Freshwater Fish Disease and Treatment Chart

Sometimes, your freshwater fish will get sick. There are many reasons for sickness in your aquarium, but the most important thing is to diagnose the disease and get your fish healthy again.

Here is a chart that shows you what kind of disease your fish may have and possible treatments:

Bacterial Infection
Symptoms	Treatment
Thick white or reddish patches on the body of fish. Usually starts on the fins or tail as fin & tail rot.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn, Maracyn II, Maracyn-TC, Maroxy, Paraguard, Formalin, Triple Sulfa, Erythromycin, Melafix or Pimafix. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Furan-2, Maracyn II, Melafix or Pimafix. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Black Spot Disease (Parasite)
Symptoms	Treatment
Tiny round black spots in the skin of the fish. Often mistaken for normal coloring or genetic variations especially with Silver Dollar fish.	No treatment. Does little harm and usually disappears. Will die out of the aquarium in time.
Bloody Fins
Symptoms	Treatment
Red or bloody streaks in the fins. This is especially common with goldfish. Usually the result of poor water quality.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn-TC, Maroxy or >Maracyn + Melafix or + Pimafix + add an additional 1 TB of aquarium salt per each 5 gallons. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Maracyn + Melafix or + Pimafix. Can be related to poor diet, lack of plant/vegetable foods. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Consumption
Symptoms	Treatment
Very thin in the body, hollow belly, often with a humpback appearance.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Maracyn, Maracyn-TC. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Maracyn. Improve the diet, add a Vitamin & Mineral Pyramid. Note: This is sometimes a sign of old age with livebearers. Not normally curable but improved diet will help protect the other fishes, if the diet is the root of the problem.
Dropsy
Symptoms	Treatment
Protruding scales and swollen belly, often giving a "pine-cone" effect.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn II, Maroxy, Paraguard, Triple Sulfa Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Furan-2, Triple Sulfa or Maracyn II. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Eye Cloud
Symptoms	Treatment
White film over the eyes. Can be caused by poor water conditions or parasites.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Maracyn + one of the following: Maroxy, Formalin or Copper Safe. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Maracyn + Coppersafe. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Fin & Tail Rot
Symptoms	Treatment
Fins appear ragged or eaten away, may notice some redness.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn II, Maracyn-TC, Maroxy, Paraguard, Triple Sulfa, Melafix, Methylene Blue or Pimafix. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Maracyn II, Maracyn-TC, Melafix or Pimafix. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Flesh Worms (Yellow Grubs)
Symptoms	Treatment
Small round yellowish lumps under the skin of the fish or on the fins. Note: Not contagious to other fish. This parasite requires snails as an intermediate host to be able to infect other fishes in their environment.	No treatment. Does little harm and usually disappears. Will die out of the aquarium in time.
Fungus
Symptoms	Treatment
White or gray fluffy patches on the body, mouth and/or fins of the fish.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn-TC, Maracyn II, Maroxy, Paraguard, Triple Sulfa, Fungus Cure, Melafix, Methylene Blue or Pimafix. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Furan-2, Maracyn-TC, Maracyn II, Fungus Cure, Melafix or Pimafix. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Partial water change before & after treatment.
Gill Disease (Parasite)
Symptoms	Treatment
Gills on the fish hang partly open. Rapid or labored gill movement.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Clout, General Cure, PraziPro, Rid Ich+, Aqua Pro-Cure, or Formalin-MS. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Coppersafe. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Gourami Disease/Shimmy
Symptoms	Treatment
Fins are held close to the body of the fish. (Clamped Fins) Fish shake or rock back and forth while staying in the same place. Common with Gourami. Could be the first signs of a bacterial infection or velvet.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Rid Ich+, Paraguard or Formalin-MS, + add an additional 1 TB of aquarium salt per each 5 gallons. Aquarium with Tetra or scaleless fish: Rid Ich+, Paraguard or Formalin-MS. Aquarium with live plants: Formalin (with caution). Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Hole-in-the-Head/Lateral Line Disease
Symptoms	Treatment
Small holes on or around the head of the fish. Effecting cichlids but seen on other fish. Note: Do not mistake for normal pores on the head of most cichlids. Problems to look for are eroding of the pore or enlargement of pores on the head area.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Metro-MS or Aquazole. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Metro-MS or Aquazole. This can be a nutritional problem, add Vita Chem and fresh vegetables to the diet. Change water more frequently. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Ick
Symptoms	Treatment
Appears on the fins or body as white salt-like dots. Fish may be darting about and scratching on objects. Rapid breathing. Note: Usually the result of a sudden temperature change.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Rid Ich+, Maracide, Clout, Formalin-MS, Cupramine, Copper Safe, Aqua Pro-Cure, Super Ich Cure, Aquarisol, or Aquazole. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Aquarisol or Coppersafe. Formalin-MS with caution Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Neon Tetra Disease
Symptoms	Treatment
Erratic swimming behavior, and loss of color, the loss of the red stripe on a neon or cardinal tetra is a giveaway. Affected fish are generally small tetras, but can include danios and barbs.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Maracyn +Formalin-MS. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Maracyn +Formalin-MS. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Partial water change before and after treatment.
Pop Eye
Symptoms	Treatment
Protrusion of the eye from the socket. One or both eyes may protrude but no other obvious symptoms.	Use one of the following Medications. Dose as directed. Maracyn or Paraguard. Aquarium with Tetra or scaleless fish: Maracyn or Paraguard. Aquarium with live plants: Maracyn. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Swim Bladder Disease
Symptoms	Treatment
Fish swim erratically, may even swim or float upside down or on it’s side. Fancy varieties of goldfish seem prone to this condition. Most common cause is constipation.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn II, Maroxy, Paraguard or Maracyn-TC+ add an additional 1 TB of aquarium salt per each 5 gallons. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Furan-2, Maracyn-TC, or Maracyn II. Improving the diet with plant/vegetable foods may help. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change. Feed sinking foods.
Ulcers
Symptoms	Treatment
Red open sores which may start out as small raised lumps. Often follows a parasite infestation. Stress and poor water conditions can be other causes.	Use one of the following medications. Dose as directed. Furan-2, Maracyn II, Maroxy, Paraguard, Melafix or Pimafix. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants. Maracyn II, Melafix, or Pimafix. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.
Velvet
Symptoms	Treatment
Tiny white or yellowish-white spots, may often appear like a dusting or a velvet sheen. The fins are often clamped. Fish may be darting about and scratching on objects. Fish may "shimmy" in the water.	Use one of the following Medications. Dose as directed. Rid Ich+, Formalin-MS, Clout, Cupramine, Maracide, Aquarisol, Copper Safe or Malachite Green. Aquarium with Tetra, scaleless fish or live plants: Aquarisol or Coppersafe. Remove carbon/chemical media during treatment. Follow treatment with a partial water change.

