Is this fin rot? --ailing goldfish

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

blorkiemom

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Messages
309
Location
Sacramento, CA
I've got a black moor goldfish who's been with me for a couple of years, always healthy and hardy (he survived the newbie learning curve). His tail has always been beautiful--longer than his body. Last Saturday I realized with horror that part of his tail is gone! --around 3/4 of an inch. The edges are whitish (no fuzzies) and uneven but not split. His other fins are fin (though his dorsal is droopy) and he's eating fine, though maybe a little less active than usual. His pal (oranda) is fine.

I've been treating with melafix for 4 days; he doesn't seem to be getting worse but I'm not seeing clear improvement, either. Does this sound like fin rot? (I've never dealt with a case before.) Could it be the otos (see below) either nipping at him or stressing him out? Should I QT him and use maracyn or something? --or wait longer for the melafix to work?

Any help greatly appreciated. Carrot is my oldest fish and I would be very sad to lose him.


Tank info: 29G; Penguin 330 (I think--double bio-wheel); bubble wand. Planted.
Fish: 1 black moor, 1 oranda, 3 dwarf otos.
Water: ammonia 0; nitrites 0; nitrates ~20. pH 7.7, Temp: ~78
Weekly 20% water change with light vacuum.
Recent changes: a few months ago I moved the GF from an 18 to the 29. I added the otos about three weeks ago. (I have never seen them near his tail, though of course I can't watch every minute.) The only other recent change was that I added some wisteria.
 
Thanks, Menagerie. I guess for now I'm doing what I should. I'm just stumped as to what's causing this; I know fin rot is usually a water quality issue, but his water's good. I'll just keep watching . . .
 
Sure sounds like fin-rot. I've only had a minor case before, one corner of a tailfin. In my case, I think she got it caught on something & it got infected. In my case it was more like 4 weeks before the fin grew back, so I guess 4 days is prob not long enough for regeneration. As long as it's not getting worse, I think watching & waiting is the way to go..
 
Hi blorkiemom,

Does it look anything like this?

img_258511_0_eeabfa3e0993fb7546caa2c65fa997b4.jpg


I got this betta last June at Petco. Rescued him on a Saturday afternoon and by Sunday evening he looked like this. This is a real bad case of fin rot and I unfortunately had to euthanize him late Sunday night.

Hope the photo helps.
 
Aw, I'm sorry. He does look pretty bad. Carrot's tail doesn't look so ratty--just part of it gone. It's been 10 days now and he's acting fine and it's not getting worse, so I guess I just wait. I might run another Melafix treatment in a week or so if I don't see improvement--it may not help much, but I don't think it will hurt. Thanks everyone for the advice!
 
Back
Top Bottom