We’ve already established that fish get sick, so what are the signs of sick fish you should be on the lookout for? Signs of illness can be broken down into two categories: physical and behavioral.
Physical Signs of Sick Fish
These indicators of illness can be very easy to spot. Physical signs of disease include:
- Changes in coloration
- Bumps/lumps
- Asymmetrical body shape
- Misshapen fins
- Wounds
- Ulcers
- Etc, etc etc
Most of the times, these changes are fairly obvious, but especially in the case of coelomic tumors, subtle changes can be very hard to spot. Here are some examples of physical signs of disease:
Behavioral Signs of Sick Fish
Behavioral signs of disease are harder to spot. If you don’t check your fish out every day, these signs can be very difficult to spot. A 5-minute fish viewing session twice a day is recommended at bare minimum. Behavioral signs of disease include:
- Incorrect body position
- Negative/positive buoyancy
- Avoiding areas of tank/pond
- Hiding/unsocial (species-specific)
- Swimming behavior
- Flashing
- Non-seasonal change in appetite/feeding behavior
- Etc
In order to recognize “normal” behavior, you may need to look outside your home pond/tank. What may be “normal” in your pond may be very obviously not normal if you watch other fish of the same species in a different environment. Call up the neighbors and arrange a pond/tank social hour at a different home each week/month!
If you have a behavior that you cannot identify as normal or abnormal, CALL A PROFESSIONAL. Our office number is (831) 278-1081. It is better to be certain than let a unknown behavior slide for too long.
For more information on spotting sick fish, including some behavioral indicators, watch our webinar:
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i have not seen any body deformity from my fish yet. most problem i got is white spots. but so far never hapened again.