Most fish illness begins with stress due to water quality. Keeping a pond clean, filtered and well aerated is a great start to preventing disease, but there is more you can do to ensure fish stay happy. Here's what we prescribe:

1. Add Natural Bacteria:
   The all-natural beneficial bacteria found in BioClarifier^™ will help clear the water column, and break down and remove muck and organic waste, which contributes to water quality issues.
2. Quarantine New Fish:
   Before you add new fish to your pond, keep them in a quarantine tank for two to four weeks to be sure they have no infectious or contagious diseases.
3. Reduce Fish Stress:
   When starting a pond for the first time, or performing water changes, be sure to add Vanish^™ Plus to keep fish stress-free. Vanish Plus removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, and ammonia. Plus it promotes a beneficial slime coat to help heal fish wounds and protects them in times of stress.
4. Apply Salt:
   ParaSalt^™ will increase koi and goldfish electrolytic intake which is essential in building a slime coat. Salt can also be used to ward off and remove the most common protozoan such as Dactylogyrus, Byrodctylus, Epistylis, Trichodina and Chilodonella.
5. Monitor Water Temperature:
   The warmer the water, the less dissolved oxygen it can hold. When water temperatures are approaching 70°F or more, consider partial water changes (25% or more) to help bring the temperature down.

If an outbreak does occur, WipeOut^™ bacterial control can be used for gill diseases or open sores and fin-rot.

Sick fish are no fun. Do what you can to keep them strong--but know what to do when they're under the weather.