Fin rot? I need help!

[larochem595]

Hello,

I could use some help.
I keep losing fish and this hobby is becoming disheartening.
I lost a couple of platies for some unknown reason.
Now, I have three mountain cloud minnows in my 10 g aquarium. My water parameters are great. But, one of them appears to have terrible fin rot and I think I will likely lose this fish too. This fish's tail is quickly becoming frayed and it is not moving around too much.
I don't have a hospital tank. Is there a way to treat my main tank without completely messing with my biofilter? What do you recommend?
I'm sad that this is the second time it has happened.

Any comments would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Matt68005]

You need to look up columnaris, that is likely what your fish keep getting and why theirs such huge die off.
I reccomend medicated feed as its cheap and really gets inside the fish and does its job, while putting antibiotics in tap water is less effective and cost more money. Look on this site. Antibiotic Fish Flake Food
I normally treat in a hosiptal tank, but heck sometimes im just lazy and treat the main tank with its filter too with methylene blue or furan-2 green.
But anways there you go theres your answer, bacterial infeciton. You gotta use antibiutiocs.

 

[larochem595]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the reply!
Unfortunately, that fish died Saturday night...it went quick. I feel bad.
The others don't appear to be in as dire of a situation. Thankfully, my otos don't look affected by whatever this is.
I ordered some of the medicated flakes. Thank you for the suggestion! Its worth a shot.

Take care,

Michelle

 

[larochem595]

BTW, would methylene blue mess with my biofilter?

 

[Matt68005]

Yes it does. You need to save your filter(s) in another tank or a bucket of declor water and treat with just an airstone in a hospital tank or tub.
Which flakes did you order? The kanamycin should be combined with furan-2 and the Oxytetracycline you combine with methylene.
Furan-2 is a cheap oldschool antibiotic, that the "2" they added a chemical with limited effectiveness against funal infections. Anytime you see fungus, its not necessarily columnaris.. Fish get hurt and skin diez off and fungus sets in, not necessarily always fatal or outbreak of disease. You use the methylene blue or furan green to combat fungus, whcih is a secondary sign of fin rot WHEN it gets out of control, like fungus looking lesions all over their bodies.

 

[larochem595]

I ended up going with the kanamycin. I read somewhere that its effective for columnaris, in the event that it is that.
I think it definitely bacterial at this point rather than fungal... given the high rate of loss of fish and the way it traveled right up to the base of its tail fin. poor things =(

I'm so good about my water changes and parameters, its just a pain that this infection keeps plaguing my tank...

Thanks again!

 

[Matt68005]

There would be no fungal without some kind of bacterial infection. Fish don't just get fungus all over their bodies for no reason. They have to have an injury or dead skin for the fungus to live. Trust me, its bacteria. The kanamycin is a good choice. Maybe shop at walmart or something for furan-2 and combine them together.

 

[larochem595]

Hi Matt,

I just wanted to say thank you for the help. A second fish started to have frayed fins and the situation didn't look good...
The kanamycin seems to be working well! The tail looks like it filled back in and the coloring on my fish is nice, I think they are happy. From what I can tell, things are looking better! Only time will tell for sure but right now things look good!
Thank you!!!

Michelle

 

[Matt68005]

Your welcome.

 

[trennamw]

So sorry to hear you are still having a rough time!

I can't add a lot ... I lost several bettas to fin rot before I completely understood how to keep my ph stable, with my soft water.

In my case, antibiotics seemed to kill the fish more quickly. I didn't try medicated food though.

To heal up after the bacteria is gone I believe API Stress Coat is helpful, and I believe salt too. But I have only a few experiences on the salt that don't isolate it enough to know. The research on the stress coat seems sound and the results are consistent with similar ingredients in other animals.

Hope things continue to get better!!


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[RedDevil83]

Dang Matt like 15 days later thank you lol jk

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