Humu Trigger with Fin Rot

[Guest]

I've had my saltwater for 2 months now. I added, among others, the Humu Trigger three weeks ago. On its top fins there seems to be a formation of cotton-like rotting (very minute). He appears to be fine, swimming great, eating and all.

My water parameters seem to be OK. My gravity is at 1.024, Ammonia at 0, Nitrite at 0, Nitrate at 10, pH unknown (I haven't checked lately but the last time I checked a month ago it was 8.2). I performed a 5-gallon water change every three weeks. Temp is at 78 but I recently raised it to 82 (over the course of 3 days) in hopes of irritating the micro organism responsible for the fin rot. The temp raise always worked in my african cichlid tank (and ofcourse they are very different animals).

Question: How do you get rid of the fin rot without adding any expensive medicine?

 

[born2chill]

I have heard that the antibiotic maracyn2 treats fin rot well. It is not expensive either. It costs $10.99 for 16 tablets. I think you need to add one tablet per 10 gal. I would not add this to a reef tank, hopely you don't have a reef or you have an accessible QT. I would definitely medicate the trigger or else infection or even secondary infections will probably kill your fish.


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[srgetz]

It does sound bacterial as they stated but does not sound serious enough to put the fish through QT and medication. See your water test kits can't help with DOC in the water which causes this. What can help is a bunch of water changes and cleaning. Perform 3-4 large water changes with mixed (24hrs) and aerated sw (check ph, temp, sg) - do one every few days for the next few weeks, then once a week after. Clean any filters or areas that may collect waste. Run activated carbon or a polyfilter to help clean the water further. Just keep up on these water changes and he will heal on his own. It will take a few weeks, but the fins will come back like new. This is easier and safer than going the QT route. This also addresses the root cause - high DOC in the water which the bacteria thrives on. Meds would only be a bandaid anyway.

Do you run a skimmer? A skimmer removes DOC from the water which causes this kind of bacteria build-up. A good thing to have. Frequent water changes will do the same thing.

Remember:
NEVER use meds in the main tank (reef tank or not), especially an antibiotic, it can zap your biofilter throwing your entire tank out of balance which could kill everything.

 

[Guest]

Do you run a skimmer? A skimmer removes DOC from the water which causes this kind of bacteria build-up. A good thing to have. Frequent water changes will do the same thing.

Remember:
NEVER use meds in the main tank (reef tank or not), especially an antibiotic, it can zap your biofilter throwing your entire tank out of balance which could kill everything.

Thanks for your advice. I will definitely do that. last night, I transfered my whisper 30 filter from my african cichlid to my saltwater tank. during the process, I replaced the carbon and filter bag. My tank had been looking a bit messy. I will definitely cut down the amount of food that I feed the fish. I will also follow the water changes.

I have a prism skimmer. In the beginning it is working fine. However, I had the impression that when you have a skimmer, it will also reduce the formation of oil film on the surface of the tank, besides skimming the water off of protein build up with those tiny bubbles.

So now, I am running two hang-on filters, a skimmer, and a filtering powerhead. I need to learn the art of syphoning live sand too later on.

 

[steve-s]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=45

Cheers
Steve