Now that you know what your fish may have or, just as important, what your fish many not have, you can find a treatment. Getting your fish healthy again will provide for a much happier tank!

Comments

[Harold]

Excelant information

[Sharon]

I recently bought some fish at a nearby pet store. I made sure to chose them from tanks that did not have sick looking fish in them, but it got in despite my efforts. So far it has killed off some of the new fish, as well as all but one of the ones that were in the tank before. How can I be sure I am not buying from a diseased tank? The guarantee only covers fish that I purchased there, not healthy ones that were already in my tank.

[John Flynn]

If a physical inspection in the store does not show any signs of disease, you still may contaminate your aquarium if the fish you purchase are not healthy. We recommend a quarantine aquarium for any new fish to live in for up to 14 days before being introduced into your primary aquarium. That quarantine period is recommended whether you purchase fish locally, or whether you order them online from us.

[william]

I like this it helps a lot. but on some of the treatments it says to remove the charcoal. yet on my medication bottle it says it is not necessary,so which should I do?

[Kristen Sydelko]

Hi William -

I would follow the instructions on the bottle. As a long-standing general rule, carbon is removed before treating for illnesses because carbon pulls things out.

However, if your medication is telling you it is okay to leave the carbon in, then the carbon must not affect the treatment. If your instructions do not specify or tell you to remove the carbon, it would be a good idea to remove it.

[jessica]

well have had my 10 gallon take for about 3 months and i got a 20 gallon there are five fish in the 20 and two in the 10 my gourami out of no where became very fat and then my mini mouse platys fins are almost gone the parts that are there are clear and in my 20 my sword tail is black and orange and has white stuff on him and my black and white spotted molly keeps moving back and forth but not going any where and i also have a agle eatter that swims upside down and stays in the filter can some one please help me i really like my fish tanks but it seems like ever sence i put them up the have been giving me hell HELP HELP HELP HELP

[Kristen Sydelko]

Hi Jessica - Sorry not to see your comment earlier, but I would suggest calling our Fish Tech at 800-737-3868, as there are too many reasons why things could happen than there is room to type. Knowing more specifics can help our Fish Tech figure out a more direct reason for what is going on.