What Are the Most Common Medications for Aquarium Fish?

Since aquatic species require enclosed ecosystems, fish keepers become the de facto health officials of their aquariums. As an aquarist, the guidance you follow becomes the policy you implement to balance the overall health of the habitat. Once you gain a good understanding of biochemistry, you’ll look at your aquarium maintenance routines as means to preventing disease outbreaks. However, you may still run into situations when the health of your fish, invertebrates, plants, and beneficial bacteria could be impacted. With this in mind, some conditions are more common than others, which is why it’s a good idea for you to know about the medications below. Plus, this could be a first step toward putting together an aquarium first-aid kit to go along with your other essential freshwater or saltwater aquarium supplies.

All-In-One Water Conditioner

Instead of just using water conditioners formulated to stabilize chlorine or chloramine, you can also look for advanced solutions that contain vitamins, electrolytes, and herbal extracts that are beneficial to aquatic species. Aloe extracts in particular keep that slimy coat of fish scales healthy, and a few drops can be used whenever you notice red spots formed by parasite infections. Advanced conditioners can also be used in an emergency if ammonia levels spike very rapidly and you’re not able to do a partial water change on the spot.

Anti-Parasitic Medication

Parasites are the culprits of many common aquarium diseases such as flukes that attach to fish gills or cause abdominal swelling. For this reason, it’s highly recommended that you keep a medication to deal with various parasites at once. These solutions often come in powdered form, but you need to pay close attention to the indications on the label with regard to water volume, number of species, and dosing. The very best way to prevent parasites is something as simple as adding garlic extract to the fish food whenever adding a new tankmate to the aquarium. This will naturally clean out the hosts from the fish internally and systemically, and it also has the benefit of not harming the biological cycling of your tank. Make sure to not use household garlic, because the oils can harm the aquarium.

Methylene Blue

This medication is invariably sold in liquid form, and it’s highly recommended to deal with fungal infections. The name of the medication refers to the active ingredient and the coloring of the solution. There are many companies now that offer very good alternatives to methylene blue that doesn’t dye the silicone that glues the tank together blue.

Aquarium Salt

You may have heard about the use of kosher salt when segregating sick fish in a bucket set up for healing, but this requires extreme caution. You’re better off keeping aquarium salt on hand so you can add recommended doses when treating fungal infections. But look to an experience aquatic technician like those at Aquatic Warehouse for guidance in recommending the vast medications available.

Fungicide and Anti-Parasitic Medication

Some fish keepers who run into extreme parasitic infestations use copper in their tanks, but this mineral can be toxic if not used correctly. Combination anti-parasite and anti-fungal solutions are much better options if you use them the moment you spot the first symptoms, and these medications don’t contain pure copper that may compromise biological filter media.

All of the medications you might need for your aquarium can be found at Aquatic Warehouse, in addition to a wide array of other essential supplies, including but not limited to aquarium monitors, filtration, heaters and coolers, beneficial bacteria, and testing kits. Order what you need from our website, stop by our store located in Kearny Mesa, or give us a call at 858-467-9297.