Tail Rot - Furan 2, Triple Sulfa or both?

[amit.rajaram]

I have a 36g bowfront stocked as below-

4 x guppy
2 x platy
2 x swordtail
1 x Siamese Algae Eater
1 x mystery snail
4 x ghost shrimp

Now the SAE has been looking very stressed/sick (hiding all the time, staying still near bottom of tank etc) past couple days. Water parameters are fine and other fish are happy. I did not know what to do so treated the entire tank last night with API general cure, but 12 hours later no change. Took a closer look this morning as he was lying close to the front of the tank allowing a better view, and I can clearly see tail rot. The tail which was a like this '<', is now more like '/' with the lower half of the tail almost gone. Now the only meds I have that treat tail rot are Triple Sulfa and Furan 2. Any recommendations on which is preferrable, or indeed if I can use both? I do not have a QT so am going to have to treat the entire tank, so please advise on affect on snail and shrimp. Looks like I'm going to have to do something quick before I lose this guy, so I do appreciate all the responses I
can get.

Edit: More research throws up Melafix as another option. I have this as well, so please add this option to your advice.

Thanks!

 

[Angela1108]

Meds can be really hard on inverts/shrimp. Even if you pull him over to a Tupperware dish with tank water with a little air stone I would try my best to treat him alone. Or get a vase/bowl and move the shrimp and snail while treating and for a couple weeks after. (I'm not sure what exactly is in those first two) mela and Pima fix in my opinion tend to work more as preventative/when you first see a possible sign. But, that said I have used it with my bamboo shrimp and they are ok. I'm not sure how they would help if at all because it sounds pretty advanced. Can you get pics??


Also have you checked the water parameters ? (Sorry I might just not be remembering from thinking out this reply)


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[amit.rajaram]

Here is a pic.

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

Unfortunately the bowfront does not allow for good pictures.

I actually have a couple of empty tanks (one 20g and one 3g kritter keeper), however, how do I use these either as a QT or for stocking the inverts for a few weeks,since the tank will not be cycled? The most I can afford to do is a daily wc, but wouldn't an uncycled tank with no filter need multiple daily wc's? I guess this would hold true irrespective of whether I chose these tanks for the sick SAE or to for the inverts while I treat the entire main tank. I've just been keeping fish for a few months now, so I could be wrong about all of this.

My water parameters for the past couple months (since the tank cycled) have been a steady zero for ammonia and nitrite, and a max of about 40-60ppm of Nitrates. My tap water comes out at 20ppm nitrate, hence the high readings in the aquarium. I've been dealing with this by doing 50% weekly wc's. I've just come across the API Nitra-Zorb filter media which I've ordered, which I hope will do a better job of keeping the Nitrates in check.

 

[Angela1108]

Well if you use prime as the water conditioner it makes ammonia and nitrites non toxic for 24 hours so one water change a day and using that should work. The snail and shrimp have a pretty small bioload so the ammonia shouldn't add up very fast- especially if you don't over feed.


I would maybe get someone else who has used those two meds before to get their idea on which would be better.


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[amit.rajaram]

Thanks Angela. Even though I do use Prime with each water change, I did not make the connection that the Prime would keep the water in check for 24 hours. Hopefully, a once daily water change + prime should do the trick. I will use this strategy for a quarantine tank for the SAE instead of for the inverts, so that the rest of the fish in the main tank dont get un-necessarily medicated.

 

[Angela1108]

Yeah. I think that is what I would do. I use prime anyways but I had a really odd shaped tank that was acrylic that cracked. Can't get the tank anymore so I had to upgrade do a different tank and was forced into a fish in cycle and with the prime I did just daily water changes and everyone made it. (Given I seeded the media too which made it quicker but I am positive using the prime helped a ton)


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[Angela1108]

And if I was even going to be like an hour later than 24 with the next water change I would throw in a tad more prime for the few hours. Over kill maybe but I would rather be safe than sorry


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[gilpi]

Most problems in a tank happen from either poor water conditions or introducing diseases via new introductions to the tank, fish plants or water from another tank. Using meds to treat a tank in my opinion could add other problems.
All that said, I would just concentrate on water conditions, increase the water changes, do not over feed and refrain from adding other fish without quarantining.
Good luck.


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[Delapool]

I suspect the triple sulpha would be safer but the furan 2 more effective.

I have a note furan 2 should not be dosed in tanks with invertebrates but will read packet when back home in a few hours. Also for triple sulpha.

Furan 2 could be combined with kanaplax if not working by itself.

Note I'm not suggesting meds treatment plan here, just which imo would be safer.

 

[Delapool]

No mention about inverts on packets.

Interested it others know more on these meds and inverts?

 

[amit.rajaram]

A big thank you to everyone, as all the advice has been invaluable. Updates from today-

1. I did a 50% water change on the main tank on Saturday night, and there was no change in her behavior Sunday morning. Not eating, just lying near the bottom. I did not want to risk this any further, so I moved her into a 3 gallon kritter keeper with an air stone yesterday (along with a few plants/decor from the old tank) and treated with triple sulfa. She didn't show much change during the course of the day yesterday, but this morning, she's much more active, swimming freely, and ate most of the pellets that I dropped in. I'm doing 50% water changes twice(while significantly overdosing with Prime) daily. Touch wood, fingers crossed, looks like she's getting better. Any idea if the rotted tail would ever grow back, and if so how long does it take, or if she'd just feel better because the disease has been cured and will learn to live with half a tail? I plan to keep her in kritter keeper for 2 weeks - is this too less or too long?

2. Further to Gilpi's post above, I did introduce new live plants (hornworts) and did not realize that plants carry diseases and need to be quarantined too. Every day is a learning experience.

3. The hornwort might not have been the problem though. When moving the SAE to the QT, I took the opportunity to take out all the decorations (store them in a bucket of tank water) while I used my eheim battery-operated gravel vac to go over every square inch of the tank bottom. The amount of gunk that came out was unbelievable. This after I do weekly 50% wc's using my python - all along the same area that the gunk came from. And I do see a lot of detritus being pulled away by the python as well, but I guess I was just wrongly assuming that it was getting all of it. This would obviously provide the reason for the high nitrates. Hopefully between the thorough cleaning, the nitra-zorb media and the water changes, the water quality should now be addressed.

Thanks everyone! Hopefully the SAE (named Alestia by my 3 year old) keeps getting better!

 

[Angela1108]

Yay! Glad to hear. Fish are pretty good a regenerating tails and find back - but it is a slow process so it will feel like an eternity but it should eventually heal up and grow back once all the fungus is cured


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