Support » The Fish Doctor » Diagnose what’s wrong » Bacterial infection

Our Diagnosis

It sounds like your fish has a bacterial infection

How to be sure

Bacterial Infections can cause your fish to have open sores or ulcers on its skin. It feels quite poorly and may also be gasping for air at the surface. The ulcers might have also started to grow some white/grey fluffy, fungus around them too.

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 Internal Bacteria Plus treatment, you can check the correct dosage for your aquarium size here.
  • 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.
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