My tank has worms and fin rot

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Amanda34

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 18, 2018
Messages
13
Location
Queensland, Australia
My 130L tank has been cycled since August. I currently have 6 guppies, 3 glolite tetras, 3 neon tetras, 1 Congo tetra, 4 corydoras and a bristlenose pleco. I feed them once a day and I always remove uneaten food when they're done. I have lost some tetras and guppies but the tank wasn't overstocked.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: under 10

Weekly water changes of just under 30L and I use Prime. Gravel on the bottom of the tank. Two filters (HL-BT700, I use one as a powerhead, and they have activated carbon and carbon sponge in both). I have an air pump and air stone also. I have been losing fish for almost two weeks. Added new guppies (I know I should've quarantined but I didn't have a spare tank at the time) and all this started. I found a dead neon with grey/white spots on it's fins and tail so started Aqua One Broad Spectrum Remedy at half the dose. Lost more fish with no visible spots on them and couldn't find the cause of death.

I took a water sample from my gravel vac water yesterday and looked at it under a microscope and I found what looks like live transparent worms and eggs in it. I did another water change today and I started dosing Blue Planet Fluke and Tapeworm (Praziquantel) tablets at half dose but some of my fish are already looking like they have fin and tail rot. The guppies are the worst and have dark grey/black colouring on their fins and tails, and two also have black dots and smudges where their tails join their bodies.

Can anyone recommend something I can use to help them at the moment while they're undergoing the worming treatment? Any help is much appreciated.
 
Is there any flashing and do the black dots look raised or more a lesion?


Also are there any plants in tank? Would full dose the aqua one and prazi together.
 
Thank you for your reply.

The only one I know for sure that was flashing was a male guppy that started shimmying the day after I added the Aqua One Broad Spectrum Remedy. I thought he may have been reacting badly to the medication so I set up a quarantine tank for him and the shimmying stopped. The next day I noticed he was rubbing his gills on the bottom of the tank, spending a lot of time at the top and near the air stone. When I tested the water for ammonia and nitrite they were both zero. I started the fluke treatment in that tank first and he seems a lot better.

The black dots look flat and some are misshapen and look more like a smudge.

The only plants I have are fake silk ones.
 
Yes, thank you for your suggestion. After I replied to you I started adding back in the Aqua One treatment and have kept the prazi in there also and am watching them all closely. Everyone seems to be handling it so far.

I've got some aquarium salt here but I always worry as to how much to put in. I don't have anything to check the levels with so the only time I can get a reading on it is when I take a sample in to the pet shop for testing.
 
1 Teaspoon per 5 gallons of water for the salt. Then you can up it to 1 TEAspoon per gallon
 
Sounds good to me - just remember that US tablespoons are 3 teaspoons and Aus tablespoons are 4 teaspoons.


Cories would be ones to watch. I have had tetras with 2 or 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallon (lets see - works out at 2 teaspoons per gallon) building up from same idea of a teaspoon per 5 gallons. I find salt safer than a lot of meds (excluding the antibiotics but they are hard to get for good ones in Aus anyways).
 
Sounds good to me - just remember that US tablespoons are 3 teaspoons and Aus tablespoons are 4 teaspoons.


Cories would be ones to watch. I have had tetras with 2 or 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallon (lets see - works out at 2 teaspoons per gallon) building up from same idea of a teaspoon per 5 gallons. I find salt safer than a lot of meds (excluding the antibiotics but they are hard to get for good ones in Aus anyways).
Didn't think about that difference. Thanks.

I've kept a couple different types of catfish that I worked my way up to 1 Teaspoon per gallon of water during an ick outbreak and another time for fin damage to one of my Angels that I didn't want to remove from the community tank. At one point I ran my community tanks for years adding 1 Teaspoon of salt per 10 gallons of water as I was taught that it was good for their health. I don't add any salt to my tanks these days unless I have an issue that requires it. I did find that salt really didn't adversely affect my fish in low dose. I just don't see the point in dosing a tank just because now.
 
Sounds good to me - just remember that US tablespoons are 3 teaspoons and Aus tablespoons are 4 teaspoons.


Cories would be ones to watch. I have had tetras with 2 or 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallon (lets see - works out at 2 teaspoons per gallon) building up from same idea of a teaspoon per 5 gallons. I find salt safer than a lot of meds (excluding the antibiotics but they are hard to get for good ones in Aus anyways).

Thank you, I googled the difference before adding any as I wasn't sure. Yes, I always worry about the cories with everything I add to the tank. They all seem fine so far though and are acting normal.
 
Didn't think about that difference. Thanks.

I've kept a couple different types of catfish that I worked my way up to 1 Teaspoon per gallon of water during an ick outbreak and another time for fin damage to one of my Angels that I didn't want to remove from the community tank. At one point I ran my community tanks for years adding 1 Teaspoon of salt per 10 gallons of water as I was taught that it was good for their health. I don't add any salt to my tanks these days unless I have an issue that requires it. I did find that salt really didn't adversely affect my fish in low dose. I just don't see the point in dosing a tank just because now.

I have read info from both sides in different forums and articles. Some people add salt every water change and say it helps the immune system and others prefer to save it for when they have sick fish. I worry about not being able to monitor the levels so I'll just use it for illness also. So far so good.
 
As long as you keep the dose the same with your water changes it should be stable.

Glad to hear they are doing well. They should be perfectly fine.
 
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