# Fin rot..need advice



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

Sigh...problems yet again with my tank. Last night, i noticed one of my danios acting a bit off and looked a little "weird" not really sure how to best describe it. So I set of my "hospital" tank i recently bought, put her In there and put melafix and pima fix in. She seems to be doing well this morning, swimming actively, don't see anything on her fins, she still didn't want to eat though.

Well when my lights came on on my tank this afternoon( on automatic timer) I can see all my other 6 danios had what I'm pretty sure is fin rot. One dan was already almost dead and died before I even got him out the tank, the other 5 are just hanging out at the bottom of the tank and I can tell they have the fin rot, but i think i may have caught it early. I hope. My 6 neon tetras i don't see anything on them, they are all swimming well and pretty active. My 2 cory cats( i had 2 others, 1 died, i think he somehow injured his mouth, I think they are called barbels? And died from that, that's actually when i went by the hospital tank and stuff, but he was dead before i got home to set it up. Then 1 of the corys disappeared. I have NO idea where he went. I looked in all the decorations, i scanned the whole tank up and down looking everywhere, i even looked outside the tank in case he had somehow jumped out! I looked like this every day for 3 days before i gave up. So i have no idea where he went but for obvious reasons made me nervous if he was dead somewhere in the tank, and i couldn't find him.

Anyway, water conditions my nitrites have stayed at 0. My nitrates had gone up to about 40ppm a few days after i got some new fish( that was over 2 weeks ago now)but has come down to about 10-20ppm. but my ammonia has stayed at 0.25ppm. It had gone up once to 0.50ppm so i did a partial on the tank and have done partials about once or twice a week, but the ammonia will not come down. I put stress coat and prime in the tank. 

This is a 26 gallon bow front tank. Current fish are 6 zebra danios, 6 neon tetras and 2 corys. 

So i was hoping to avoid, but i treated the tank with pima fix and melafix. I removed the filters, and will treat for the 7 days as the bottle says. My question is i put the filters in a zip lock. Im just worried about all the good bacteria thats on them will die and I will have to try to cycle the tank from the beginning again. Will they be ok being out of the water?? 

Also, everywhere i read says to add aquarium salt to treat fin rot as well. Well I know corys are sensitive to salt so will what im doing now be enough?


----------



## Ladayen (Jun 20, 2011)

What gives you the impression it's fin rot?

Put the filters back, you're going to have an ammonia spike and that will kill your fish. You want to remove the carbon from them though. The bacteria will die if they dry out.


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Treat it with antibacterial med. Amputation might work. It saved my betta's life.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

How to i remove e carbon? It is inside the filter!

I think it's fin rot because all of their fins is turning white and rotting away. I have had this happen 2 other times ( you can read my past post) this would make the 3rd time this tank has crashed. The first two were my fault because i way overstocked, but this time i have done everything slowly and have had no problems since i first restarted it last July! If it crashes again..which I won't be surprised, thats it. I have had nothing but problems and bad luck with this tank. Im not doing it again.

Now i also think i have ich going on two. The neon do have the fin rot to, don't see it on all of them, but i saw it on one thats must have been hiding earlier, and one of the neons has two white spots on the side of his head. 

Only thing i have to treat ich is tetra lifeguard tablets. But will this be two much to use since im already treating with the pimifix and melafix?

ETA: ok i tried cutting th bottom of the filter to get the carbon out, but that's not going to work. The way the filter is made it has a couple of pockets that hold the carbon. So I threw that filter away and put the other filter( my filter thing holds two filter cartridges) in a zip block and filled it with water from the aquarium so it wont dry out.


----------



## mpfsr (Jun 22, 2011)

I have found the easiest way to treat fin rot and many other problems is to just use fresh water..and keep it coming. Sometimes after my female African cichlids drop there young they get sick from the lack of food and being weak. Keep them with extremely fresh water in there own tank for 3 days and its gone. Now all my tanks get 50% W/C weekly so I rarely ever have problems but they can come up when spawning no matter how clean the water is.
If it were me I would start doing 25% water changes every 4 hours until you have done 6 total changes (150% changed water). Then do 50% 2 times a day till they have no signs of the rot anymore. But be careful as if you don't do weekly water changes and change the water to fast that can shock and kill them too. So if thats the case do 10% every 4 hours till you reach the 150% changed. This will give them time to adapt to the new clean water.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks for the advice but it's to late. I have already lost about 10 fish, the others are dying. I am giving it up. 3rd time it's crashed..i have just accepted this tank is cursed And not meant to be. I am about to start taking it down.

But i am going to turn the tank into a big hermit crab cage. Its going to be so cute! ( i hope lol!) so at least the tank won't go to waste. But i can't deal with the stress of fish anymore. 

Thanks anyway everyone!


