When you bring home the fish from your pet shop, you would naturally spend some time at the shop looking at the fish.
You may watch carefully the skin of the fish and its behavior.
Even if you buy fish which is looking healthy and showing no signs of any disease, you may not be able to judge the health of the fish only by its appearance.
Sometimes there are hidden diseases which may not be showing up on the fish.
They make become visible after some time, say after a couple of weeks.
For instance, if the fish is brought to the pet store in a new shipment, even the shop owner may not be aware of the condition of the fish.
The fish might catch a disease while traveling or even at the breeders' place.
Well, it may not be possible for you to assess the health of the fish when you buy.
However, you can take some precautions to keep it healthy in your aquarium.
1.
Follow the quarantine process strictly If you buy fish from the pet shop and introduce directly in your aquarium, it may be already infected with some disease and it may spread quickly.
Even the other fish in your aquarium will be subject to that risk.
So you should keep the new fish in isolation for some time.
You should arrange a separate tank, which may be a simple tank, and keep new fish there for at least a couple of weeks.
During this time you can observe the fish very carefully.
You should not decorate this tank at all.
You should not also install any plants there, so the fish has no place to hide and you can see their behavior closely.
2.
Do not add many fish at a time If you introduced too many fish at a time, it will create stress in the fish already residing at the aquarium.
It will also place the new fish in an uncomfortable position.
If the fish is under stress, it is likely to catch the disease quickly.
You should only introduce one or two fish at a time after proper quarantine process.
3.
Providing appropriate food for the fish Appropriate food will keep the fish healthy.
You should carefully select the food for every species of fish in the aquarium.
Remember, you cannot offer the same food for everyone.
Just like human beings, every fish has some peculiar appetite.
Some fish would be happy with the flaked food while others may require frozen or live food.
Some fish would like to munch the vegetables like lettuce.
Many will feast on the plants which are available in the tank.
You should make a small research on the Internet to find out what is the suitable diet for a particular species of fish.
You can also consult with the pet shop owner who will be able to guide you instantly.
Remember to feed the fish in recommended quantities.
If you over-feed the fish, it may result in a number of irregularities in them.
4.
Keeping perfect conditions of water Some fish create a lot of waste.
It goes on accumulating at the bottom of the aquarium and then it starts contaminating the water.
Many times the food particles which are not eaten by the fish are accumulated at the bottom.
Sometimes, the live plants in the aquarium are responsible for producing waste.
You should have a regular schedule of maintenance.
The hardness of water, the temperature and the ph levels should all be carefully monitored.
The entire population in your aquarium may not require the same condition of water.
So you need to optimize the water condition.
Inappropriate water will creates stress among the fish and they will be susceptible to diseases.
When the aquarium is new, you should check the water very frequently like every alternate day.
You can buy test kits from your local shops.
Even the well established aquariums should test the water frequently.
5.
Providing a good filtration system The federation system in the aquarium should be working all the time and it should remove all uneaten food as well as body waste of the fish.
Even if the fish is healthy while buying, deficiency in any of the above can easily make the fish sick.