Freshwater

Cause: Parasites or poor water conditions.
Treatment: There are no known commercially packaged medications to treat
or cure this disease. The only thing you can do to help is to improve the
aquarium’s water conditions with frequent changes. It may also be beneficial
to add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water to help with
osmoregulation (the control of the levels of water and mineral salts in the
blood).
Check and adjust all water conditions (pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates)
with test kits to make sure that they remain within proper ranges.
Septicemia
Symptoms: Redness at the base of the fins followed by blood streaks that
appear on the fins and body. Other symptoms include hemorrhage, loss of
appetite, and listlessness. This disease usually follows fin rot or skin infections.
Septicemia often results in major heart damage and blood vessel problems.
These complications can in turn lead to fluid leakage in the abdomen,
which in some cases causes dropsy.
Cause: Pseudomonas or streptococcus bacteria inflames body tissues made
susceptible by a skin infection.
Treatment: Antibacterial Furan2 or Triple Sulfa. Change the water every 24 to
36 hours.
Skin flukes
Symptoms: Inflamed skin; excessive mucus coating (your fish looks like it
was baptized in Vaseline); scratching.
Cause: Gyrodactylus.
Chapter 11: Diseases and Treatments
Treatment: Proprietary medication with labeling recommending for skin
flukes.
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