diagnosing sick fish...

Recently we had a problem with some of our fish. They had little white spots and a few died. I looked up diseases that are common to fish and here is what I found. This will somewhat help treat problems occuring in a fish tank where the fish have fallen ill. I hope this helps someone out.

Here are the common problems as I found them when searching for a cure for my fish:

Ick or Ichtyopthirius is the most common of all the diseases. It is actually a parasite that attaches to the goldfish when they are stressed. When they attach themselves they are feeding off the goldfish, they look like little grains of salt. After a day or two they fall off the goldfish, landing in the gravel. They procede to lay their eggs and then the cycle starts all over again. This can be deadly if not taken care of and they will rapidly reproduce.

Fish fin rot
Is a common problem for goldfish when they get an injury to the fins or body. Fin rot is an infection specifically a bacterial infection that occurs when a goldfish is already weak from something else. It appears as a whitish edge on the fins, then the fins rot away looking ragged and torn, sometimes fungus sets in. Most of the time this is easily cured.

Fish fungus

There are many types of fungi and can be broken down more into different categories. I'm just going to talk about the general fungus and that is normally a white cottony looking stuff that will infect an open wound. This again is a bacterial infection and needs immediate attention.

Fish constipation

This will happen to your goldfish at some time in its life. Most goldfish are compacted and this causes a problem with there ability to eat and digest things well. Foods high in fat can cause a goldfish to get stopped up just like you and I. Goldfish need green foods from time to time to help digest their foods better. Peas are the best food for them and acts as a mild laxative.

Fish dropsy

I'm not going to get into detail about this and there are people out there that can explain this better than I. Dropsy is a bacterial infection that infects the fish from the inside and you will see the scales sticking out from the goldfish's body. Normally when you see this stage of it the goldfish will most likely not live for much longer.

Fish pop eye
The fishes eye is bulging out of the socket. This is normally the first signs of Dropsy. You can stop it with meds.

Fish anchor worm

A white stick like worm will be sticking out of the goldfish with a red ring where it is attached. The fish normally will be rubbing against anything to get rid of it.

Fish fish lice
This is not a pretty thing to look at, once you see it on your fish you will know what I mean. It's a greenish disk shape creature about 1/5 of an inch wide and attaches itself to the goldfish. The goldfish will be rubbing up against anything to get it off. You will also see red spots where the fish louse was. There is ways of getting rid of them but you must to it fast cause they do reproduce quickly. You can remove them from the fish manualy, then treat the tank for the ones you dont see