help, red gills

[Ronin]

about 1/4 of my fish seem to be getting redness around the gills. could this be a syptom of overcrowding, and the fish not getting enough oxygen. my filter is on max. my shark looks like it got a thick red vein all of a sudden, hlep

 

[prettypleco]

Check your water parameters it could be ammonia poisoning.

 

[Ronin]

is there anyway to combat this? only a selected few are showing signs of illness, does that mean that it is not contageous...just depends on the fish?
my bro says its a lost cause

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Ammonia poisoning is from poor water quality... like a newly set up tank or one that has just had a bunch of fish added or been too thoroughly cleaned. It is from the water, not really a disease, so it isn't contagious per say but it will affect all your fish, even if some aren't showing it. The cure/treatment is really easy. Just change out some water... at least 25%, 50% is even better. Make sure that the water you replace it with is dechlorinated and about the same temperature. Even if ammonia poisoning isn't the problem, a water change won't hurt anything and it might help a bit if something else is wrong.