▷ Gill problems in fish | Details, diagnosis and treatment

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external symptoms

  • Red gills
  • Gills become pale or yellow-red to white-yellow.
  • On the gills there are white-grey dots, spots or dashes.
  • Missing gill covers
  • Gills swell.
  • One or both gill covers stand off.
  • One or both gill covers remain closed.

Behave

  • Rapid breathing or gill movements
  • Fish gasp for air at the surface of the water.
  • Fish are lazy.
  • Fish don’t eat.
  • Fish tumble.

internal symptoms

  • Gill leaflets mucus.
  • Gill leaflets change color.

photo

Photos: Frank Staudenmaier

Sumatran mullet with inflamed gills, possibly caused by parasites or gill worms

Photo: Sebastian Schmidt

Photos: Dirk Weiss

Scalar probably with a bacterial infection on a gill. A small white indentation first appeared on the left gill cover. Within a week the spot got bigger and deeper. After about 1.5 weeks, a hole about 3 mm in size had appeared, going completely through the gill cover. The hole had a white border and seemed to get bigger and bigger.

Photos: Olymp04 (Forum)

Cichlid with swollen gills.

Photos: Lüder Neugebauer

The female guppy shown above was weak after birth, lost a lot of weight in a very short time, within a maximum of 1-2 days. The female stopped eating and became apathetic. It was avoided by other guppies but not attacked, not even by the neon tetras. The gills were so red that they even shone through the gill covers. The animal could hardly breathe and often stayed at the water surface.

The trigger was possibly a conversion in the aquarium, during which a significant part of the existing plants were moved and shortened or replanted. Soil fertilizer may have gotten into the water as a result.

The fact that the included air intake was connected to the Eheim internal filter may have helped, so there was a little more oxygen in the water. The animal was obviously trying to stay in the area of ​​the maximum oxygen concentration and to save energy in the calm water.

After two days, the female ate small granulated food again and is swimming with the other guppies again, but not quite as lively. It also searched the ground for food again. The gills looked better:

Photos: Lüder Neugebauer

For further treatment, any existing germ load was reduced by daily water changes and a sea almond tree leaf was placed in the 125 liter aquarium.

Photo: Neele Goetsch

Neon tetra without gill covers. The gill cover was missing when it was bought. The tetra lives without problems.

causes

Fish absorb a large part of the required substances from the environment via the gills and release other substances into the environment. Because they are therefore in direct contact with the environment via the gills, the gills are constantly exposed to external attacks. Such attackers can be bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses or worms. However, the gills can also be attacked by changes in water chemistry or gas bubble disease. In extreme cases, even excessive water changes with fresh water can irritate the gills and make them susceptible to diseases.

Defective gill covers

Shortening of the gill covers can occur in fish raised in low-calcium water. Calcium and magnesium deficiency can lead to cartilage damage, especially in the head area. Hole disease may also be caused by calcium deficiency.

A diet rich in minerals and vitamins prevents such deficiency symptoms. The gill covers can grow back, but a shortening usually remains visible.

If the gill covers protrude or the gills protrude from the undamaged gill cover, the cause may be a thyroid tumor.

gill rot

Two different diseases are commonly referred to as gill rot.

The first disease is caused by fungi from the Branchiomyces genus. The fungus can get into the aquarium with live food. Affected gill leaves decompose and fall off. Ultimately, the fish suffocate.
With a magnification of about 100x, the fungal filaments can be seen under the microscope.

Bacterial infestation is also known as gill rot. Bacteria of the genera Flexibacter and Cytophaga are particularly involved. However, these are not the same species of Flexibacter that cause columnaris.

What both diseases have in common is that they usually only occur when the water conditions are poor. In aquariums with sufficient water changes and appropriate fish stock, gill rot rarely occurs.

Swollen gills

Possible causes of swollen gills:

treatment suggestions

First, the water quality must be checked. If the ammonia or nitrite values ​​are too high, the amount of feed is reduced and the ammonia or nitrite value is reduced by frequent water changes. Up to 75% of the water can be changed several times a day, possibly even more. Ammonia or nitrite poisoning is definitely worse than fresh water.

A bacterial infestation is treated like a bacterial infection.

Branchiomyces is difficult to treat. Treatment with salt, malachite green or brilliant green can be tried.

Gillworms are treated as described there.

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Further information

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