mustcooktea Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 Hi all I have finally set up my son’s tropical fish tank (600 x 300 x 400 mm). His filter sat in my daughter goldfish tank for about a month to get it established until we got back from our Christmas break and tests were showing no ammonia, no nitrite and about 5 mg/L nitrate at the last water change on Tuesday. We added 8 glowlight tetras almost three weeks ago (they are the only fish in the tank so far) and a couple of them seem to have fin rot on their dorsal fin. I presume that this is the result of the stress of being moved. The fins have ragged and slightly fluffy white edges. I have added some salt, some on Tuesday and some on Thursday (now up to about ½ tsp per litre) and the fin rot seems to be not getting any worse or any better. Both affected fish are still active and eating. Should I add more salt? Do I need to get some kind of medication? Thanks for your help MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Not sure what to recommend but adding more salt is probably not the best idea, if you've added the recommended dose already... On my pack it says to add 1 tsp for 20l... Wouldn't add more than that for sure though! Maybe there's some meds specific for fin rot out there? You could definitely try Stress Coat or something similar... Do you use a Water Ager? If yes, try to get the ones that contain Aloe Vera - they're supposed to be good for the fishies The one we use is from Science Products - name: Complete Water Treatment and Conditioner. I wouldn't say that the fin rot is caused by stress (even though I am not sure about this) but rather from fin nipping maybe... Were they rotted when you bought them already? If yes, maybe someone was picking on them in the LFS tank... Are there just the 8 tetras in there? HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 If you have used 1/2 tsp of salt per litre you need to change the water ASAP now that this treatment has been undertaken. I would say that 1 tsp to 20 litres would be a better dose rate however they are quite hardy so if you start changing water now you might be all right 50 percent now then 30 percent daily for at least 3 days IMHO. Hopefully your filter will keep up but that amount of salt added over two days may have killed it anyway so keep testing the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Pm sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Thanks for the replies! I have maintained the salt at same level since the last post since I wasn't sure what else to do. The level I used was the same as the level mentioned in another post for medicinal purposes. I would have thought that 1 tsp per 20 litres wouldn't have done much and would be a 'tonic' dose? It would be good to have this clarified. The two fish with fin rot in the original post are looking exactly the same and are still active and eating. Obviously the salt hasn't helped so since it seems I have overdosed them I will dilute it down with water changes. Other developments in the tank are that another fish has the top of its dorsal fin missing but without the fluffy edge. Another fish developed swimming balance problems on Sunday evening so that it couldn't stay up the right way. I put it in quarantine but it died during the night . I will need to get some medicine specific for fin rot. What do others use? Thanks for your help. I want to get this sorted so that we can we can add other fish to the tank. MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Good Morning MCT! Sorry to take so long to see this, must have missed it in my scans over the forums. The best medication to add to your tank for fin rot is Melafix, readily available from your LFS. I would also add Methylene Blue, as the fluffy white bit is most probably fungus and a secondary infection to the fin rot. Meth blue will stain your tanks silicone and/or hoses blue (and anythng you might accidentally splill it on) but it's worth every little blue smudge. Also good for preventing eggs from fungusing if/when you ever want to breed those glowlights! So yes, Melafix for tail rot (and a lot of other things). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Here I go again, and I don't get a commision. Use methylene blue. Catch the fish, keep it in the net, use an eyedropper and apply a drop directly onto the affect area. Don't do this over the carpet, do it over the tank. release fish back into the tank after holding it in the net for a minute. It seems a long time, but they will last longer than that on the floor and they are being cradled in a wet net. Treating like this, you don't have the staining in the tank. But make sure you don't get any into the gills of the fish As far as the 1tspn per 20 litres of salt goes. mmmmm Leave the unopened bag of salt beside the tank, touching it of course, and IMHO, that's about what that dosage is worth. We commonly use one tspn per four litres with our killies. