Continuing Fin Rot

[Guest robio]

Ammonia Level? 0

Nitrite Level? 0

Nitrate level? ~10-15

Ph Level? ~7.6

Ph Level out of the Tap? unknown

Tank size(How many Gals)? 3

How long has it been running? 5 weeks

What kind of Filtration? catridge w/ carbon + biowheel

How often do you change the water and how much? weekly, 33%

What kind of Water additives or conditioners? none other than dechlorinator

Any Medications add to the tank? Melafix

How many fish in the tank and there size? 1 fish, about 2.5 inches

Add any new fish to the tank? no

What do you feed your fish? regular ol' flake food

Any unusual findings on the fish? Fins continue to fray, small red spots not going away

Any unusual behavior? Like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc...? nope, seems fine

If you can what is the chloramines Level from the Tap? dunno

My little 10-cent feeder, a tough little guy who survived a lot in my goldifh novice-dom, now has finrot that doesn't seem to be responding to Melafix (added daily, carbon filter removed). It's been more than a week, and his fins seem to be getting worse. I'm just looking for suggestions.

@

Rob

[Gold Ryu]

First those little fish need at least 10 gallon 15 would be better.So you need a bigger tank.And you should give him a more varietied diet.You can add worms,veggies,fruits,shrimp,etc daily.But i don't know much about fin rot so you'll have to wait.

[Gold Ryu]

Or something could have torn it.Is anything in your tank sharp?If it's not a tear it can be an infection.

[Guest robio]

I know the tank is small, but that's all I have room for, unfortunately. I do keep a very close eye on the water quality ? test 2x a week, 1 fresh gallon every weekend, wipe down the sides frequently, and change the filter no less than once a month ? and usually more often than that (come to think of it, I guess I've had the tank longer than 5 weeks because I've changed the filter 3 times).

As for the fin, there's nothing sharp and it's definitely not a tear. There's scalloping going on in the dorsal fin and there seems to be some slight damage to his tail and one flipper as well. He also has some faint red spots on one side.

BTW, in the interest of full disclosure, I blew it the first couple weeks I had the tank ? I didn't have any water tests and the little guy got an ammonia burn. That healed nicely, but then the fin rot started. Sorry I didn't say that before.

Rob

[Fishmerised]

Hi Robio, thanks for supplying all the information in the white box. Sometimes finrot can be extremely tenacious. The little red spots could be the beginnings of ulceration or perhaps a protozoan infection, a product that treats finrot, fungus and white spot (such as Quick Cure) would be a good one to try.

Gold Ryu made an important point about your water volume, I also read your point about not enough room. It would be beneficial to change your twice weekly until such time as you can upgrade your tank.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Guest jimmy_396_jimmy]

my friend gave me fish that had fin rot but after a while it healed cause the water was good qaulity.....

[Guest robio]

OK, more water changes for sure. As for Quick Cure, Fishmerised, how does that compare to Melafix? That's what I'm treating with now, as it was recommended for finrot by my local goldfish shop (actually called The Lucky Goldfish!).

Thank for all the help, folks!

@:)R

[Guest robio]

PS: Looks like I'm not the only one who keeps late hours!

[Fishmerised]

Melafix will help heal wounds and split fins, in some cases mild finrot. Melafix is a 'natural' medicine derived from tea tree oil.

Quick Cure is a much stronger medication. I have a similar product in my cupboard called Multi Cure, the ingredients are Malachite Green, Methleyne Blue and Acriflavin.

It's always good to try the milder medication first, such as Melafix, but if that doesn't work switch to the stronger stuff.

[Guest waheeda]

I agree. If I were you I would treat the parasites first then treat the finrot.

Wilbur (my fantail) came down with these red spots on his head after I had moved him in and out of the tank briefly (to move the tank). I treated with salt first but it did nothing, probably because this was one of the parasites that isn't killed by salt. Then I used Clout, this killed the parasites. Then I ofcourse gave the fish a break, water change and 24 hours of carbon back in the filter. Then I treated with Melafix for 7 days because he developped fin rot after the clout treatment.

My reasoning for doing it this way:

I don't like to use more than one med at a time.

I believe that meds for parasites burn the fish and that the fish will often get finrot after using one if these meds. So I save the finrot treatment for last.

Good luck!

[Guest robio]

So, waheeda, you're saying you think the red spots on the body are parasitical, not related to the finrot? I thought they might have been leftover from the ammonia burn, but perhaps not. I'm already in the middle of a Melafix cycle, so I'll stick with that and see where it goes. Then we'll see.

Thanks again to all of you. This is great advice. I'm definitely bookmarking this site & forum.

@:)R

[Guest waheeda]

Hi Robio sorry for the confusion I thought you felt your fish had parasites AND fin rot. Because it could be the case, here is the distinction between red spots from a parasite or red spots from other things.

Red streaks or spots in the fins would be septicemia or due to nitrites being high. I wouldn't treat for septicemia unless the fish was lethargic or not eating. In this case you need to do water changes and get a nitrite test kit.

If your red spots are on the body of the fish and he/she appears to be acting like something is pestering it to exhaustion then I would definately say it's a parasite.

The medication Fishmerized mentioned, Quick Cure is primarily for parasites. I have not used it for fin rot. I usually use Melafix for that. If you have used Melafix for a week (everyday) and it hasn't improved at all, I would suspect that you have a parasite. One that would remove parts of your fishes fins when it falls off the fish to reproduce in your gravel (yuck). If you can find clout you may want to try that instead if Quickcure (just because I have had less luck with it, BUT Fishmerized does know her stuff so I leave it to you to decide).

hope this helps!

I like this forum too and am pretty new to it as well.

[Guest robio]

My guess is that it's not a parasite, because the fish's behavior is completely normal. It can't be the nitrite level ? I check that twice a week and it's fine. I'm sticking with the Melafix for another week (because I haven't been as consistant with it as I should have been), then I'll revisit other options. Thanks.