Fin rot or bullying?

[Aquarium Girl]

This peacock has been hanging around the back of the tank near the filter intake for about 2 weeks due to what I thought was bullying from a couple of dragon blood peacocks which have since been rehomed.

Since then (Sunday) he/she has coloured up a bit more but still hanging at the back and what was ragged fins has gotten worse today and didn't eat tonight. Also looks like it's constantly chewing - if it is holding would it be more likely to be bullied? There seems to be some white edges to the ragged parts which worries me.

Water params are good - 28C (no heater on - Aussie summer), PH has dropped slightly to 7.6, 0 ammo, 0 nitrites, 20 nitrates. Last water change was 5 days ago around 50%. I use Prime and don't add any buffers or other chemicals.




Yesterday









Tonight

No other fish have any signs. Please help! I am new to the hobby and have not had to deal with illness before. Not sure where to start and any advice would be appreciated!!!

 

[HUKIT]

Fin damage can lead to fin rot but really the treatment is identical, pristine water conditions with a daily nitrate level between 5-10ppm. With this you'll see improvement in no time.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Fin damage can lead to fin rot but really the treatment is identical, pristine water conditions with a daily nitrate level between 5-10ppm. With this you'll see improvement in no time.

Thanks HUKIT, I'll do 50% PWC's daily for a few days and keep an eye on it. I think I spend more time worrying about my fish than I did my firstborn child! This is nerve wracking stuff!!!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Ok so 50% PWC done and there doesn't seem to be any further fin damage. I showed the pics to my LFS and he gave me Wardley Promethyasul (which contains Malachite Green) but from reading posts about this and on HUKIT's advice I'm going to just do lots of PWC's and see how it goes.

How much and how often would you recommend?

Water params before PWC tonight were:

Temp 27C (80F)
PH: 7.8
Ammo: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 40 (hmmmm may have been overfeeding trying to entice this guy to eat ....)

 

[shellieca]

You could do a PWC every other day for a couple weeks or so depending on how the fish is doing. The white edges don't look fuzzy or fungal, right? New fin growth is often white so you may be seeing new fin growth already which is good. IME, good water quality is all that is needed, I have female Bettas who often have nipped fins to varying degrees; I just do my regular water changes & they heal up.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

You could do a PWC every other day for a couple weeks or so depending on how the fish is doing. The white edges don't look fuzzy or fungal, right? New fin growth is often white so you may be seeing new fin growth already which is good. IME, good water quality is all that is needed, I have female Bettas who often have nipped fins to varying degrees; I just do my regular water changes & they heal up.

No not fuzzy or fungal, just a little white so I'll take that as a good sign.

Lots of water changes coming up then!

Thanks for the advice

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Got a closer look at this guy today and it's not getting worse, and in fact looks like the white edges may indeed be new fin growth - fingers crossed!

Will do another PWC tonight to get the nitrates down a bit more and hope that he/she keeps improving. Thinking that he may actually be a she and possibly holding - not eating but lots of mouth movement and a bulge under the chin. I'm new to this and I have been wrong before so I guess I'll just wait and see.

 

[shellieca]

Glad he/she is not getting worse, I'm pretty sure we've all been wrong a time or two.