Fish, just like all animals, can suffer from sickness. The breeder is the only personal responsible for maintaining optimum health at all times. In most cases a cichlid disease is to appear because of the appearance of bacteria, parasites or fungi.
If the cichlid suffers from bacterial infections there are some symptoms you should look for. Really common ones are color loss, fins inflammation, fin fraying, bloating, sluggishness, eye cloudiness, breathing problems and abscesses. The most common bacterial infections are Pop-eye, exophthalmia and ulcers.
If a cichlid is swimming around erratically you might be faced with a fungal infection. Also, you might end up seeing different growths that are cotton like ardoun mouth, eyes and on the skin. Whenever a cichlid is suffering from parasites then it loses appetite together with developing worms, sluggishness, heavy breathing, mucus growths, visible spots and scratching. Really common cichlid parasites examples can be given in achor worms, leeches and lice.
Hole-in-the-head stands out as the most common possible cichlid disease. Appetite loss and weight loss are really common in this case and the condition is also known simply as Hexamita. Head depressions stand out as the best possible sign that you are in front of one fish suffering from this condition. It might also suffer from Ichtyophthirius, commonly referred to just as Ich. The body of the fish will start showing salt-like marks, first on its head and then the entire body is covered. Scratching appears and quick breathing is shown. The cichlid’s eyes and fins will also become cloudy.
Another highly common cichlid disease you need to know about is Dropsy. One really common symptom is a swollen abdomen that shows different red scales round it. Three main reasons appear when thinking about why this happens: cancer, parasites or bacteria. In most circumstances salt treatment can cure Dropsy.
Many more cichlid fish diseases can appear. In order to make sure that your fish is always healthy you will need to be careful with tank maintenance and maintain one good diet at all times. Also, you need to constantly look at the fish and when something is odd then problem checking is required. While we see most diseases being easily curable different ones are actually fatal.