Introduction

When you don’t know much about diseases and you see white spots appearing on your fish, you may think it’s end-game. Lucky for us, there are many inexpensive medicines made just for fish these days, and if you can catch the symptoms early on, most can be gotten rid of in a few days or less. It’s important to act quickly as it can spread to all members of your tank in a short amount of time. Read on for a list of common diseases you may have seen (or may see in the future) and how to treat them, with pictures.

Ich

This disease is a tiny parasite called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, also known as ick, freshwater ich, and freshwater white spot disease. It can be identified by white spots the size of salt or sugar granules up to 1mm in size on the gills, fins, and body of a fish. Each spot is a parasite, and if untreated has a very high death rate. It can be hard to see it at first if there are only a few spots, but the more there are, the more dangerous. This is a disease I’ve had to treat on my fish about 3 times when I was starting out as a kid, because I made the mistake of rescuing a Pleco and a Gourami from Wal-Mart. (Side note, NEVER BY FISH FROM WAL-MART.) Fortunately, there are many medicines you can find in your local pet shop which treat ich and often other ailments as well in one bottle, but you should always check the label and ask a trusted employee if there is copper in it, as these can be harmful to some species of fish and snails.

Velvet

This disease is caused by a dinoflagellate parasite and can be hard to notice. Also referred to as Gold Dust Disease because of the golden-dusty appearance it has on the fish. Unlike Ich, this parasite usually starts on the gills of the fish. A fish with Velvet may rub itself on hard objects (this is called “flashing” by many aquarists) and breathing may appear to be more difficult. Like Ich, Velvet can be treated with medicine. There are medicines available which don’t contain copper but they are less effective. It’s important to catch this in it’s early stages.

Fin Rot

Fin Rot

This can be a bacterial infection or a fungal infection. The main difference is the bacterial infection rots the fin more raggedly than the fungal infection, but both can be equally deadly. The infection begins on the fins and basically gradually eats away the tissue until it gets to the fish’s body. The fin tissue can eventually regenerate but the fish’s body cannot. Fin Rot can be treated with medicine the same as Ich and Velvet, but it’s best to do your research so you can find the most effective and safe type for your fish and other invertebrates.

I have also heard of salt being used as a method of treatment but I haven’t used this myself, so I didn’t write about it.

If you have questions, comments, or advice of your own please feel free to use the box below to leave your two cents. I’m also interested in adding to this article and taking suggestions for other articles if there’s something you feel would be helpful for people to know. Thanks for reading!