Freshwater

232
Part III: Water, Chemicals, and Plants
Fish Problems
Most fish problems can be cured if you take time to check your fish out on a
daily basis in order to catch illness, aggression, equipment malfunctions and
feeding problems early. Here are some common problems and what to do.
Check daily to see if your fish have
Torn, clamped or ragged fins
Missing scales
Cloudy eyes
Unusual white spots or body fungus
These are signs that you need to take immediate action (see Chapter 11 for
details on treating disease in freshwater fish).
What to do until the pet store opens
Put the ill fish in a hospital tank for treatment (see Chapter 11). If you don’t
have chemicals on hand, keep the lights on the hospital tank off to reduce
stress.
Restoring your tank
Make sure your fish remain disease free for two weeks after treatment before
returning them to the tank.
Separating fighting fish
There is no way to guarantee 100 percent compatibility between two fish
until they are placed together. Spats do break out from time to time. If they
happen too often, immediately remove the most aggressive fish by adding
food to the tank to lure it to the top so you can net it. Another option is to
have a Plexiglas insert handy to separate the two fish into opposite sides of
the tank until one can be netted.