I have a fishtank and my fish looks like it's sick, what do I do?

I receive a fair amount of email from people asking what to do if their fish appears to be ill.  Most of these problems are completely preventable and/or treatable.  I've created a simple question/answer format that will hopefully help common problems and what I suggest as treatment.  As always, if you have specific questions, please feel free to email me personally at askmissfishy@gmail.com (this email is forwarded to my personal email so I will respond within 24 hrs or sooner, please add a subject line).

• QUESTION:  My fish is listless, lying on its side, floating at the top, not swimming properly, gulping for air, or my fish are dying one by one.

• ANSWER:  Your entire tank is likely suffering from what is called "Ammonia Poisoning".  This happens when a tank has not been properly cycled (Please see the "Cycling a Tank" page).  Basically, your tank does not have the proper "good" bacteria in it to sustain your fish.  The good bacteria is needed to help "eat" your fishes' poop/waste, if that good bacteria hasn't had a chance to grow in your tank by cycling it, your fish are essentially swimming in poop (which is ammonia) and it is killing them.  The ammonia builds up over time and as your fish poop more and more.  Your fish may have been fine a week or two ago when you first put them into the tank but as the ammonia levels have built up, your fish are slowly dying a painful death.  What can you do to help or save them?  The very first thing that needs to be done, IMMEDIATELY, is to get your water tested.  To do this I suggest going to the fish store and buying a drop test kit to test your water for ammonia.  If the ammonia level is above 1.0 ppm, you have found your problem.  The immediate solution is to do a massive water change.  Make sure when you do this that you are matching water temperatures and adding water conditioner to the water before you add it to your tank.  Wait 20 minutes, then retest your water with your new test kit.  If your ammonia levels were high to begin with, you may need to repeat this water change process several times until the levels get below 1.0 ppm, this is a huge pain in the butt and very tedious, but your whole tank can fail if you don't get down to business, not to mention your fish are suffering.  I suggest testing your water daily for ammonia levels and doing water changes as needed.  Please refer further to the Cycling a Tank page for more information on when this daily testing can stop (if you have or know someone with an established tank, you may even be able to "seed" your tank).  I do not suggest buying any of the many products on the market that say they "neutralize" ammonia, etc.  In my opinion they are a waste of money and some can even throw off your test readings.  A good water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramines from your tap water is all that is necessary.

• QUESTION:  My fish has/have white specks on their bodies and/or fins.

• ANSWER: This is commonly called "ich".  It is essentially little bugs that have infested your tank.  They go through a lifecycle that lasts about 14 days.  During those 14 days they live on the body of their host fish, the water, and on the ornaments and/or gravel of the tank.  It is highly contagious, so if one fish in your tank has it, all other fish are likely infected so quarantining just the sick fish won't be helpful.  It generally happens in new tanks or tanks that have just added new fish to the mix.  There are lots of ich medicines on the market.  However, many of these are either wastes of money or cause more problems than they fix.  My suggestion for treatment is to slowly raise the temperature of the water in the tank to about 85-86 degrees.  Ich can not survive at this temperature.  Leave the temperature at this level for at least 14 days so the ich at every lifecycle are killed.  Salt is sometimes suggested but it is not necessary and some fish are sensitive to salt in their water.  Heat is the best treatment method and has few side effects.  Ich can be deadly so should be dealt with immediately whenever it arises.

• QUESTION:  My fish is bloated.

• ANSWER:  A bloated fish can have many causes. 

  • The first most common is overfeeding.  A fishes' stomach is the size of a pinhead, very tiny.  In the wild a fish may not eat for several days at a time so when a captive fish sees any food, it is inclined to eat as much as possible.  This is why I recommend small feedings every other day.  Fish food containers will suggest feeding twice a day or more, this is mainly a ploy to get you to buy more fish food and is not necessary.  Fish fry have different feeding needs, check out the "Fry Rearing" section for information on how to properly rear fish fry.

  • A second cause can be the fish is unable to poop and has a blockage.  This can be deadly.  I find this happens most often with bettas, but can definitely happen with any type of fish.  This can be hard to treat.  The basic remedy is to attempt to feed the fish a cooked inner pea piece to dislodge the blockage.  To do this, simply cook a few peas in the microwave.  "Skin" the pea and rip the inner pea into small pieces and feed to fish.  Then all you can do is wait.  This problem will sometimes clear up and sometimes not. 

  • A third cause could be what is called "dropsy".  This is a common fish ailment that is a bladder issue usually resulting in death and has no real cure.  It usually begins with the fish having a distended/bloated stomach.  The fishes' scales will then begin to "pinecone".  This can be determined by viewing the fish from above the water.  If the scales appear to be sticking out.   This is a typical sign of dropsy.  Dropsy is not contagious so moving the sick fish is not necessary.  It is common in danios, barbs, and bettas but can happen in any fish.  There are suggestions that say to let the fish soak in salt water (the right kind of salt, otherwise you'll kill it!) to pull some of the water out of the fish that is making it bloat, but I have not seen any success with this method and think it causes the fish more stress than help.  I suggest providing a quiet environment for the fish to see if it will make it.  If it appears the fish is suffering and has no chance for recovery, you can consider putting it out of its misery (see below).

