About FishSymptoms

Last updated: November 2026

FishSymptoms started from a specific, stupid feeling: losing a fish at 11 p.m. while reading five contradictory forum threads, none of which told you what to do right now. The site exists to be the page that should have existed — calm, ordered, honest, and fast, for people standing in front of a tank with something wrong in it.

Who writes here

Content is written by the FishSymptoms Editorial Team — long-term freshwater keepers who have run breeding racks, hospital tanks, and the odd funeral. We are experienced hobbyists, not veterinarians. That's a limit, not a modesty statement: it's exactly why every guide on this site ends with "severe cases: consult an aquatic-experienced vet where available," and why we'd rather send you to a test kit than to a medication we can't justify.

How we research (our honesty note)

• Primary method: standard published freshwater husbandry. Our protocols — water-change volumes, temperature ranges, salt concentrations, dosing logic — reflect widely accepted aquarium practice (the same guidance established aquarium references, extension-service aquaculture material, and experienced breeders agree on). We write everything in our own words from this body of knowledge; we don't copy pages.
• Numbers over vibes. Every guide carries real numbers (°F/°C, ppm, ratios) because advice without them is useless at midnight. Where the hobby genuinely disagrees, we say so and give both positions.
• We separate facts from folklore. Claims that can't be supported (like bread being "fine as a treat") get pushed back on directly.
• Limits are stated. Dropsy prognosis, neon tetra disease, lymphocystis: we tell you when the honest answer is grim, because false hope kills fish slower and owners deader.

How the site makes money (full disclosure)

• Ads: pages may display Google AdSense advertising. See the privacy policy for the cookie disclosure.
• Affiliates: gear pages contain Amazon Associate links (marked with a disclosure on those pages). Commissions fund hosting and time; they never decide verdicts — our "don't buy this" sections outnumber our buy buttons.
• Email: the new-tank checklist signup exists to build a mailing list. No selling your address, ever.

What we will and won't do

We won't pretend to diagnose your specific fish, we won't recommend anything we wouldn't dose into our own tanks, and we won't pretend medicine replaces water quality. We will keep every guide dated ("Last updated: November 2026"), and if we're wrong about something and you can show why, write to hello@fishsymptoms.com — corrections get fixed, with credit.