FTC Disclosure: Fishpondinfo contains affiliate links, and, if you click on such a link and make a purchase, and I meet their minimal requirements, then I will be compensated.

Home Animal Index Fish Index Pond Index Master Index Contact
Free
Pond Newsletter Message
Board Pond Book Calculator
Donate Interactive Fishpondinfo Stores Pond
Showcase Guestbook

Robyn's Fish Health Page

Last Updated: 7/2/10

This is a dead goldfish on 10/14/01 from my 1800 gallon pond. For more information on this case and a few other sick and injured fish I have had recently, see the page on photos.

Animated Bubbles

Dealing with the scourges of tanks and ponds.

The health pages are now on six separate pages!

Health Index:

Health Page One (this page):

Health Page Two:

Health Page Three:

Health Page Four:

Health Page Five - Photos of Sick and Injured Fish:

- now moved to this new page and divided into seven pages

Health Page Six:

This page is under construction and is intended to be a sort of flow chart on fish health and problems.

Health Information on Other Pages on Fishpondinfo.com:

Please note that fish diseases are not one of my fortes so if you have questions, it may be better to ask aquarists at other web sites.

Hurray! I finally divided this page into six pages on 7/9/04. I hope to eventually re-read it all, update, and enlarge this fish health pages.

Health and Quarantining

There are too many fish health concerns to go over. There are dozens of species of bacteria, viruses, funguses, protozoans, insects, arachnids, fungi, cancers, and other critters that can harm and/or kill fish. Refer to a good book like the Manual of Fish Health or ask on a newsgroup (see the fish source page) about specific problems. There are two keys to preventing this. First, quarantine all new fish for at least two weeks. Watch for any problems. As a precaution, I treat them with a general parasite killer for a few days. Do not do this with sensitive fish like cories. It killed some of my white cloud mountain minnows too. Second, do regular partial water changes and filter cleanings. Keep an eye on water chemistry, fish behavior, etc. If something does come up, there are hundreds of medications on the market. Before using one at full dose, give it at half dose for a day or so. Some medications in some waters are more toxic to some fish. I have lost more fish to medications than to the problem for which I was treating. For example, penicillin once wiped out about 15 fish out of 18. In this case, the antibiotic probably killed all the good bacteria, and the fish died of ammonia poisoning in less than a day. That tank was a bit overcrowded too. Some fish, like catfish, cannot take large concentrations of copper and other medications. I have lost cory habrosus and otocinclus to medications as well as "hardy" guppies. But, I have had good experiences, like a heavily fungused goldfish recovering with medication. In my experience, the "cure" is often worse than the disease.

Health Books

I have this health book which is very good:
The Manual of Fish Health by Dr. Chris Andrews, et. al., Tetra Press, 1988.

As a member of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club, I received the following small book:
AKCA Guide to Koi Health by various authors, The Associated Koi Clubs of America, 2000.

Here is a new fish health book that is out:

Health Links

Koi Health and Disease Information - the Koi Vet, the information also pertains to goldfish in most cases

Puregold: Diseases of Fish

The Ultimate Potassium Permanganate FAQ

Fishdoc.net - "The Home of Fish Health" [Despite that, there is not an easy way to find information on the site. It is more a collection of articles and questions and answers.]

Online Diagnostic Assistance Programme - put in the problems, and it guesses the problem. Their main site, PondRX.com, sells medications for fish.

Goldfishvet.com - part of the Koi Vet group of web sites but this page is geared specifically to goldfish. You can learn a lot about fish health for other species as well because the diseases, parasites, etc. are the same no matter the victim.

Pandora's Aquarium - this page has fish disease information, lots of photos, and links

Fish Diagram - this chart (really a drawing of a fish with problems) shows the various diseases a fish might have and where on the body they might be. That one is of a koi. This chart is of a clown loach for tropical aquarium fish. They have slight differences.

Freshwater Disease Guide


Pet Link Banner Exchange:



There have been 51,181,002 file views (file views since 2006, page views before that) to Fishpondinfo from December 1, 2003 through August 17, 2019 (stats lost after that).
Page copy protected
against web site content infringement by Copyscape


Like Fishpondinfo
on Facebook Follow Fishpondinfo on
Twitter

E-mail Robyn

Copyright © 1997-2024 Robyn Rhudy

Follow Fishpondinfo on
You Tube Follow Fishpondinfo on Instagram