Yes! Many people
do not want to go through the lengthy process of
quarantining fish prior to introducing them to their
aquarium, but it is worth it. Even when a responsible
fish store proactively medicates fish before selling them,
sometimes things slip by. It is cost effective and
sensible to quarantine because it can save you a lot of
headache and a lot of money to treat something that you
could have prevented.
A hospital tank is a place to put a fish that is sick for
treatment with medications that you do not want to run in
your aquarium. For example, copper is a wonderful
medication, but you don't want it in your reef or planted
aquarium full of shrimp. Hospital tanks give you many
more options and make medicating less expensive because they
are typically smaller and require smaller doses.
My water is cloudy and my fish are dying.
What do I do?
This is a common occurrence in new freshwater tanks that
were set up too quickly with too little filtration.
Overfeeding during this time can exacerbate the problem.
Do a good water change, add AmGuard by Seachem to lock up
any ammonia, and top it off with a hefty dose of Seachem's
Stability to add a good bacteria bed.
My new fish always die.
Does that mean that they were sick when I bought them?
While it is possible that
you got sick fish, if you are always having fish die right
after putting them in, two possibilities are likely.
Be sure that your water quality is good. Just because
you have fish living in your aquarium does not mean that the
water is OK. Fish adapt over a long period of time to
bad conditions that slowly worsen. Perfectly healthy
fish from an aquarium store may die within a few hours after
being added to water that is in bad shape. Even if
they were acclimated appropriately, 45 minutes of
acclimation is still a lot faster change than the months of
change that the existing fish have had to get used to the
water.
Another possibility is that your new fish are being attacked
by the resident fish. Sometimes this happens behind
your back, so just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it
isn't happening. Stand around the corner out of sight
and watch your tank for a good long while. You will
have a better idea of whether or not this is the problem.
To avoid this situation, always be honest with your local
fish store by telling them the size of your tank and exactly
what you have in it. If they refuse to sell you a fish
because it isn't a good fit for your tank, they are
protecting both your pocketbook and the life of the fish you
wanted to buy.
When should you give a
freshwater bath?
A freshwater bath is a method for
removing some external parasites from saltwater fish. It is for
fish only. Do not do this to any invertebrate such as a
crab, shrimp, snail, coral, or anemone.
It can be stressful for the fish,
so care should be taken when performing this remedy.
1.
Prepare a bucket of tap water.
2.
Add buffer to bring the pH up to whatever your pH is
in your aquarium. A saltwater aquarium
should be about 8.2 to
8.3.
3.
Dechlorinate the water using Seachem's Prime.
4.
Heat the water to be the same temperature as the aquarium
where the fish lives.
5.
Net the fish and gently lower it into the bucket.
6.
Watch the fish carefully for signs of undue stress. It
is not unusual for the fish to wriggle a bit
or scrape up against the
side of the bucket from time to time. The parasites
are
uncomfortable for the
fish and they will be wriggling off the fish while this
procedure is
happening. If the
fish continually thrashes about or does not relax into a
cautious state after
about 30 seconds,
consider returning the fish to the aquarium. Some fish
do not tolerate
freshwater baths well.
7.
Providing that the fish is tolerating the bath well, you can
generally leave it there between 3-5
minutes. Remember
to watch the fish closely for any sign that it is having
great difficulty.
Some fish can tolerate
freshwater baths for up to 15 - 30 minutes, but this is
generally not
recommended.
8.
Return the fish to the aquarium and discard the water.
If I use copper, will it stay
in my tank forever?
Copper definitely can linger for a long time in an aquarium.
For this reason, if you even think you might want to have
invertebrates such as shrimp (freshwater or saltwater) then
NEVER use copper. It hides out in rock, gravel,
silicone, and anything else in your aquarium that has pores.
To be on the safe side, if you know
that an aquarium has been coppered before, don't try to put
invertebrate life (crabs, corals, etc.) in it. Either
get another aquarium or be content with a fish only
aquarium.
Help! I went on vacation
and my friend used a medication that may have contained
copper!
There are a
couple of remedies to remove copper. NorthSide
Aquatics recommends Cuprisorb by Seachem because it works in
both fresh and saltwater. You can also use a
PolyFilter pad for freshwater.
In either case, ensure that you
have good flow throughout the aquarium so that water can
carry the copper to the resin or pad that will be absorbing
it.
The only way to know if copper is
no longer present is to use a copper test. Leave the
copper removing resin in at least 2 weeks after you test 0
for copper content.
So what medications do I use
for what?
NorthSide Aquatics stocks the following medications.
Please consult with us so we can help you choose the right
medication for your type of aquarium. Thank you to
Seachem for providing us with the chart below. We have
made some addenda to it.
Symptoms
Disease
Treatment
Fish appears
bloated to the point of bursting. Scales
become raised and stick out. The anus is often
inflamed. Commonly occurs with popeye (See
below)
Dropsy
KanaPlex (Seachem)
Focus (Seachem)
Eyes protrude
or appear to be "popping out" of their sockets
Holes that
widen the sensory pores in the heads of large fish
Hexamita /
Hole-in-the-Head Disease (HITH)
Metronidazole (Seachem)
Paraguard (Seachem) used as a dip
Ick: The
fish appears sprinkled with grit or coarse sand.
