When do you know?

[megi-lin]

If you have an infection in your tank, and you treat it, how do you know it is gone?

I had fin rot in my tank. Did an antibiotic, fish still got worse, then I have been adding salt and it doesn't seem that my fish is getting worse. His tail is still looking beat up but not like he is getting worse. So, is the infection gone? I did a pwc and scrubbed my heater clean to get off what I believe was fin rot infection on the suction cup and some algae growth. I've been doing with salt for about a month or more and my heater is always set to 80° as I have fish that thrive in that.

Infection, is it gone?
How do I know?
Is it safe now to add new fish?

 

[extremebunny]

it may have stopped getting worse but you should wait at least a week after symptoms stop showing before adding other fish.

 

[megi-lin]

it may have stopped getting worse but you should wait at least a week after symptoms stop showing before adding other fish.

It hasn't improved, but hasn't gotten worse either. My friend's boyfriend (fish enthusiast) says it could take a while for his tail to heal.

 

[BBradbury]

meg...

The simplest thing and the best thing is to forget about the chemicals and get the tank water cleaned. Chemicals are never a good thing to put into the tank water. You don't know how the fish and plants will be affected. The easiest thing is to start an aggressive water change routine. Work up to the point you change most of the tank water every few days. A little salt is a good thing for most fish, but can damage your plants. A teaspoon or two at most for every 5 gallons of replacement water is enough to help the fish and won't harm your plants.

Add some floating plants to the tank. They help steady the water chemistry between water changes. Water lettuce, Hornwort and Water sprite are good. Just drop the individual plants into the water.

Do a good job of vacuuming the bottom material when you change the tank water. Just keep up on the water changes and feed a little variety every day or two and return the tank to its normal settings.

The large, frequent water change is the safest and simplest means of dealing with a tank problem.

B

 

[megi-lin]

meg...

The simplest thing and the best thing is to forget about the chemicals and get the tank water cleaned. Chemicals are never a good thing to put into the tank water. You don't know how the fish and plants will be affected. The easiest thing is to start an aggressive water change routine. Work up to the point you change most of the tank water every few days. A little salt is a good thing for most fish, but can damage your plants. A teaspoon or two at most for every 5 gallons of replacement water is enough to help the fish and won't harm your plants.

Add some floating plants to the tank. They help steady the water chemistry between water changes. Water lettuce, Hornwort and Water sprite are good. Just drop the individual plants into the water.

Do a good job of vacuuming the bottom material when you change the tank water. Just keep up on the water changes and feed a little variety every day or two and return the tank to its normal settings.

The large, frequent water change is the safest and simplest means of dealing with a tank problem.

B

I did an antibiotic one time. I don't use chemicals. I have been doing a 30% PWC each week for maybe a couple of months. I read about fish fights and if the tail is nipped, it won't grow back. I think that is what happened to him, in spite of the infection the other fish had. Have done major gravel vacuuming. Got it pretty clean now.