Fin Rot?

[Biggen]

Heya guys,

Ok. I have been watching my Coral Beauty closely for the past several days. I noticed last week that he had some type of "growth" near his left eye. It is not very big at all. It fact it is not a spot but a "string" looking thing. Perhaps a mm or two. I don't believe it is ich as I haven't seen any spots on his body at all and my clown fish is perfectly healthy. His eyes are not clouded over at all.

Ok so I come into work today and notice that his back lower fin (not the caudal fin but the anal fin I believe) is not rounded like it has been. It looks stringy or "rotted" away a little.

Do you think these two instances are related at all? He still appears healthy even with this. He is still eating, swimming, etc... No signs of distress at all.

What should I do to combat this? Do I need to treat? I do have a problem, though. My 10 gallon tank is being used as a QT tank right now for the Royal Gramma I bought last Friday so I am out of tanks. Is there anything I can put in the display tank? I know one is not supposed to treat the display but man it is going to be a pain to go out and buy another pump, tank, filter, etc...

If any antibiotics are used, how much will the biological filter suffer, and will it regrow after the antibiotics are removed?

 

[reefrunner69]

What should I do to combat this? Do I need to treat?

The best thing to do is QT. Sometimes if the fish is healthy a good diet and stress free living the fishes immune system will fight it off, but I would treat with melafix, in a qt.

I am concerned about the string next to it's eye, is it still there? It could be some sort of parasitic worm.

 

[steve-s]

If it is simple fin rot, a few good water changes and adding vitamins to the food will do the same as a treatment. More often than not one or both is lacking (water quality/feeding) and it will clear up on it's own. It will not usually need treatment unless advanced and/or the fin has degraded down a fair amount.

If a type of fungus, then a gram negative anti-biotic would be needed but it would not simpley damage the bio filter, it would destroy it. Something I would not suggest. You would in essence need to recycyle the tank after properly removing the med. You also need to keep an eye out for possible fluke or other worm. " it is not a spot but a "string" looking thing" could still be simple fungus but also the sign of a parasite.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Biggen]

Yes the string is still there, but it is not as white. It hard to tell if it is actually a growth or a sore since the darn fish won't stay still enough for me to get a good look at it.

Melafix would be a good all around drug to use?

 

[Biggen]

Is fin rot associated with poor water conditions only? I ask because my water conditions are pretty good. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and nitrate is >10. Ph is around 8.2 or so...


I guess I will head over to walmart and pick up another tank, pump, filter, etc... At least they sell Melafix over there so I won't have to run into town...

 

[steve-s]

Finrot is primarily environmental/stress related and easily fixed for the most part. Don't take "poor water quality" to mean that you are doing anything wrong persay but rather it is part and parcell to perform the neccessary water changes to ensure DOC levels are at their lowest and quality is optimum.

If bacterial, it is often very mild and doing the water changes will decrease the concentration allowing the fish to fight the problem on it's own. When using Melafix watch equipment performance. The teatree oil can often play havoc and reduce efficiencies.

Cheers
Steve

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi...I don't have a SW tank, but I had problems with fin rot for awhile. My betta had fin and tail rot almost constantly. All my water parameters were good, but my temperature was fluctuating. When I did some research on fin and tail rot, water that was too cool was mentioned. I moved the betta from his bowl to a 5 1/2 gallon tank with a heater. He hasn't had a fin rot problem since I put him in the tank. Check your heater--maybe it allowed a temperature fluctuation, and this fish was senstive to that.

I also use Vita-Chem, a vitamin supplement from the DrsFosterSmith catalog. It comes in saltwater and freshwater formulas. It says that it's great for fin regeneration. The dosage instructions say to use several drops on food several times a week, or use 2 drops per gallon once a week. I don't use it this much--I'm afraid to overdose! But I think it helps.

It's good that you're getting another tank for QT. I once believed the instructions on Kanacyn that said it wouldn't hurt the biological filter. Wrong! My ammonia rose to .25. So I know it killed some of the bacteria. Good thing I still had some Bio-Spira! On the freshwater forums, some have said that they add melafix to their main tank and it didn't hurt the biological filter. I would still play it safe and use it in a QT tank. I don't have much experience with Melafix, since it's not good for labyrinth fishes like bettas. It does stink, though. It's supposed to be an irritant, like peroxide, to irritate the cells to speed healing. Most fish, except bettas, can handle it very well. Just keep your filter going (I guess you guys don't use carbon in SW tanks? I don't either) and keep the aeration going since some meds, and I think melafix too, can cause oxygen levels to drop. Hope this was of some help!

 

[Biggen]

Well I bit the bullet and put MelaFix into the display tank. I called up Aquarium Pharm and they said it will have no effect on inverts (sessile or mobile). Totally reef safe. I have been reading a lot of other posts about people doing this (over on RC) and this seems to back up the Aquarium Pharm claim.

When using Melafix watch equipment performance. The teatree oil can often play havoc and reduce efficiencies.

You are correct about it playing havoc with equipment. I forgot to turn off my protein skimmer and within minutes it looked like someone had dumped shampoo in the collection cup. Bubbles were everywhere.

Check your heater--maybe it allowed a temperature fluctuation, and this fish was senstive to that.

Actually I have been battling some temp flucs for sometime, but that is all going to change. I bought a Pro Heat Titanium Heater today.

Well we will see what this MelaFix can do. Hopefully it will work...

 

[Biggen]

I thought I would let everyone know that as of the end of day three of treatment with Melafix, the Coral Beauty's tail is nearly 100% healed. His eye is also much better as well as whatever is near the eye is not near as white. I think that it may be either a sore or simply some color discoloration on his skin. It is not nearly as pronounced as it was.

Anyway, just wanted to thnak everyone for the help. I am extremely impressed with Melafix. Like I posted before, I have been putting it in the main tank with absolutely no ill effect from any of the inverts at all. It makes the tank smell kind of funky (reminds me of some melaleuca (sp?) shampoo I use to have) but other than that it is great.

I'll treat for a few more days just to make sure he is totally healed up and then do a water change and crank the skimmer back up.

Thx again guys...

 

[An t-iasg]

It's good to know the coral beauty is getting better, and it's always nice when our efforts work out!