These two examples highlight the need to know your fish! Know\nyour fish starts before you have even purchased them from your aquatic store.\nWhen you read up on the potential size, feeding and water quality requirements\nof any potential new fish, try to also seek information about the natural\nappearance of the fish at different stages of their life cycle and their\nnatural \u2018normal\u2019 behaviour. Kribensis cichlids (Pelvicachromis pulcher<\/em>)\nfor example show a markedly red belly at spawning time, this could be mistaken\nfor bacterial erythrema. Clown loaches (Chromobotia macracanthus<\/em>), are\nnotorious for the eccentric behaviours. Youtube has a wealth of videos of\nhealthy aquarium and pond fish, so these days we can see not only normal\nappearance but normal behaviour too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon acquiring your fish, you should familiarise yourself\nwith the individuals natural appearance and its behaviour. In the first few\ndays in the tank, your new fish are likely to be very timid and may decline\nfeeding, however as they settle most common freshwater aquarium inhabitants\nwill venture out into the tank and respond to feeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice the swimming patterns of your fish, how quickly they\neat food and the method of food intake. Feeding time offers an excellent time\nfor a brief visual healthcheck of your fishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, as stressed above, we must be familiar with\n\u2018normal\u2019 appearance and behaviour of healthy fish in order to recognise\n\u2018abnormal\u2019 and thus potential ill health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abnormal signs to look out for can be split into behavioural\nand morphological deviations from the accepted \u2018normal\u2019 state of your fish. Behavioural\nindicators of ill health include gasping for air at the water surface, a common\nsign of gill disease or water quality problems in most fishes \u2013 in air\nbreathing fishes such as the Lungfish this is perfectly normal behaviour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Changes in the swimming activity are a sure sign of\npotential ill health. If a normally active fish ceases swimming activity,\nbecoming lethargic and swimming only when disturbed, then this is a strong\nindicator of ill health. For sedentary carnivorous fishes, this is again a\ncommon \u2018normal\u2019 behaviour. Fish infected by skin parasites or irritated by\ncertain water pollutants, will flick and scratch against objects in the\naquarium or pond. Erratic darting motion instead of smooth swimming is often\nseen in small tropical aquarium fishes when they are infected by internal\nparasites or bacteria. These affect the swimbladder and occasionally the\nneuromuscular systems, which has an affect on posture and locomotory activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming an abnormal posture, such as a lopsided gait or even\nfully upside-down, is usually a sign of a swimbladder problem, a common\ncomplaint in fancy aquarium goldfish. The same problems can also cause the fish\nto lose its normal neutral buoyancy, and they either sink or rise when at rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A fish that normally feeds voraciously, refusing food is a\nsure sign of ill health. As in all fish health problems, the first thing to\ncheck is that the water quality is within the preferred limits of the fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As can be seen we must carefully observe our fishes when\nthey are healthy in order to recognise behavioural changes shown when they are\nsick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same is true for the external appearance of the fish,\nfamiliarise yourself with its colours, body contours and finnage. External\nsigns of disease are all some deviation from the normal condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If a fish\u2019s skin is irritated either by pollutant in the\nwater such as ammonia, or by infection with a skin parasite, the first response\nthe fish will show, (In addition to the flicking and scratching mentioned\nabove), is overproduction of mucous. The mucous layer is highly protective and\nthe fish increases its production when the skin is irritated. This\noverproduction of skin mucous makes the fish\u2019s colours look duller and it\nassumes a grey hazy appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most external parasite infections cause generalised\nsymptoms, one however, known as white spot, causes a very recognisable\ncondition. As the name suggests, infection of the skin with the white spot\nparasite causes the fish to develop tiny white pimples over its body. The white\nspots are around 1mm in diameter, they tend to develop on the fins first before\nprogressing over the body as the infection proceeds. Scaleless fishes such as\nClown Loach are highly susceptible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another very recognisable condition is finrot, although\nthere are many possible causes. The fins of a healthy fish should be complete,\nsymmetrical and of a uniform consistency. During finrot the skin between the\nbony fin rays rots away leaving the fish with decaying tissue where the fins\nused to be. If the cause of the finrot is identified and treated, the fins\nrapidly grow back. Finrot is caused either by water pollution, most commonly\nextremes of pH or ammonia poisoning. Infection with certain types of bacteria\ncan also cause the problem. The delicate tissue of the mouth is also prone to a\nsimilar necrosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bacterial infection can also cause large open sores on the\nskin of the fish called ulcers. These are very damaging and must be treated\nearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many internal problems can manifest themselves with external\nsymptoms. Damage to the muscle around the spine, or vertebral deformity can\nlead to spinal bending, here the fishes spine assumes a pronounced curvature\nand swimming is often affected. There are many causes of spinal damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Infection or damage to the delicate tissue behind the eye\ncan lead to swelling which pushes the eye outwards \u2013 a condition known as\nexophthalmia or pop-eye. Often in these circumstances the fluid in the eye will\nturn cloudy also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognition of disease in fish involves knowing what your\nfish look like, how they swim, feed, interact, and behave. It is only when we\ntruly know our fish can we begin to recognise the early signs of an ill health\nproblem. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In order to recognise a poorly fish, we must first know what a fish looks like and how it behaves when healthy. We can only recognise the \u2018abnormal\u2019 when we know what is normal. For example, a goldfish keeper may become concerned about the presence of small white spots on the gill covers and pectoral […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221,163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disease","category-fish"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/iStock-1193648534-1.jpg\")
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