Goldfish Diseases


Fish Lice

As surprising as it may seem, Goldfish can suffer from lice. Fish lice is a particularly nasty condition since the lice can reproduce very rapidly, making the problem worse.

Symptoms of Fish Lice

There are several major symptoms, the most common of which is a change in the behaviour of your Goldfish; due to the skin irritation they are quite likely to start rubbing against rocks and other surfaces. In particularly bad cases, red spots may appear on the skin, or the lice might actually be visible on the surface of the fish as patches of green.

Causes of Goldfish Fish Lice

The problem is caused by lice. Firstly a female will lay eggs at the bottom of the aquarium, which might be visible as a series of lines. Upon hatching, the lice attach themselves to the fish by puncturing the skin surface with a proboscis, and start feeding

Treatment of Fish Lice

Seeking advice of an expert is best in such a case, as the treatment will vary. On some occasions, it is actually possible to remove the lice directly from the skin surface with tweezers, but more severe cases will require use of a chemical bath. In the meantime it is best to isolate infected fish, and treat the main aquarium.