Glofish 70 gobies 260–261 breeding 230, 231 suckerlike device 261 goldfish 74, 332–343 breeding 326, 327, 328, 341 designing ponds for 300 diseases 324 feeding 316, 337 hand-stripping 326 indoor tanks 312, 313 origins and ancestry 22, 334 pigmentation and sheen 333 scales 16
Regular pond maintenance and water-quality checks help keep diseases away from fish, but illnesses still occur, even in the best-kept ponds. The first sign of a problem may be a fish floating at the surface, by which time it is probably too late for effective treatment. For this reason, it is vital to set up a routine for examining fish; feeding time provides an ideal opportunity to check their appearance and behavior.
Most marine aquarium fish are natural inhabitants of coral reefs, which are among the most stable and unchanging of all ecosystems on the planet. Many of the health problems suffered by marine aquarium fish therefore stem from fluctuations in water quality in the home tank. Maintaining suitable water conditions will keep the fish in the best condition to repel pathogens and parasites.
Fish are susceptible to a wide range of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic diseases. The artificial conditions in the aquarium tend to concentrate the risk of disease and increase the speed at which illnesses spread, because fish health is strongly influenced by the quality of the environment. Early intervention can head off many of the most common conditions, but, as with humans, prevention is always better than cure.
