Persistent Case Of Fin Rot, Or...? (please Help Identify)

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Farang

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
5
Hey guys,
I've been treating my fish for fin rot (the outbreak followed a case of ich.)
It was successful for the most part, but one neon tetra's tail still looks damaged, and there is no sign of improvement.
I've done a full cycle of Triple Sulfa, gave the fish a break while running activated coal filter, and am now nearing the end of Furan-2 (Nitrofurazone) & Kanaplex combo treatment.
The spot you see on the photo remained "as is" throughout.
Is it one of those cases where the tail rot has progressed too far? Or perhaps I have misdiagnosed?
Do you think that I should try another treatment - or just let the tank be, at this point?
Thanks in advance!
PS
To give you an idea about my setup: the affected fish is a neon tetra, though other fish that have suffered from tail rot prior to treatment included four other neons, five silver hatchets, 2 platies, 2 serpae tetras and a honey gourami. Additionally, the tank has one panda garra, and one oto.
I feed them Spirulina 20 food flakes, supplemented by Wardley Algae Discs, some bloodworms every now and again, and occasionally, I give the fish some blanched zucchini or bok choy.
The tank itself is a 20-gallon low-tech with a 50 gph AquaClear filter. It was set up in early January.
Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0, Nitrates are around 10 ppm, ph is 7.8, GH/KH hardness is 100 ppm, the temperature is 76F. Phosphates are between .25 and .5 ppm.
I change water twice a week, 25% at a time; though lately I've been changing the water more frequently, - every other day, to be exact, - because of the treatment.
The fish were purchased over the course of several weeks in January, from several different stores. Alas, I did not have a quarantine tank. I do now.
Lately, I've added some new plants in the tank, and several shells. It's rather difficult to say in which sequence they were all added, since the tank itself is somewhat new, and was there were numerous changes and growth in the past few weeks. I have Java ferns, Christmas ferns, Hydrocotyle tripartita pennywort sp 'Japan', amazon sword and wisteria, hygrophila corymbosa “kompakt”, ludwigia repens “rubin”, two tiger lilies, and some hornwort.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
 

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He may have been nipped by someone, does it look infected or does it look like it's healing?

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I think it just looks nipped and it has very minor fin rot. Sometimes these things just don't heal for some reason.
 
Hey Toad,
Thanks for your response!
His spot appeared at the same exact time when several other fish in my tank got fin/tail rot.
All the other fish have been cured, and are perfectly fine now, - after the treatment. This guy’s fin rot mark is still there, neither growing, nor diminishing.
Hence my question.
Basically, I’m trying to see whether I should do another treatment, - or whether this is just scar tissue, and I should consider the treatment successful and done.
 
Hey snailpufferguy,
Thanks for the interest, and your suggestion.
I don’t think that it’s a nip. All of the other neon tetras in my tank, - and a few of the other species, - have had the same symptoms. I’ve treated the tank for fin rot, and all the others fish have healed. They look and act perfectly healthy now.
This guy is the exception.
And that’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out: why won’t these things heal? Please let me know if you have any concrete ideas, I would love to hear them.
Also, - and perhaps more importantly, - when these things don’t heal, does that compromise the health of the other fish in the tank?
Should I quarantine him?
Would his mark be a potential source of new fin rot breakout?
If you have any thoughts concerning that, I would love to hear them as well!
I understand that there are different remedies available to me, in principle. But I don’t know if I should be embarking on new treatments, at this point. If what we see on the picture is just scar tissue, then there is no reason.
But if this is an active source of infestation, - then yes, I probably should consider yet another treatment.
Any thoughts?
 
I'd say quarantine him of you have that choice, if it is infectious it'd be better to keep him seperate till you get it figured out

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I suppose that you are right, Toad. Better safe than sorry.
Thanks!
With that in mind, - how long does it normally take for these things to go away, in your experience? I.e., how long would you keep the little guy in the quarantine before you decide that this is just scar tissue, and is not contagious?
 
Well I'd stop treating it and see if it spreads to other parts of him, if it goes a few weeks without, I'd say it's probably scar tissue

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Good luck, hope it's just scar tissue!

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