article: Fish diseases

Fish diseases

Your water garden and your fish are going to become important portions of your life as you begin to learn to use your water garden for relaxing and for enjoyment day after day during those summer months. Ensuring that your fish remain disease free and healthy will mean that you will have to inspect them from time to time and realize what problems that they may be having.

Some viral infections that you will have to watch for will include:

Carp Pox, this is when creamy whitish hard patches are found covering large portions of your fish bodies. It is like a waxy substance that covers different areas of the fish giving them a ‘gross’ look. There really isn’t a cure for your fish if they should happen to get carp pox, but you can learn to prevent it by continually cleaning your water in the pond. Carp pox is also known as fish pox. There is a vaccination that can be given to other fish in the pond so that they do not get Carp pox, but it will not cure the fish that already have the Carp pox.

Another viral infection that you should be on the look out for is Lymphocystis. This is a very easy to spot viral infection on your fish, as you will see large growths on your fish that will bloom out like a cauliflower would. Sometimes fish owners might think that these are some type of warts or nodules, but the cauliflower Lymphocystis is a bit different. It can’t be treated by medications, but you can protect your other fish from Lymphocystis with a vaccination. Quarantining the fish that are affected will be needed to ensure your entire fish population is protected.

One last viral infection that we will discuss briefly is the Spring Viraemia. This is when you are holding the fish, or looking closely at the fish you are going to see blood blisters, blood close to the skin or bleeding from the eyes or the gills. This can be a very dangerous viral infection that will spread quickly to other fish. If you even suspect one fish, you should quarantine is for a few days to determine if it is getting worse or if this fish has another problem. The quality of your water in the water garden is going to help control the outbreak of Spring Viraemia. Once your fish are diagnosed with this disease you should destroy them, as there is not cure.

Viral infections are very difficult to contain once they get started, you should be very careful if you suspect any viral infections to quarantine fish until you can prove if they are bacterial or if they are viral so you prevent major outbreaks in the water garden.