natasha Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 I have a couple of mudfish (scaleless, freshwater fish, native to NZ) with fin rot. Have tested the water quality with regards to ammonia, nitrite and nitrate; all are at a good level. So, am looking for some ideas on how to treat this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Whenever I have fin rot in my fish I catch them and put meth blue directly on the damage several times daily until it clears up, salt in the water can also help.. But I know absolutely nothing about treating your fish in particular, if they're scaleless maybe salt woudn't be a good idea? Who knows but I cant see meth blue directly on the wound hurting, I haven't had much luck with meth blue in the water it just seems to stain everything and not achieve much.. but thats just me HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 is this in new tank you set up with peat ? if so how long have they been in there before fin rot shown what is ph level was it same as water they came out of do you have filter on syystem have they damaged fins during netting or move is substrate hard or sharp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 i had mudfish some years back used mud from habitat on bottom and put sump filter on syystem to keep water clean haven't used peat before though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 I'd put my money on insufficient filtration leading to a bacterial infection of netting wounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natasha Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Yep, was thinking about doing a water change and putting some salt in the water, but thought I'd see if there were other ideas first... It's not a peat substrate, at the moment they are in a tank with a sand/small cobble substrate, with some larger rocks for hiding under. There's also freshwater mussels in with them. I'm pretty sure their fins were fine when I first got them; have had them for almost two months now, with the fins only starting to show damage in the last few days. Not sure what the comparitive pH levels are though; also, not my tank, so not sure about the filters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 I don't think salt is a good idea - it will burn their skin if it is of high enough concentration to kill the infection - do lots of waterchanges and see if it stops - you've probably reached the critical point where they can no longer fight off the infection because there is so much bacteria in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 mud fish little buggers are prone to diving into the substrate, so might be getting injuries to fins from gravel etc wouldn't use salt myself, just in case, i might be wrong though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Hi Livingart, I am the one doing the peat substrate but it is for the same project (hi Natasha! We did a short salt dip on the weekend (one minute in 1lt water with 1tbsp salt) and there were no signs of distress - the fish seemed stupidly placid and unconcerned! I have used salt a number of times with my galaxiids (same family) and in some pretty serious doses against raging infections but always as a quick bath >1 minute. Mudfish do not have a marine whitebait stage but their ancestors did, so they are ok with salt. With injuries.... all the fins have a white edge evenly all the way around, so I doubt it is injury. The substrate does look fairly unforgiving but I would expect if worse on the lower fins if it started from injury. Natasha said to me today that a fishie person she knows is suggesting Malafix. I did a quick look on the internet and it sounds promising. When I saw the fish on saturday it seemed to be in the really early stages, so hopefully it won't be too hard to treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 hi stella good to see there is someone on the spot also good to know the brief salt dip works, thanks for info mudfish can damage all fins by pushing completely into fine gravel. the streams on our property were once full of untreated rimu sawdust and runoff from this still filters through to waterways during wet weather, mind you though they are springfed as well. there are amazing populations of galaxiids in waterways. sawdust is from old rimu mill on property and is between 50 and eighty years old ( so basically a peat substrate, but the water running in streams is springfed so very clean,) thats why i raised the question of filtration on the system sorry i can't be of more help as have only had one problem with a very large giant that had fin rot, i suspected dirty water and temp too hot from being in tank inside so i increased filtration and did a 50 percent waterchange 3 times every 4 days, fish was clear of problems in 14 days returned to stream when cleared up good luck with the muddies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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