Bacterial Infections Suck

[vancouver]

So within about 48 hours, my favorite gold severum went from being totally normal, to dead.

2 days ago I noticed it hiding, and it had some finnage missing. I assumed that it was in a fight with my chocolate cichlid, so I left it in the tank, thinking it was just sulking.

Yesterday, it was on it's side, fins look even worse, so I decided to take it out.

Turns out, it's stomach is quite red.. I would guess a bacterial infection.. Anyways, it died overnight..

This is only the 2nd time I've seen one of my fish deteriorate so quickly.

My question is - how can I avoid these horrible bacterial infections?

It's pretty obvious to me that they cannot be treated, so how can I avoid them in the first place?

 

[WILDER]

Red bellies is septicemia, blood poisoning.R.I.P.Look under septicemia.http/www.goldfishinfo.com/ailment2.htm#sepsis

 

[vancouver]

Yep.. definitely sounds like it..

This would be the 2nd time I've had a fish die from that.

''Caused by dirty water''.. OH I HATE SEEING THAT.

Totally my fault I guess.. didn't think I was being lazy on the water changes, but I guess 2 weeks was too long.

OH what a bummer.. that fish had come a long way. Bought it when it was like 1'' long.. was about 6'' when it died.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Usually they put the line "caused by dirty water" in to refer to poor water quality, which is seen with a lot of fish illnesses. Consider how many newbies come here with dramatically over stocked, uncycled tanks. Its a recipe for disaster. Its not the overcrowding that kills the fish, its the illnesses that spring up, from a weakened immune system due to the stress of the bad water.