• QUESTION:  My fish has something sticking out of it, fuzzy patches, a cut, scrape, or is missing an eye.

• ANSWER:  Your fish will likely be fine unless the damage is extensive.  The first thing is to remove any sharp objects in the tank that may have injured the fish, this includes any fish that may be picking at it.  An open scratch or sore can easily become infected.  I suggest immediately raising the temperature in the tank to 80-82 and adding Melafix to the tank if you want.  This should prevent infection and allow the fish to heal quickly.  If your fish has something sticking out of it or fuzzy patches, this can stem from fungal infections or an internal parasite.  In this instance you should consider Pimafix and raising the temperature of the tank.  A fish that is missing an eye will be fine, take proper precautions to make sure it doesn't become infected while it is healing.  A fish with one eye can easily function normally but take care to make sure whatever caused the original injury is removed from the tank.  If it is a sharp object remove it, if it is another fish, separate them.

• QUESTION:  My fish is weak, getting caught on the filter, or getting really skinny.

• ANSWER: I find this happens a lot with livebearers.  Platies and guppies seem to almost "waste away" to nothing before they pass away for good.  There's really nothing you can do.  Livebearers have a lifespan of about 2 years max and when you get them from the store fullsize, they're usually already about 6 months + old, so if you can keep them for a year or more in your own tank, that's about their lifespan.  If a fish is getting caught on a filter intake, that is a sign the fish is ill.  A healthy fish is strong enough to swim against a filter current.  I would first suggest checking the ammonia level in the water.

• QUESTION:  My fishes' fins are rotting away.

• ANSWER: This is another common problem, it's called "fin rot".  The main cause of this is poor water conditions.  This is easily treated.  Simply raise the temperature of the tank to about 80, add some Melafix and/or Pimafix if you want, and check your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and do the appropriate water changes.  This can be fatal if you let it go too long and it is contagious, however, it is easily treatable.

• QUESTION:  My fish doesn't look like it's going to make it and is suffering, what can I do to put it out of its misery? (fish euthanasia)

• ANSWER:  This is a tough decision to make and the taking of another living things life shouldn't be taken lightly.  I tend to provide comfort care for my fish in a stable, quiet, non-stressful environment until they pass.  If you feel differently, there are a few options I will share and their positives and negatives. 

• Clove Oil/Vodka - The most highly recommended method of humane fish euthanasia is clove oil and vodka.  Clove oil can be found at your local health food or grocery store.  The method involves putting the fish to sleep first with clove oil, then introducing vodka.  Take a cup of the tank water and mix with a few drops of clove oil.  Add the sick or injured fish to the cup and wait 10 minutes until it is lying on the bottom "asleep".  If it doesn't fall asleep, add more clove oil.  Next add about 25% of the mixture amount in vodka.  Let the fish sit in this mixture for 20-30 minutes.  After this time, watch carefully for gill movement.  If there is no gill movement for 60 seconds, the fish has passed.  Here is a more detailed explanation: 

• Freezing - This involves bringing water to a freezing temperature without freezing the water itself.  Put the water in the freezer and monitor until it is almost frozen, usually when just the surface has frozen, a shallow Tupperware container works best for this.  Bring the water to near freezing, bring to the side of the tank.  Scoop the fish out of the tank quickly and drop into the ice cold water.  The fish should die quickly.  Mind you, this technique only works for tropical fish, not goldfish or other coldwater species.  Personally, I question how humane this method really is as the fish doesn't die immediately when it hits the ice water.

  • Blending - Another method is by blending.  This can be done with a blender.  Simply take the ill fish and put in a spinning blender.  I've also heard of people using garbage disposals for this.  Again, I question this treatment.  If the fish misses the blender and only has a tail or fin chopped off then just lies in the bottom of a blender or disposal beneath the blades, the fishes' suffering is greatly increased.  I don't personally recommend this method as it is messy, can be dangerous, and worst it can be ineffective.

  • Decapitation - You can also do a bang the head or decapitate.  This is exactly what it sounds like, you put the fish on a cutting board and either chop the head off or bang it with a rock.  Not for the faint of heart.  I'm not a fan of this one either as I think putting a flopping fish on a cutting board would be hard to pull off with any accuracy.

  • Flushing -  Do NOT, I repeat do NOT "flush" a live fish down the toilet as a form of euthanasia.  This does NOT kill a fish immediately.  When you flush a fish down the toilet, the fish goes through the water pipes and eventually ends up the same place your own waste goes.  A flushed fish goes through a slow and painful chemical and physical death during this process and it is NOT a humane way to kill a fish.  I have no qualms against flushing dead fish as a disposal method.

There are many other ailments that can afflict fish that aren't covered here.  There are also many other medicines on the market.  A popular option is Maracyn, however, I don't recommend using these unless you know what you're doing, what you're treating, and how to use it properly and effectively.  I've used these methods for treating my fish for years and these are my suggestions on fish care.

One of my Von Rio Tetras had this growth in its side.  It didn't make it.