5 Ways to Prevent Fish Illness in Water Gardens

Most fish illness begins with stress due to water quality. Keeping a pond clean, filtered and well aerated is a great start to preventing disease, but there is more you can do to ensure fish stay happy. Here's what we prescribe:

1. Add Natural Bacteria:
   The all-natural beneficial bacteria found in BioClarifier will help clear the water column, and break down and remove muck and organic waste, which contributes to water quality issues.


2. Quarantine New Fish:
   Before you add new fish to your pond, keep them in a quarantine tank for two to four weeks to be sure they have no infectious or contagious diseases.


3. Reduce Fish Stress:
   When starting a pond for the first time, or performing water changes, be sure to add Vanish Plus to keep fish stress-free. Vanish Plus removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, and ammonia. Plus it promotes a beneficial slime coat to help heal fish wounds and protects them in times of stress.


4. Apply Salt:
   ParaSalt will increase koi and goldfish electrolytic intake which is essential in building a slime coat. Salt can also be used to ward off and remove the most common protozoan such as Dactylogyrus, Byrodctylus, Epistylis, Trichodina and Chilodonella.


5. Monitor Water Temperature:
   The warmer the water, the less dissolved oxygen it can hold. When water temperatures are approaching 70°F or more, consider partial water changes (25% or more) to help bring the temperature down.

If an outbreak does occur,fungus, parasites and ick can be treated with KnockOut Plus, while WipeOut bacterial control can be used for gill diseases or open sores and fin-rot.

Sick fish are no fun. Do what you can to keep them strong--but know what to do when they're under the weather.