Preventing disease
Quite a few aquarists routinely treat their fish against various health problems or even retort to constantly keeping the
salinity level high in their freshwater aquarium just to prevent outbreaks of certain contagious diseases. The problem with
such an approach is that keeping a fish in a suboptimal salinity level and exposing it to various treatments will weaken it
in the long run. If you want to keep thriving fish instead of barely surviving fish, prevention is a much better solution than
continuous use of salt and disorganized emergency treatments.
Here are a few suggestions that can decrease the risk of disease in your aquarium.
1. Keep your fish in an optimal environment, i.e. optimal water temperature, optimal salinity, optimal pH-value, low
levels of organic waste, and so on. Always read up on all species you plan on keeping and do not combine species
with dissimilar preferences.
2. Avoid stress in the aquarium by including suitable hiding spots and keeping bullies in check. Do not combine
aggressive fish with species that can’t fend for themselves, fin-nippers with delicate long-finned fish and so on.
3. Feed your fish a balanced, nutritious and varied diet. Read up on each species to learn more about its preferred
diet. Don't assume that all manufactured fish foods are the same or suitable for all fish.
4. Always quarantine new organisms in quarantine tanks before they are allowed to enter the aquarium. You need to
quarantine even healthy looking fish, because many diseases take time to manifest and are contagious long before
you can notice any symptoms of poor health.
5. Sterilise all new items before placing them in the aquarium, e.g. by cleaning them with bleach. (Keep in mind that
most detergents are unsuitable for aquarium use.)
Try to prevent nasty organisms getting a foothold rather than rely on medicines