Pet Fish Health Problems and Treatments

It is worth getting to know the basic anatomy of a fish in case you need to describe an injury or disease symptom to a veterinarian or dealer; if you know the names of the external parts of the body it will help you to pinpoint the problem more accurately. Another reason is that hooks often describe the shapes of fishes and if you know which particular fins or parts of the body they are referring to, you will have a basic idea of what the fish looks like even without seeing an illustration or photograph.

The majority of fish diseases are caused through stress. So how are fish put under stress? Sad to say, most fish are put under stress by their owners or visitors to the house. People tapping on the front glass,temperatures being allowed to rise and fall, or a poor mixture of fish in which one or two are bullies and the others are bullied all contribute to stress. If fish are not put under these types of stress, then the chances of them contracting disease are dramatically reduced. Look for signs of stress in the tank on a regular basis. Are the fish nervous? Is one fish chasing all the others about? Does the temperature fluctuate or does it stay too low? If you can remedy these situations diseases will occur much less frequently.

Fish will always show symptoms of disease at an early stage. Signs to look for include fish holding their fins tightly clamped to the body(often referred to as being 'closed up'), fish swimming with the head near to the surface all the time, fish swimming with the head up or down, loss of co lour, ragged fins, scales sticking out or dropping off,and a general loss of appetite and condition.