Steps To Overcoming Aquarium Problems - Page 3
© Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld
infiltration into your aquarium. Such
organisms quickly diminish the host's health, leading to additional health
problems such as bacterial infections.
You must thoroughly inspect the infected inhabitants, and determine how
many of them are infected. Once you
have fully inspected the inhabitants for signs/symptoms, consult either a fish
store employee or a good reference of diseases and infections. Proper diagnosis is important since
different infections require different medications. In fact, improper medication can often be worse than the
infection its self.
At this point, I would like to make a quick summary of the steps that I recommend for helping solve aquarium problems efficiently:
- Determine if the problem is due to aquarium environment, nutrition, or external organisms. Check water quality (pH, salinity, Ammonia, etc......)
- Make necessary adjustments to improve water quality or nutrition if these are cause.
- Determine the extent of infection (number of inhabitants, stage, etc....).
- Inspect infected inhabitants carefully for external symptoms/signs, and behavioral changes.
- Consult the proper source for treatment information. This is often the source of continued problems due to misdiagnosis and improper treatment procedures.
While this may not be the most detailed plan in the world, it helps to set the guidelines of how to progress with treatment. Treatment starts with the determination that there is a problem. The two most important things are to act quickly, and do your best to treat with the proper medication. Unfortunately, aquariums are not perfectly balanced environments, and as such, it helps to take the proper steps to recover from periods of deteriorated aquarium health.