Fin rot...anythingmore i can do?

Question

i jus found out that one of my platy has fin rot...she was breathin very hard and laying at te bottom of the tank...upon closer look, i realise her fins are eroded...i immediately did a 30% water change and transfer her to a quarrentine tank and added some finrot med and increased the aeration...

ammonia: 0

nitrite:0

nitrate: not sure as i ran out of test...

wat more can i do?

Answer 1

add rocksalt along with your medication your doing the right thing.

Answer 2

What medication did you use?  Things like Melafix are useless to treat existing infections.  Maracyn is erythromycin, which is gram positive effective.  Fin rot is caused by a gram negative bacterium which is entirely resistant to Maracyn.  Maracyn 2, however, is extremely effective minocycline.  At this point, all you can do is frequent water changes to keep the water quality good, which will also reduce stress, allowing the fish to help fight the infection.  Do NOT add rock salt-- this is not purified and contains many contaminants, many of which are metals that can be very toxic to fish.  A bit of aquarium salt (as directed on the container) or a couple grams of table salt per gallon (in ADDITION to medication) would aid in reducing the fish's osmotic stress, and would also allow it to fight off the infection more effectively, even though salt itself won't treat the infection.

Answer 3

there are special drops you can get at the pet store that  you put in the tank to help fin rot.

Answer 4

Okay. When my Betta had Fin Rot, I lost him because I didn't have this information.

You will need to go out and buy, Aquarium Salts, MelaFix, Quick Cure, and maybe AquaSafe.

You will have to change her water every 3 days, doing 100% water changes.

When you clean her, here's the steps you must do.

-Put her in a bag or another place to keep her safe while you are cleaning her quarrentine tank, a bowl you use to clean them would be perfect.

-Take the tank and dump the rock/gravel, throw it away, the bacterial will collect in it.

-Take any decorations out and set in hot soapy water.

-Next take your tank and wash it with dish soap and a sponge, just a solid color sponge, nothing fancy.

-Rinse the inside and outside with cold water. Then hot water.

-Rinse out your sponge completely, and add some MelaFix to it  (just enought to coat the bottom), scrub it around and then rinse again with hot water.

-Set your tank aside to air try for a few minutes and do the same process with the decorations.

-Dry the tank off and add new rock/gravel.

-Read the directions on the Aquarium Salts now! Some have to be used before you add the water, some afterwards.

-Add your water, put your dechlorinator in and let it sit for ONE hour with the filter running.

-After one hour put the bag inside the tank with her in it.

-After 45 minutes test the water in the bag with the water outside the bag, if its about the same then put her inside the tank.

-Read the directions on the Melafix and QuickCure, both can be used together, you may need to call PetSmart or someplace like that to see if your Fin Rot medicine can work with those too.

-Take any carbon filter out! It'll stop some of the medicine from following back into the water.

Here's what the medicines do...

Aquarium Salts--Help build a slime coat that fish naturually have to help them fend off diseases, such as Fin Rot. Also promotes healthy Gill Function, and help keeps Bacterial and Fungal diseases away.

MelaFix--I am not a strong fan, but I use it as a precaution. It's good for other diseases too, and can help fight Fin Rot.

Quick Cure--Again, a precaution I use it when my fish aren't totally up to par. I can be used to help fight Fin Rot.

Fin Rot occurs when a tank is dirty. It's not VERY contagious but I suggest for the main tank, you do the same thing so your other fish do not catch it. Fin Rot can easily happen, whether you miss a few days when you met to clean it, or a tank is malfunctioning.

I hope that helps, good luck sweety. E-mail me if I can be of any more help.

Answer 5

moving the fish can stress it more and cause more infections if the fish is already unhealthy. add a fin rot treatment but if the disease has become too advanced the bacteria will get into the blood stream and poison the fish. if it is breathing hard it may be to far gone. a treatment can only irradicate a disease not nurse the fish back to health so the condition of the fish is a big factor as to if it will recover .

keep a close eye on all other fish for a few weeks to make sure no others display any symptoms.

Answer 6

Fin rot is a sign that your water is dirty..

Treat her for 10 days, and see if she is better after that.

Answer 7

.....treat with Maracyn

.....the med will kill the conditional bacteria

.....the med also will affect the aeroibc bacteria colony in the water filter

.....so prepare for another round of frequent water changes

.....the active carbon cartrideges should be removed from the filter

.....do a 30% water change

....then add Mracyn

.....in 3 days do another 30% water change

(always add back dechlorinated water, that is similar in tmep to the tank water temp) use luke warm water

......raise the tank temperature to ~78F to 80F....as cooler water favors the 'fin -rot' bacteria

.....NOW, is this a secondary situation?.......if fin root is secondary to ICH, for example, the tank health is jeopardized

...by keeping water temps above 76F we all avoid an 'outbreak' of Ich

.....i include a website to explain the kreb cycle of nitrogen, as well as, to describe the need to change our tank water frequently enough

Hope this works well for your tank.