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

too bad. It's always worth a try.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't believe in cursed. But there are conditions that cause serial problems. You could have a disease in the tank that attacks all new fish. You could have "bad water", with something toxic (maybe in the pipes or well) or it could be unsuitable for the fish you chose or it could be erratic. There are some places that buy water from surrounding areas and change water sources repeatedly chasing price and availability causing parameters to change overnight. You could have a "bad" LFS that leaves fish in bags too long, exposed them to disease or toxic levels of ammonia, or just gives you horrible advice. 

Fish are supposed to be a relaxing hobby. If they stress you out, it makes sense to take a break. Though I tend to recommend a change instead. If you tetra die, get live-bearers and vice versa.

I will tell you to go find a hermit crab forum and read up. I have heard accounts of crabs causing stress by not eating, getting sick and dying as well.


----------



## Guest (Feb 25, 2012)

Nothing is easy to keep: fish, rabbits, crabs, frogs, plants, etc. The point is that you have to research and find out how to take care of said animal, then get on a forum pertaining to the said animal. Learn a lot about said animal, then go out and foster said animal, if possible. Then get a friend that knows lots about the said animal and stay in touch with that person. That way you are armed with the information and help is right at your fingertips if anything goes wrong with said animal.

I am not saying that you can't take care of any animal; I am saying that animals are not easy to keep, they require lots of hard work and maintenance to keep.

In my experience with clown loaches I have learned a lot. I have a friend that I stay in touch with via email and text messages and he helps me with my clown loaches when there is somethig wrong with them.

It took me years to know how to take care of fish, all kinds of fish. As they kept dying on me like they are you.

My suggestion to you is start out with the hardy fish that can withstand just about anything. Like bettas, Zebra Danios, etc. Then move onto the more sensitive ones, like clown loaches, angelfish, tetras, etc. I have 2 male bettas, 3 clown loaches, and 2 plecostomuses. I will be getting 20 neon tetras and 1 or 2 snails for my 10 gallon pretty soon after it is done cycling. Also my doubletail betta is going to get a tank like my halfmoon has, when I get the money for another betta tank.

Again I am in no way saying that you can't take care of fish, it is hard to take care of fish because they get sick and we don't know why. They look healthy at the pet store, but we get them home and they are sick for some reason.

Just do your research of different types of fish, then start with hardy fish for awhile and then move onto sensitive fish. By the time you move onto sensitive fish you will be better able to keep them.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

I have owned hermit crabs before. I raise rabbits, we have dogs, cats, ducks chickens and have owned plenty others throughout years, so I know everything comes with its own challenges. I am defiantly not one to jump into getting an animal because I just want it. I work at a vet clinic and see WAY to many cases where people just get an animal, but have no clue the cost that comes with it, and don't worry, even though ive had crabs before, i have bee researching all kinds of places to learn more. =)

Like I said..thanks again but I'm not doing it again. I already got everything packed up, and have the subtrate down for the crabs and will get rest of the supplies tomorrow, then possibly get crabs next weekend.


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2012)

Starlight said:


> I have owned hermit crabs before. I raise rabbits, we have dogs, cats, ducks chickens and have owned plenty others throughout years, so I know everything comes with its own challenges. I am defiantly not one to jump into getting an animal because I just want it. I work at a vet clinic and see WAY to many cases where people just get an animal, but have no clue the cost that comes with it, and don't worry, even though ive had crabs before, i have bee researching all kinds of places to learn more. =)
> 
> Like I said..thanks again but I'm not doing it again. I already got everything packed up, and have the subtrate down for the crabs and will get rest of the supplies tomorrow, then possibly get crabs next weekend.


I understand perfectly. I didn't know you raise rabbits, that is cool. Anyway I tried to get you to give it another chance. I hope that the hermit crab hobby will go well for you.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

Angelclown said:


> I understand perfectly. I didn't know you raise rabbits, that is cool. Anyway I tried to get you to give it another chance. I hope that the hermit crab hobby will go well for you.


Thanks, I appreciate it! I tried 3 times, I did love the tank while it was going good, i loved to sitting there and just watch the fish,but sadly, even when tank was going well i think it was stressful with the worry of what if and when things go wrong. So i think it's best to just hang it up. I have already spent and lost SO much money on this tank. Maybe some day years from now when i have the space and time, i will get a big saltwater tank. I love saltwater so much more than fresh, but just don't have the space to put a tank. we used to have a 55 gallon saltwater years ago, but after hurricane Rita, the tank crashed because we had no power, and couldn't get home. So by the time we got home everything( a lion fish, niger trigger, a tang and a wrasse i think a couple of more that i can't think of right now) was dead, only thing that lived was our snowflake eel( couldn't kill the thing! Lol it survived being accidentally stuck out the tank for a whole night,( cleaning decorations and we didn't realize he was in one of them) one tank disaster where a fish got stuck and died in a decoration, and again,we weren't home, the fish rotted and polluted the tank killing everything but the eel) so after the hurricane wiped the tank out again, we sold him back to the fish store we bought him from. He was about 17" long or so( guesstamating) he was only about 6 inches when we first bought him! I would have loved to restart the tank but my mom sold it=( I'm still sad about it,i LOVED that tank, and other than those instances, we never fought with any decease! I know the bigger the tank though, the easier to keep the water Right.

