The Plague! The Plague!

Unfortunately, my fish education has entered the realm of diseases. My favorite, sweet paradise fish is under the weather and it appears the others may have the beginnings of unwelcome maladies. For starters, I've discovered that new fish should be quarantined for about 2 weeks in a separate tank from the main one since many fish come from the Far East where they are raised in crowded conditions thereby necessitating immense doses of a slew of antibiotics. Yuck! Sounds worse than factory farming here! =O As a result, by the time they are brought home to clean, antibiotic-free conditions, they become prone to the bacteria naturally occurring in the water. This usually does not happen at the fish store due to the rapid turnover of stock.

In order to medicate my little ones properly, I read up on various fish diseases in an attempt to determine their afflictions. I also researched alternative medicines as I don't believe in overdosing on antibiotics. It doesn't help that in doing water changes, I'll be dumping the antibiotic-laden water into the municipal supply. Oh joy. While antibiotics are an incredible discovery by humans, it could lead to our biggest nightmare at the rate we abuse it. =( Here's to hoping the fish will be fine! =)