Expecting the best but preparing for the worst ensures you aren’t caught off guard when problems knock on your door. As previously mentioned in our blog “Treatment of  Common Aquarium Diseases”, healthy tank maintenance and clean water conditions as prevention is key to avoiding most common illnesses. However, sometimes minor diseases can be common and just happen! When they do, it’s best to be prepared.

Having the following medications on-hand allows you to quickly remedy the problem and catch it in its early stages before the fish gets past the point of no return. Perhaps even more important, treating the problem early enough can prevent an illness from spreading to your other fish, which can happen quite suddenly.

Here are the top 5 that we recommend to have on-hand:

Ick Guard

Being one of the most common diseases in aquarium fish, Ick can spring up almost overnight sometimes. Lucky for you, it’s also very treatable with this simple, straight-forward medication. Nearly all of these medications contain ingredients called Victoria Green and nitromersol. Victoria Green is also called aniline and it is a very blue-green color that can dye your silicone and aquarium decorations, so take caution.  You may want to remove sensitive decor before treatment.

Praziquantel

This is the most common medication used to treat a number of parasitic worm infections, and not just in fish! It’s also used for humans and other animals to treat schistosomiasis, clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis, tapeworm infections, cysticercosis, hydatid disease, and other fluke infections.

Aquarium Salt

Don’t confuse aquarium salt with marine salt or common table salt - they are not the same!

This isn’t really thought of as medication, but it can be used as a great elixir for many things! Some hobbyists are able to treat simple issues such as ick with aquarium salt alone. However, it is more commonly used alongside treatment of other medications as a complement. Aquarium salt promotes fish health and disease recovery with increased electrolytes and by improving respiration. It can also be used to prevent nitrite poisoning!

*It’s not recommended to use aquarium salt in tanks with live plants, or scaleless fish, such as loaches and corydoras that are extra sensitive.

Tetracycline

This generic antibiotic works by disabling bacteria from producing more proteins. This makes it a great treatment for a wide variety of bacterial infections in your fish. An all-around classic and simple med to have on-hand!

API® Melafix/Pimafix

These all-natural, antibacterial and anti-fungal treatments help cure infections. Common infections include open wounds, abrasions, tail rot, eye cloud, and mouth or gill fungus. These products also promote regrowth of damaged fins and tissue. It’s so safe that it can also be used as a preventative when adding new fish to your aquarium, even if symptoms aren’t showing, just to be sure that any fin-rot outbreak is proactively avoided. It will not affect biological filtration, alter your pH, or discolor your water and it is safe for use in freshwater, saltwater, reef, and live planted aquariums.

Looking for other aquarium products to keep your aquarium friends happy and healthy? Check out our ever-growing selection of aquarium products at Josh's Frogs today!