Preventing Diseases

Does the old fashioned saying "prevention is better then cure" apply to tropical aquariums. Meaning is it a good idea to dose your water with things like "Stop Ick" and so on, even if your fish are not affected? If someone does this please post what you use.

P.S I have ATFG RREA Superior Full reds and Endlers in their respective tanks. Are there any meds not recommended to use on these types of fish.

 

Useless to put meds (esp. ich-meds) for prevention. Ich parasites only can be killed in a specific part of the lifecycle (free swimming stage). Use of meds if no sign of a disease will also make a lot of parasites / bacteria resistent. Keeping your water pristine / good filtering aso are a better plan!!!

 

By disease prevention, the correct thing to do is to ensure your fish are in tip top condition, by keeping them healthy, not by constantly treating them for disease.

So this is my prevention system:
Feeding: feeding a good balanced diet to your fish is extremely important. Live foods are very important, like freshly hatched baby brine shrimp, microworms, etc and also high quality flake foods and granules. The better the diet, the healthier the fish.

Water quality:
Keeping the aquarium clean is crucial. Ensuring your water conditions are optimal keeps the buildup of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates from adversely affecting the fish. This makes sure they are not stressed. A stressed fish has a potentially compromised immune system.

Maintenance:
Keeping to a specific maintenance schedule and regime is crucial, and you should follow your schedule no matter what.

If your fish are happy, well fed and kept in a healthy, clean environment, they should remain disease free.

Also, ensuring you have a quarantine system in place for any new arrivals will help stop disease outbreaks in your display tanks. Just quarantine new arrivals and treat them for a few weeks, before introducing them to the main display.

 

Thanks for your replies. I do have a strict maintenance schedule. Sundays are dedicated to that I must be doing an ok job i am yet to have any disease breakouts