Sick Fish

• Keeping a tank of freshwater fish can be a relaxing hobby. Just watching them swim from end to end can be very therapeutic and a great way to end a stressful day. But what happens if these fish start behaving strangely and get infected with disease?
  
  

Environmental Concerns

• Just like any other pet, freshwater fish must have their environment carefully managed. You can't just toss a few cichlids into a tank full of water and think they will survive just like they would in a river. A freshwater fish tank is a much smaller environment than their natural habitats; therefore, any change in the environment has a much greater impact, especially when it comes to fish diseases.
  
  

Chemical Imbalance

• Freshwater fish diseases can occur when there is a chemical imbalance in the fish tank. If something gets into the water and it isn't properly filtered, the fish will surely show signs of disease. Ammonia gets in the tank whenever fish move their bowels. This is perfectly natural. But ammonia poisoning can occur if there are too many creatures in the tank and it isn't being properly cleaned. Fish with ammonia poisoning will show inflamed gills or will try to reach the surface of the water to get more oxygen.
  
  Whenever you see small white spots on your fish, it is a sign of ich. Ich is a parasitic disease and can happen if your tank has a lot of dirty water. Velvet looks like ich but the spots are more grey than white. If your fish have cotton-like attachments on them, they have a fungal infection.
  
  

Prevention and Treatment

• Treating and preventing freshwater fish diseases may require some time and maintenance. The best form of freshwater fish disease prevention is to regularly change your water and perform tests. You could apply special medications into the water. Ich is a fairly common disease so finding meds for it won't be hard. Just make sure that your carbon filtration system is turned off or removed or else the medication will be filtered out before it gets a chance to work. To prevent ammonia poisoning, make sure you introduce new fish slowly and make sure that you don't fill your tank with extra hardy fish.