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 We commonly use one tspn per four litres with our killies. Alan 104 Which is a very high rate - but not as high as one tsp per 2 litres which is in the tank in question at the mo. And I doubt whether Glowlight tetras are as hardy or enjoy Hard water conditions like a killifish who lives in puddles and swamps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Fin rot is a bacterial disease and neads to be treated with an antibiotic. These are expensive and prescription only meds. I would use Furan 2 from your pet shop. It also contains methylene blue in small amounts which will help with the opportunist invasion of fungi which usually follows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Alan...I don't know if you can get that *blue stuff here...must look next time in store. But I thought Melafix was good for fin rot as well. How's the fishies doing Mustcooktea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Melafix contains natural antibiotics that can fight fungus and fin rot as well as many other ailments. While it isn't a cure-all, it's a good start for trying to help out sick fishies before moving on to the heavier stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 When I lost my first guppy, I think I was too late trying the melafix. One of my mollies had a small crescent moon shaped piece of his tailfin missing, I was scared after what happened to the guppy so I treated the tank and within a few days his tail was good as gold. With that said, I now have a guppy (has been treated with the melafix) because tail wasn't looking the best but no change, tail is the same. No worse, no better :-? But, I am guessing like all "additives" you should only use as a last resort???? Unless, of course, you know exactly what you are dealing with, would that be fair to say BlueandKim???? Mustcooktea...how is the neon doing? Any changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted February 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 How's the fishies doing Mustcooktea? Hi Caper I have only just got back from town where I was able to get some Melafix and some 'Aqua Blue' which is apparently the same as methylene blue. I will be busy reading the instructions and dosing the tank this afternoon. Thanks for the tip on using the methylene blue Alan; I will try that. The fish that were first affected are looking just the same but a couple of other fish have the tops of their dorsal fin missing without the fungus. All their other fins seem unaffected which seems strange. Could their be a bully in the tank? I thought that glowlight tetras were peaceful fish :-? (Water tests a couple of days ago showed no ammonia, no nitrites and trace nitrates). I'll let you know how things go. Thanks MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Well, I am glad that after my post the other more knowledgeable folks of the forum managed to see your initial post and help you out! :lol: I'll leave it to them to direct you any further I hope you'll succeed in curing your fishies - Good luck! :bounce: Alan: Regarding the salt dosage - Firstly, I just went by what it says on the tonic salt package we have and was just trying to provide some sort of helpful advice to MCT as everybody else seemed to have overlooked this posting. Secondly, I believe Killies are reknown for demanding saltier water, however, I am not aware of this applying to Glowlight Tetras or Tetras in general. Apart from this, as has already been said, the dosage used by MCT is even higher than the one you use for your Killies, thus most definitely being excessive if not used in a quarantine tank for specific purposes IMHO. I think, even an unexperienced hobbyist like myself can see this. I will however try having our tonic salt bag sitting next to the tank (touching it) and see if the effect is the same as adding the suggested dose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 Some people add salt with killies (particularly Nothobranchius sp.) to discourage velvet. Salt increases the amount of slime produced by the fish, which can be usefull, but I suspect not very usefull in treating fin rot. I have never used malifix so I don't know how good it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 i found it quite good when my oscar got beat up, healed him up pretty fast but im a bit iffy using it because it irritates the wound into healing ive heard... i know i wouldnt like having someone shove a heap of salt in a big wound of mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted February 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 Update - the fish are all still happy and active. They all rushed to the front of the tank when I went to check on them this morning. It is too soon to tell whether the Melafix is helping with the fins. I tried Alan's idea with the methylene blue and found it rather tricky but it does seem to have helped the fungus. When I treated the first fish the liquid immediately surrounded the fish and I was concerned because Alan had said to avoid getting it into the gills so I put the fish straight back into the water. I did a little better with the other fish with fungus but it was jumping about so much I put it back in the tank too. I wasn't sure whether I had treated them long enough for the medication to have any effect (although one of them had a blue tinged fin ). Keeping fingers crossed now for them to heal up. MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 Good to hear Mustcooktea...keep us posted! :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 Yeah fingers crossed MCT. Just a thought - do your test kits work in salt water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 I know my test kit for ammonia does because it comes with a different card for saltwater... :oops: :oops: ...but then, my test kit is probably not quite the same :oops: :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted February 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 Just a thought - do your test kits work in salt water? Yes they do. Good thought though Tanksman! MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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