This is just my understanding on the subject of preventive measures on fish deseases- I think the best preventative measure against desease is keeping the tank clean on a regular basis and giving the fish the care they need like good healthy, varied diet and ideal habitat
- using meds, no matter how strong they are, constantly in the tank in the long run can actually weaken the imune systems of the fish.
In a natural habitat or normal healthy tank, deseases and bacteria are often always present in the tank water (just like in our habitats/environments, we encounter harmful and beneficial bacteria everyday of our lives) but not in strong or large enough quantities to worry the fish.
This also helps keep their imune system strong- when not exposed to small quantities of deseases though every now and then the imune system weakens (if you never went out doors and lived in a pristine bacteria-free environment, your imune system would not be very strong and you would be more likely to get badly ill even by a common Cold when you would otherwise not). Using chemicals in the tank all the time to control desease is not nesarsary or natural.
When symptoms arise in a fish though, this is a sign that the fishs imune system is not coping with the particular desease it is fighting, so this is when you should use meds to help the fish out.
Stress weakens a fishes ability to fend deseases, and getting ridding of stressful situations or conditions in your tank is the best way to keep your fish happy and healthy
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The best preventitive measures i can advise you against all this desease and parasite buisness are;
a. Provide your fish with the best habitat posible. I often see people looking after their fish well in every respect apart from providing a habitat suitable for them- so while a dwarf gourami loves a heavily planted tank to dwell in, a neon tetra is going to want some big open areas to shoal with its buddies in, while a cory is going to want some sand substrate to filter through rather than bulky rough gravel etc.
b. Avoid stocking your tank to the max if you can- plenty of people do this, some people even feel they need to this, but in my experience i have enjoyed my fish best when my tanks have been stocked the least and my fish have the most room to swim about in. Think about it this way- would you be happier living your entire life in a 12ft by 12ft room with 10 other people, or in a 20ft by 20ft room with just 8 other people?
c. Always meet your fishes compatability needs- don't take risks with stocking incompatible or risky/tempermental fish with each other.
d. Do regular suitably-sized once weekly water changes, clean your substrate and filter properly too. A clean tank is much better than a not-so-clean tank. The tank doesn't need to look tidy, you just need to make sure you are keeping up hygene levels in the tank properly- water quality issues or less-than-clean conditions are one of the most common causes of desease in fish.
e. Feed your fish a suitable, varied and healthy diet- if you fish is a herbivore, feed it lots of suitable fresh veg or algae. If your fish is an insectivore, make sure you feed it lots of critters like bloodworms and dahpinia. If your fish is an ominvore, make sure you feed it a bit of everything etc
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If you are stuck doing the daily fish flake routine, check out some of the threads here as there are many people that will be able to give you advise or info on feeding a varied diet for your fish.
f. Quarentine fish if you can- not everyone has the luxuary of a quarentine or hospital tank, but IMHO (in my honest opinion) they are well worth it
. Before i got a quarentine tank, almost of the fish deseases i encountered had been brought in by new fish to the aquarium.
Sometimes you will buy a fish that looks perfectly healthy, but has just recently been infected and the symptoms have not begun to show yet...A 2week quarentine period is usually more than enough for most deseases or parasites to show their unpleasant symptoms.
g. Test your tank for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates (and ph) on a regular basis- its always best to know these things and be on the safe side than be in the dark about such stats in your tank.
h. Keep your tank away from noisey areas in your house and make sure the room doesn't get too hot (making the tank temp rise beyond control). Don't keep your tank lights on too long per day. Don't let people tap/bang the tank or do it yourself- in general, just make sure your fish have an interesting but not stressful habitat and life
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