Updated fish first aid kit

Disclaimer
I figured I’d remake an old wiki as I do plan to eventually release wikis covering every fish disease and what I’ve found to be the perfect cure to those specific diseases. This list will cover what I consider to be the basic first aid needs that every fish keeper should have on hand. This includes some that do come down to personal preference, and I will also be debunking different types of products fish keepers will say should be had, because no one realizes the damage they can actually do.

Introduction
It is inevitable that your fish will get sick. Either you brought home a sick fish, or something happens and an illness is running through your tank. The best way to combat any illness is quick action. I recommend having a few things on hand at all times. That way you can start treatment as soon as possible. It may take several days to be able to order what you need, and that could potentially mean life or death for your fish.

Quarantine tank
First thing I recommend is that you have a quarantine tank. This tank should be a minimum of 10 gallons. The reason this is, is because 10 gallon tanks are generally the cheapest tanks that can be found, and will fit most fish. If your fish is 10 inches long or larger, a 40 gallon breeder is recommended. This tank will serve two purposes. This first is to quarantine new fish before they are put into their official tank so that they can be monitored for any diseases. The second is when a fish has in fact been found to have a disease, so that fish can be quarantined to hopefully keep other fish safe. All sick fish should be moved to the quarantine tank, and fish in contact with the sick fish should be monitored, and moved if found to be sick. If treating your main tank be careful of the medication you use. Some medications such as antibacterials like methylene blue will kill your bacterial colony.

Equipment
Plastic milliliter syringe
Measuring spoons dedicated for fish only
Air Stone/airline tubing/air pump

From what is left on the list from the old wiki, these are all either useful, or needed. As to what I’d like to add to this list, a small Tupperware container that is dedicated to fish is also very useful for salt baths. In addition to this, multiple things that do not count as medications should also be needed, such as clove oil, which is not a medication. This can be used to euthanize a fish. Though, I personally do not believe In Euthanasia, because I have seen fish come back from everything, but If that is your way to go about it, clove oil is the best way to go. Another very important tool in any fish keepers belt is a good dechlorinator. I prefer sechem prime as it not only removes both chlorine and chloromine but it also locks ammonia for 24hrs in a non toxic form by converting to a different form. A quality test kit should always be owned by every fish keeper. API makes a cheap kit for those more budget conscious and for the more serious enthusiasts sera makes an almost lab grade kit while salifert is for the full on professional. APIs kit is sufficient in most cases as we aren’t looking to note a variance of .2ppm but more you registered ammonia in the tank and your cycle is lacking.

Medications:
Aquarium Salt (Sodium Chloride)
Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate)
Methylene Blue
IchX
Goat dewormer
Erythromycin
Frozen peas/daphnia
Cuttlefish bone

Salts
Aquarium and epsom salt are just generally a good medication for multiple situation, of which the [Article|http://aminoapps.com/p/mbq9p2] written by chorkie is exceptionally adept at explaining. I have recently heard that Aquarium Salt is not a good treatment for diseases such as dropsy, but to inform the full community, if a fish has true dropsy, there is no cure, and death will take place in a moment of hours.

Anti fungal treatments
The two anti fungal medications listed above are Erythromycin and Methylene blue, which are both designed to perfectly combat fungal diseases such as ick and fin rot. I recommend using both of these in tandem to cure a disease of this nature.

Internal parasite mediation
Ok, this one sounds weird. I know, but goat dewormer works for fish, and is the strongest medications there are to deal with these problems. If goat dewormer is used, it can knock out internal parasites in just one day, with no ill affect to your fish.

Constipation treatments
Daphnia, and to a lesser extent, frozen peas, will help relieve your fish of bloating and constipation problems. Peas are easier to find, but daphnia is more effective.

Calcium and ph treatments
Cuttlefish bone, snail shells, dead coral, or any other way to increase ph can do wonders for snails with damaged shells.

Other treatments
There are other diseases that these will not suit, but all of these medications will protect the most from the most common diseases that one can find. Most other medications can be used, but there are none that I have found to be as efficient as dealing with the aforementioned diseases.

Other diseases
Now, there are a few diseases that simply have no cure. Mentioned above, dropsy is a death sentence. Though it may have a cure rate, there is no active way to cure this disease, and mostly ends in death. Cysts can be cured, but with delicate fish surgery that I will not go into depth here, and shouldn’t be done by anyone who is not comfortable with handing fish up close. Stunting, which is probably the most common medical problem in fish, has no cure, and can only be worked around.

Water changes
The number one best thing that can be done for fish is water changes. A minimum of 50% on a weekly basis should be done for almost every tank, no matter what that tank is. Water changes cannot hurt your fish, and can only give them better, healthier water. Thank you to the original [First aid|http://aminoapps.com/p/mb186b] post for giving me a format to work with, and treatments to update for the sake of this article.