Re - occuring Fin rot? (Getting Angry Here)

[karen21]

I have a 3 stage filtration system..
Green acrylic, 2 carbon, then "noodles"!!(ceramic.)
I rinse the green and carbon in syphoned tank water. Carbon NOT every water change now.. Green, yes, if it looks clogged.. Noodles, never.
I think I am getting an "eye" for it now, (plus regular water monitoring...)
Seems to be paying off in my short fish-keeping life..
Nitratrites normal, Nitrates steady.(Been VERY bad, now well monitered and seems settled.)
No whitespot for 5mths, any sign of finrot, a dose of tonic-salts, and that shadow of what looks like finrot goes, (To me, a sign of finrot looks like an edge of white before it takes hold?? Easy to see on a red Platy.. Cured twice quickly with a dose of Tonic Salts.
I don't know.. some people think tonic salts a waste of money, but i never had any luck with Interpet's Whitespot, or their Antifungal/finrot meds.. Just made my fish lethargic and die..

[karen21]

Steady 26 degrees, and Tonic Salts keeps my finrot away..

[dkpate]

You never have to change your filter media unless it's falling apart. If it does start falling apart, then you leave as much of the old media in, and let it seed the new media. If it gets gunky, just rinse it in old tank water.

Glad to hear your betta is doing better Salty!

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by dkpate

You never have to change your filter media unless it's falling apart. If it does start falling apart, then you leave as much of the old media in, and let it seed the new media. If it gets gunky, just rinse it in old tank water.

Glad to hear your betta is doing better Salty!

Well Was doing better. :p He is doing kinda crappy again. Got a big split down his fin. Its already healing... but still. Maybe he just split it? and its not rot?

[dkpate]

Possibly. Do you know your water parameters yet? Are you still changing the water more often?

[karen21]

Originally Posted by karen21

Steady 26 degrees, and Tonic Salts keeps my finrot away..

Maybe talking too soon!
Just dosed for finrot.. Tried the Tonic Salts as before. Now Used the Interpet.
i am wondering if my new bristlenose could have brought it in?? (Or stress) He's been in for 10 days now.. He's looking pale

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by dkpate

Possibly. Do you know your water parameters yet? Are you still changing the water more often?

I am changing the water once every three days now. But its tough. There is road construction and they are messing with the water system too, So I don't know if thats it. No I still don't have my parameters. I was looking for a cheap test kit, but have had no luck. I am going to buy one this weekend.

[Saltypuppy]

Sooo I got the API Fresh Water master kit. Followed the directions on the box and got these results -

Tank # 1 (Apollo and New Fish)

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0

Tank # 2 (Blue Boy and Bon qui qui)

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0

Sooo Now what?

[dkpate]

Hmmm, 0 nitrate? Did you do the test exactly right? I know with one of them you have to put the drops in the tube with water, shake it for 30 seconds, and then add the second drops, and then shake for one minute.

[siva]

Yes, make sure you add the 10 nitrate drops from bottle #1, give the vial a shake, then shake solution #2 for 30 seconds, then add the 10 drops, then shake the vial for one minute.

Are the tanks planted? I have several planted tanks than can go 2 weeks w/o a water change and have nitrates of about 3, so it is possible that they are truly at zero if you have live plants, especially with the frequent water changes you've been doing.

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by dkpate

Hmmm, 0 nitrate? Did you do the test exactly right? I know with one of them you have to put the drops in the tube with water, shake it for 30 seconds, and then add the second drops, and then shake for one minute.

Ohhh. I didn't know I was supposed to shake it between. Hmmm. Ok. Well I will go and re test that.

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by siva

Yes, make sure you add the 10 nitrate drops from bottle #1, give the vial a shake, then shake solution #2 for 30 seconds, then add the 10 drops, then shake the vial for one minute.

Are the tanks planted? I have several planted tanks than can go 2 weeks w/o a water change and have nitrates of about 3, so it is possible that they are truly at zero if you have live plants, especially with the frequent water changes you've been doing.

My tank isn't planted. Thats what I don't get. Could my test kit be faulty? I just bought it yesterday. It was 32 bucks!! I am re running another test right now.

[Saltypuppy]

Tank # 1 (Apollo and New Boy)
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5.0

Tank # 2 (Bon qui qui and Blue Boy)
pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5.0

Re Tested I did it wrong the first time. I did all the other ones right though.

[dkpate]

Those readings are good! Clean water is still the best medicine, no matter what the readings are. Maybe you could pick up a GH and KH test sometime? It might have something to do with the fin issues too.

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by dkpate

Those readings are good! Clean water is still the best medicine, no matter what the readings are. Maybe you could pick up a GH and KH test sometime? It might have something to do with the fin issues too.

Well I just don't know what to do. Changing the water doesn't seem to help.

[Saltypuppy]

Is there any way to remove lime build up without taking out your fish?

[dkpate]

I did it with a razor blade. I scraped it off, and then just used a net and paper towel to get it out.

[Saltypuppy]

Originally Posted by dkpate

I did it with a razor blade. I scraped it off, and then just used a net and paper towel to get it out.

Thats what I ended up doing today. Took forever.

[Saltypuppy]

Are halfmoons just more prone to damage like this?

[dkpate]

I'm not sure.