly contagious, infectious and, in many cases, deadly. It is even more contagious than the spot disease.
One of the clearest symptoms of the Cotton Mouth is a white fungus round the lips and the chicks. Also, in most cases the lips become swollen and they rot. You will notice that rotten lip pieces come in and out of the fish’s mouth while he breathes. This along with lose of the appetite and a state of apathy are the clearest signs of infection. If the fish doesn’t get treatment in due time, the infection eats away its frontal part of the head and finally, the fish dies.

Many specialists even recommend that the fish is killed if he gets this disease so that the infection doesn’t spread among the other fish in the aquarium. If you encounter this problem, ask yourself if trying to save one fish is worth the life of all the others in the tank.

If you decide to treat your fish, here are some ideas of what you can do:

- clean the fish’s lips with a 5% silver mercury solution.

- mix Terramycin and Aureomycuin (dissolve 50mg per gallon of water) and pour it into the talk water. Results could appear within 48 hours.

- take a soft cloth and dip it into a strong salt solution. After that you swab the mouth of the infected fish with it and then put the cloth into a jar containing salty water.

Besides these remedies, a very popular treatment is the Methylene blue solution. This means you have to stick the fish into a jar or bucket and color the water blue with methylene blue solution and leave the fish there to sit and get treated.
All these remedies could work really well if you do them as soon as possible.

Diseases that Effect Tropical Fish

After investing a lot of time and money into your tropical fish and aquarium, it’s important to protect that investment by learning about the various disease that can harm and kill your tropical fish. I will provide you with a basic overview of common disease and how to identify them. But if you’re serious about protecting your fish (and you should be) you should read all the other information we have to offer.

The first disease is called Shimmy. You’ll see normally your fish’s fins are very animated. However, if your fish is swimming around the aquarium without moving its fins, this can be a sign it has Shimmy. It’s important to treat this right away.

The next thing to be on the lookout for are Ich spots. If you start to notice a bunch of small white circles showing up on your fish, it probably has Ich spots. This is a skin disease that can be very harmful to your tropical fish, and you should get some medicine to cure it as soon as possible.

Another similar type of Ich spots to look out for are tiny red spots on your fish. These red spots will grow larger if they go untreated, and if they grow too large they can kill your fish, or cause it to catch a deadlier tropical fish disease. Again, there is medicine you can get to feed your fish to cure this disease before it gets too bad.

Your fish won’t always show outward signs of infection, so you have to monitor its eating habits as well. Sick fish usually don’t eat, this is the easiest way to tell if something is wrong with your tropical fish. If you have multiple fish that normally interact, but you notice one avoiding the other fish, this is also a sign something may be wrong. Stick your finger in the tank and try to “scare” a suspected sick fish. If he doesn’t react and shows disinterest, he is probably sick.

There are many types of tropical fish medicines you can get at your local pet store or veterinarians office. If you don’t know exactly what’s wrong with your pet fish, write down as many symptoms as possible (like the ones I talked about in this article) and hopefully an expert will be able to properly diagnose the problem. Rest assured that if there is something wrong with your beautiful tropical fish, there is most likely a medicine you can give to your fish to cure the problem.