Our Diagnosis
It sounds like your fish has a gill parasite infection
How to be sure
‘Slime’ Parasite infections can make your fish feel unwell and irritated. Its gills are pale or red, and appear slimy. It may shimmy, scratch, jump and flick against objects in the aquarium – like it’s trying to have a really good itch. It will also hang around the water surface and gasp for oxygen. Your fish is feeling pretty ill and it looks it – fins may be clamped against the body and its general colour is paler/duller than usual.
Step 1 – Treat your fish
- Remove the carbon filter out of your filtration – but don’t forget to return it 7 days after the last dose.
- Use Anti Parasite Slime & Velvet treatment treatment, you can check the correct dosage for your aquarium size here. Do not use with scaleless fish or invertebrates.
- Also dose with Aqualibrium First Aid Salt – it helps boost your fish’s ability to fight the illness.
- Give your fish some time-out to recover – avoid excessive cleaning, re-decorating or adding new fishy friends.
- To re-treat, or treat another problem, follow the on pack guidelines for using more treatment.
Watch Out! – Treatments can sometimes reduce oxygen levels in the water. If you see fish gasping at the surface, you can increase oxygen by adding an air pump.
Step 2 – Treat your aquarium
- When fish are sick, always test your aquarium water for excessive ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or pH imbalance.
- Treat any unhealthy results to rebalance your water quality and give your fish the best chance of getting fighting fit again.
- Check all your equipment is working properly – especially filters and heaters (check your aquarium temperature with your thermometer). Carry out any maintenance needed, or replace faulty or broken parts.
