Black Moor with Sudden Fin Rot

[Hartlander]

Hello everyone, new here.

I'm at my wits end with this. About a month ago i lost a fancy calico goldfish to fin rot, it was so sudden, he was fine all day, then he suddenly just sat down in the corner of the tank and was completely lethargic. That rose a few red flags for me. When I bought him he had this bump just before the fin on his tail. I had faith that he would be fine as he seemed very active at the store. Then overnight of him getting lazy (it seemed), I awoke to find his fins nearly gone! I isolated him from his companion (the now hurting black moor) and tried to give him antibiotics, but by then it was too late, he didn't make it through the night.

Now my (still very very active) black moor has tattered and hurt fins which is worrying me because i love that fish to death and would be heartbroken if he passed. I did an almost 100% water change, because i assumed maybe it was water quality. I swished up the rocks too to get all the stuff out that was in between them, and filtered that out. I cleaned out the filter very thoroughly and let it filter the tank again after putting in Top Fin dechlorinator and Melafix Fish first aid.

This black moor shares a 5.5gal tank (dont get mad yet!) with a smaller fancy goldfish, a very young carp, and an algae eater. They are going to all be moved to a very large glass 60gal tank as soon as the filter arrives. They are also currently eating Top Fin goldfish flakes, if that has anything to do with it.

In the mean time i would like to focus on curing the black moor before his problems progress. There is no white outline and he is still very active and eats, he even swims very quickly to the top when i open up to put food in. I dont turn on the tank light because the fish all become stressed and dart around when i do.

What else should i do? I dont want to lose my moor

If youd like i can post pictures.

 

[Noviceafter2yea]

Hello everyone, new here.

I'm at my wits end with this. About a month ago i lost a fancy calico goldfish to fin rot, it was so sudden, he was fine all day, then he suddenly just sat down in the corner of the tank and was completely lethargic. That rose a few red flags for me. When I bought him he had this bump just before the fin on his tail. I had faith that he would be fine as he seemed very active at the store. Then overnight of him getting lazy (it seemed), I awoke to find his fins nearly gone! I isolated him from his companion (the now hurting black moor) and tried to give him antibiotics, but by then it was too late, he didn't make it through the night.

Now my (still very very active) black moor has tattered and hurt fins which is worrying me because i love that fish to death and would be heartbroken if he passed. I did an almost 100% water change, because i assumed maybe it was water quality. I swished up the rocks too to get all the stuff out that was in between them, and filtered that out. I cleaned out the filter very thoroughly and let it filter the tank again after putting in Top Fin dechlorinator and Melafix Fish first aid.

This black moor shares a 5.5gal tank (dont get mad yet!) with a smaller fancy goldfish, a very young carp, and an algae eater. They are going to all be moved to a very large glass 60gal tank as soon as the filter arrives. They are also currently eating Top Fin goldfish flakes, if that has anything to do with it.

In the mean time i would like to focus on curing the black moor before his problems progress. There is no white outline and he is still very active and eats, he even swims very quickly to the top when i open up to put food in. I dont turn on the tank light because the fish all become stressed and dart around when i do.

What else should i do? I dont want to lose my moor

If youd like i can post pictures.

I think pimafix is more appropriate for fin rot. A lot of people on this forum will tell you melafix and pimafix are useless, but I use then for peace of mind.

When you use them, you have to remove the filter or all of the medicine is filtered away.

Can you set up an emergency quarantine? Google how to do it - usually a plastic container and some other things you could find around the house (nothing washed with soap).

Water quality is essential to fish health. You seem to know that your tank is too small. Your fish will be stressed by the cramped quarters and will easily be contaminated by waste.

Frequent water changes are good, but be careful doing such large changes. It stresses the fish and it could remove some of the beneficial bacteria.

You may want to get an antibiotic - best wait for other people to give you more informed feedback.

 

[Hartlander]

I think pimafix is more appropriate for fin rot. A lot of people on this forum will tell you melafix and pimafix are useless, but I use then for peace of mind.

When you use them, you have to remove the filter or all of the medicine is filtered away.

Can you set up an emergency quarantine? Google how to do it - usually a plastic container and some other things you could find around the house (nothing washed with soap).

Water quality is essential to fish health. You seem to know that your tank is too small. Your fish will be stressed by the cramped quarters and will easily be contaminated by waste.

Frequent water changes are good, but be careful doing such large changes. It stresses the fish and it could remove some of the beneficial bacteria.

You may want to get an antibiotic - best wait for other people to give you more informed feedback.

This is the first time ive done a water change that large since i've gotten the tank, and wow i didnt realize i was filtering the medicine, I thought it would help circulate it more, thank you for telling me that!

The melafix is a trial and error medicine i have laying around, it's a just in case measure. But he will be quarantined tomorrow if his symptoms seem any worse or if he becomes lazy like the first one.

 

[Noviceafter2yea]

This is the first time ive done a water change that large since i've gotten the tank, and wow i didnt realize i was filtering the medicine, I thought it would help circulate it more, thank you for telling me that!

The melafix is a trial and error medicine i have laying around, it's a just in case measure. But he will be quarantined tomorrow if his symptoms seem any worse or if he becomes lazy like the first one.

Yeah, best to QT him tomorrow so that any fungal or bacterial infection doesn't spread to the others. Maybe medicating without the filter will help.

Hope he gets better.

 

[Delapool]

Carbon in the filter will remove melafix and pimafix fairly quickly, other filter media would be only a slight effect (the organic waste on the media would soak up some but mainly not worth worrying about).

Do you have a liquid based test kit for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph?

Also how are you planning to cycle the large tank? I wasn't sure what was in your filter and how your cleaning it. What is your water change schedule? The test kit would guide so but I would of suspected twice a week, 50% until they go in the larger tank.

Some links in case useful, apologies if already known.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html