How to treat effectively common goldfish diseases

GOLDFISH DISEASES How to Treat effectively Common Goldfish Diseases

EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR COMMON GOLDFISH DISEASES Your goldfish aren’t acting the way they should. What should you do?  First, remove the sick goldfish.  Unless the whole tank is infected, quarantine sick goldfish and place them in a hospital tank. This will make treating common goldfish diseases much easier. As mentioned earlier, you don’t want to treat healthy fish unnecessarily.

Doing so can cause your goldfish stress (and stress should always be avoided whenever possible).  If the goldfish disease is contagious, like white spot disease and most parasite infections, you can safely treat the infected aquarium without quarantining your fish. Of course, especially sick goldfish can still be placed in a hospital tank for special treatment if they’re in pretty bad shape.  After your goldfish are quarantined, you’re ready to begin treatment. Let’s take a brief look at 7 of the most common goldfish diseases that impact aquariums and ponds.

GOLDFISH DISEASE #1: WHITE SPOT DISEASE (ICH) Very common in aquariums, white spot disease usually affects new goldfish that are stressed out after a long car ride (or shipment) home.  Causes of Ich – White spot disease is caused by ich parasites in the water. These parasites attack stressed out goldfish with lowered immune systems, especially recently purchased fish.

Anything that causes stress can make your goldfish susceptible to common goldfish diseases, so keep your aquarium water healthy and avoid drastically changing water temperatures. 

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Ich Symptoms – If your goldfish are covered with what appear to be small grains of salt, the aquarium is probably infested with ich. Goldfish with white spot disease will also breathe heavily and scratch themselves against tank objects, even the aquarium walls.

Slowly raise the temperature of your aquarium water to 86 °F (30 °C). Do this over a 48-hour time period, raising the temperature in small increments (2 °F/1 °C every hour) to give your goldfish time to adjust to the heat (and prevent shock). High temperatures will stop ich parasites from reproducing (source).

Maintain high oxygen levels. As the temperature rises, water won’t be able to hold dissolved oxygen as well (source). Oxygenate the water by reducing the water level (this will boost surface area agitation from your filter), aiming power heads towards the surface of the water, or placing a few extra air stones (or ornaments with embedded air stones) into the water.

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Add salt (optional). Use salt specifically for freshwater fish rock salt not iodize. Follow the directions on the back of the container for best results. I like to use rock Salt it really works great on white spot disease. Simply add 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) for every 5 gallons (19 liters) of aquarium water. Many specialists also recommend 1 teaspoon per gallon instead.

Keep your water temperature at a steady 86 °F (30 °C) for 10 days, changing the water every couple of days. While ich symptoms are visible, change 25% of the water every two days to keep oxygen levels up and remove excess parasites (adding the appropriate dose of aquarium salt after each water change). Wait 3 to 5 days after the last signs of white spot disease and reduce water temperatures once you’re sure all ich parasites are gone.

Gradually reduce the water temperature back to 65 °F (18 °C). By this time, your goldfish should be swimming around happily in an ich-free environment. Do one last 25% water change and continue your water changes on a weekly basis as usual.

GOLDFISH DISEASE #2: FLOATING PROBLEMS (SWIM BLADDER DISEASE) 

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Fancy goldfish are commonly observed with buoyancy problems, and sometimes these floating problems will be incorrectly termed as swim bladder disease. Often, floating issues aren’t caused by a swim bladder problem at all and instead a result of other common goldfish diseases.

Causes of Floating Problems – Your goldfish might experience floating problems if they are overfed, fed poor quality food, or not fed enough fiber. Dry floating pellets can sometimes cause fancy goldfish problems when the pellets absorb liquids and expand in the digestive tract. Constipated goldfish or goldfish with excess internal gas may also experience difficulty swimming. Genetic floating problems can even occur after a spawning (in this case, there is no treatment).

Floating Symptoms – If you notice your goldfish swimming erratically, swimming sideways, or even swimming upside down, your goldfish are having buoyancy problems. Goldfish may also look physically swollen or bloated.