The Most Common Diseases That Appear In Cichlid Fish

Fish, just like all animals, can suffer from sickness. It is just your responsibility to make sure that the health of the cichlids remains optimum every day. In most cases a cichlid disease is to appear because of the appearance of bacteria, parasites or fungi.

There are different symptoms that you must look for as they are common when any cichlid is showing bacterial infections. The most common ones are inflammation of fins, internal organs and skin, color loss, bloating, fin fraying, sluggishness, abscesses, sores, eye cloudiness, problems in breathing and bulging eyes. Common bacterial infection examples are exophthalmia, ulcers and Pop-eye.

If a cichlid is swimming around erratically you might be faced with a fungal infection. Also cotton like growths can appear around eyes, mouth and even on skin. If it is infected by parasites you should see a loss of appetite, heavy breathing, mucus growths on its body, sluggishness, worms, scratching and visible spots. Lice, anchor worms and lice are really common cichlid parasites.

Hole-in-the-head stands out as the most common possible cichlid disease. Appetite loss and weight loss are really common in this case and the condition is also known simply as Hexamita. Different head depressions are the best sign that your fish is suffering from this. It might also suffer from Ichtyophthirius, commonly referred to just as Ich. The fish will have a body marked with salt-like marks and they will first appear on the head then the body is affected. Breathing becomes quick and a lot of scratching appears. The cichlid will also show cloudy fins and eyes.

Another really common cichlid fish disease is Dropsy. Common symptoms include a swollen abdomen and red scales appearing around it. Bacteria, parasites or cancer are the 3 reasons that are really common and cause this. Dropys can be cured in most situations with salt treatment.

Many more cichlid fish diseases can appear. In order to make sure that your fish is always healthy you will need to be careful with tank maintenance and maintain one good diet at all times. You do need to constantly look at the fish and if you see odd behavior you need to see whether or not there are problems. While most diseases can easily be cured there are also some that are fatal.