Q&A for How to Tell if Your Fish Is Sick

Leave the fish in its bag at first. Submerge the plastic bag in the tank and let it sit for 30 minutes. At that point, add about 1/4 cup of tank water to the fish's bag. Add more water after 15 minutes. Do this for 1 hour. Then, scoop the fish up in a net and transfer the fish to a tank.

Change 1/4 of your fish tank water every other week. This will help dilute and remove excess nitrates and other potentially harmful substances.

I would recommend doing a water change, then adding some aquarium salt. Aquarium salt is safe for fish and it may help treat the infection.

Do you have a pump/filter? Please provide more description (what kind of fish, more symptoms, pictures) but the tail falling off is NOT a good sign! Do more research ASAP or seek help at a pet store.

No. That's what they do.

If the fish is staying around the filter, it probably means he is not getting enough oxygen. Try getting a new filter.

I mean, as long as he isn't showing signs of distress or infection, it doesn't sound like a problem to me. He's a fish; he's not overly complicated.

Not necessarily. The food is probably too big for your fish. You can try cutting or mashing the food into smaller pieces, or changing the food type.

Brown algae is caused by poor lighting and poor water chemistry. Make sure your tank is clean and test the water for ammonia and nitrites. So yes, it's bad.

Yeah, it's tank is wayyyyyyyyy too small. No fish can comfortably thrive in a tank that small. The answer is simple, purchase a 10-15 gallon tank and rehome him. He'll be so much happier and guaranteed to live longer. He'll also need a filter, btw.

No, that's what bottom feeders do.

Make sure there's nothing in the tank that could hurt him. If there isn't anything sharp, treat it with very clean water (partial water changes every other day), and try raising the temperature a little bit. If the rip doesn't heal, purchase a medication such as Melafix or aquarium salt. Clean water and time should do the trick.

Amazon Sword, Java Moss, and Java Fern are popular beginner plants. Anubias, Wisteria, Hairgrass, and Marimo Moss Balls are nice plants too. If you have lucky bamboo, you can snap off a branch and plant that in your aquarium.

Fish mouths don't usually open, so there's nothing to worry about. You can always consult with your pet store experts if the fish isn't eating.

Use a stress coat conditioner in the tank and remove any decoration in the tank that may worsen the cut, for example, hard plastic plants. The fish should heal nicely on their own.

You should flush it down the toilet, put in a bag and into the trash, or bury the fish in your backyard. The fish could be carrying a disease, so if you choose to bury it, do it at least two feet under in case animals dig the body up. Do not place it in a pond or any other body of water because it could affect the environment nearby.

If it isn't in a big enough tank, it won't get much better. Make sure your tank is at least 10 gallons, filtered and heated. Make sure the water is very, very clean, which means water changes every couple days.

Maybe he has been nipping his tail, or some other fish did it. He may be sick or bored.

It probably means your tank is holding too little oxygen, or there are problems with the tank size and quality. Give your aquarium a cleaning and partial water change, test your water quality with a test kit from a pet shop, and look into putting an airstone or other manner or aeration in your tank.

Inactivity and hiding are signs of stress. He's in a new place, and he needs time to adjust. This is normal for some bettas, but new temperatures are especially hard. Hanging out by filter and under rocks means the filter could be too strong. It could also just be more stress hiding, but if the filter's too strong, that's an issue. Upside-down swimming could be stress, temperature change and filter issues, but this might mean he is sick. Turn off the filter and leave him alone for a day or so to adjust. Give him some food, too. If he is still acting weird or not eating, he might be sick.

This could be dropsy or swim bladder. Or, a digestive problem. To start, feed him a shelled pea which has fiber and will help things pass through.

Start by checking your water parameters. Ammonia and nitrite should be at 0, and nitrates should be below 10 ppm. If any of these are off, they could have ammonia/nitrite/nitrate poisoning and you should do a large water change to help with that.

Stable clean water will help a lot. Test the water and make changes accordingly, but take things slow. Once water parameters are in control, do water changes often, but with matching parameters. If this isn't helping look into medication. Dose slowly.