Fish rub against hard objects to free themselves of
the parasite.
Velvet:
Surface appears dull and in heavy infections, the
fish takes on a yellowish or yellow-brown velvety
texture. This is most easily seen looking at
the fish head-on.
Ick
(Ichthyopthirius, cryptocaryon) and Velvet
(Oodinium, etc.)
White stringy
material hanging off of the body accompanied by
white sores around the mouth. In advanced
stages, a pale saddle appears over the back of the
fish
Columnaris
Binox (Jungle)
Rally's (Ruby Reef)
Will a UV sterilizer help me?
In general, UV sterilizers are not a
bad thing. They can help prevent disease from jumping
from one fish to the other by killing them in the water
column, and they can be effective against the freshwater pea
soup condition called "green water" (not harmful to fish).
UV sterilizers must be used with
caution because they are indiscriminate killers. They
kill both bad bacteria and good, so if you are adding a
bacteria supplement, turn off your UV filter for 48 hours so
that the bacteria can bind to surfaces. UV can also be
harmful when dosing medications. Always be sure to
read the labels carefully.
My fish suddenly died.
Why did this happen?
This is a difficult question to answer without knowing
anything about your aquarium. Here are some questions
for you to ask yourself:
1. Do I overfeed? Feeding once
every other day is generally sufficient for most fish.
If you are feeding multiple times a day or pouring fish food
into your aquarium like it is in a salt shaker rather than
adding it by individual pinches, this is a possible cause.
It can pollute the water and it can cause fish to die from
complications of obesity.
2.
Are my fish compatible? There are a
number of rules governing the successful addition of fish to
any aquarium. If you bought a fish just because you
liked it and added it to your aquarium without knowing
anything about that fish, then this could be the reason it
or your other fish died. The new fish could have been
very aggressive or very docile and a fight might have
occurred. You would never consider putting a tiger in
the same room as a newborn kitten just because they are both
types of cat. Always do your research first!
3. Do I dechlorinate my
water? If you are using tap water in your
aquarium and you do not add something to it each time you
put in new water, then this could be your problem.
Many people add "stuff" to the water because it came with
the aquarium, but they do not know what the "stuff" in the
bottle does. Inform yourself. Read the label.
It may not be a dechlorinator. Chlorine destroys gill
tissue and causes fish to die of suffocation.
4. Do I have an
adequate filter that is populated with good bacteria?
Without a filter to remove poop and bacteria to process
waste, fish can die of ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
Like chlorine, ammonia and nitrite destroy the fish's gills
and cause it to lose the ability to breathe. Breathing
is important - make sure you have a good filter.
5. Do I keep my
aquarium free of decaying food? Decaying food
and other debris, especially in large quantities, release
toxic gasses that can kill fish. You would not want to
live in a room full of rotting hamburgers and glasses of
milk that had gone bad, not to mention piles of human poop
all over the floor. Do your fish a favor and vacuum
the gravel.
6. Am I feeding my fish
the right food? Not all fish foods are created
equal! Be sure that the food you are feeding your fish
is the right one. You wouldn't feed your child "Cheesy
Poofs" every day of its life, just because it is a type of
"human food". Ask about the nutritional value of what
you are feeding. Also, provide a variety of foods that
mimic the fish's normal diet. A very common cause of
fish death is constipation. Often this comes from
feeding a cheap food full of filler material that can't be
digested. It can also be caused by feeding too much
protein to a vegetarian fish. Also in reference to
feeding, remember, no fish eats
goldfish as a natural food source! They are toxic, as
are many other "feeder fish". Do your research first!
Feeder fish can also carry disease to your aquarium.
It's just better to buy frozen.
7. Is that air freshener
(or other aerosol) really so important to you?
Many people do not realize that what is in the air around us
such as room fresheners and scented candles actually gets
into the water of the aquarium. While many of these
things are not always terribly harmful to us, they can be to
fish. Please smoke in another room and if you can live
with the wall color, please don't repaint while the fish
tank is in the room.
8.
Have I replaced my heater within the last year?
It is a fact of life that aquarium heaters fail. They are
much like light bulbs - expendable. Even the good ones
break. Typically when a heater breaks, the thermostat
is the first thing to go. That means the heating
mechanism continues to heat unregulated. By the time
you notice, it's usually too late. Replace your heater
around a holiday so you can remember to do it every year.
9. Does my fish look
scraped or nicked somewhere? Fish often hurt
themselves swimming between rocks or through ornaments.
It happens. You can select decor that has rounded
surfaces and holes large enough for fish to swim in and out
of easily. That might help, but it's no guarantee -
much like there's no guarantee you won't break your ankle
walking through your own back yard. It's not likely,
but it can happen.
Lack of oxygen - asphyxiation is just one of its many
complications
Toxic or unsafe décor - unwashed, metallic, or contaminated Medication - read the fine print for the side effects Contamination - from sick fish, polluted water, infected tanks,
or rotten food Copper poisoning - nobody survives a diet of metals Toxic fumes - they dissolve in the water Improper or inept handling - can injure externally and internally
Sudden changes - not for the faint of heart Loud vibrations - killing softly with loud songs