Anyway' I'll quit blabbing. I love talking about our old saltwater Tank and tend to ramble. Lol i jut finished packing all my stuff up though. Selling everything( returning a couple of items i bought just last week, including a new backup heater and master test kit) not sure how much to ask for it all since some stuff is opened obviously. But if i can sell it, someone will get a great cheaper start out on their tank!


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Three times is nothing. (It took me 14 times to get fry for betta breeding AND PLENTY of cash) I would advise you try again but it is your time and your money. keeping fish is a fun hobby and if you every get back to keeping fish, come on back to this forum!


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2012)

What master test kit do you have? I need a new water test kit. I also probably could use some of your stuff. I have a 10 gallon tank that is cycling right now but I do need stuff that I don't have the money for right now. Can you list or PM me what you have and I will let you know what I need?


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

I had the freshwater master test kit. You can get it at petsmart. Its drops not strips. I wish you lived closer, I'd sell it all to you. I have to figure out a price to ask though. 

Im still going to hang around here and read around. I enjoy hearing everyones stories and see the pictures and stuff. Thanks again everyone. Like i said, maybe one day years now i can get a nice big saltwater tank going. But that won't be for an extremally long time, but as for this tank, im not going to try again. I'm really excited about the hermit crabs, going get rest of supplies tomorrow.=)

ETA: 14 times! Wow! Im tired after 3 and that's enough for me i admire your patience and persevering! But i wasn't trying to breed, i just had it for personal enjoyment. I meant 3 times wi tank crashing, having to take down clean and start from scratch. I just don't have the desire to try again..


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2012)

Starlight said:


> I had the freshwater master test kit. You can get it at petsmart. Its drops not strips. I wish you lived closer, I'd sell it all to you. I have to figure out a price to ask though.
> 
> Im still going to hang around here and read around. I enjoy hearing everyones stories and see the pictures and stuff. Thanks again everyone. Like i said, maybe one day years now i can get a nice big saltwater tank going. But that won't be for an extremally long time, but as for this tank, im not going to try again. I'm really excited about the hermit crabs, going get rest of supplies tomorrow.=)
> 
> ETA: 14 times! Wow! Im tired after 3 and that's enough for me i admire your patience and persevering! But i wasn't trying to breed, i just had it for personal enjoyment. I meant 3 times wi tank crashing, having to take down clean and start from scratch. I just don't have the desire to try again..


Where are you located? I can do my budget and see what I can get from you and make an offer of what I can afford to spend.


----------



## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

The test kit is $19 on Amazon shipped new (shipping is not free unless you are amazon prime member). You can get them for about $25 in the store. By the time you tack on shipping I'm not certain it's worth it to go through grabbing that. However if you were snagging other stuff then it would be more worth it.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

I paid $32 for the master test kit petsmart. 

I live in South Louisiana.


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Lol I NEVER test my water. For me, breeding is personal enjoyment and to help me to afford keeping bettas. Why else breed? If you ever want something for personal enjoyment, get a betta and three corys with ghost shrimp. VERY fun to watch!


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2012)

Starlight said:


> I paid $32 for the master test kit petsmart.
> 
> I live in South Louisiana.


That is the price here for a test kit at Petco, not sure about Petsmart though. 

Shipping would be about $5 or a bit more from Louisiana to Bremerton. I think I may have to wait for the stuff. I just did my budget and I am not able to get the stuff from you until I have a bit more money.

In April I can possibly get the test kit from you. I will have to do my budget for April after I pay my bills and see what I need for my apartment.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

Ok..you can email me if you decide on the test kit.I think I have my email listed on my profile??

I actually have two kits. One kit I've been using, but it still has pleny of solution left in all the test, the other one is brand new, I just don't know if I can return it because I opened it to read directions( which I lost from first kit) and to use a couple of the test tubes. But i didn't use any of the solution.

Also though, I do plan to advertise as soon as I can figure out a fair price, to sell all stuff together. But i don't hold much hope on being able to do that, just want to let you know in case it does sell.


----------



## Guest (Feb 27, 2012)

Starlight said:


> Ok..you can email me if you decide on the test kit.I think I have my email listed on my profile??
> 
> I actually have two kits. One kit I've been using, but it still has pleny of solution left in all the test, the other one is brand new, I just don't know if I can return it because I opened it to read directions( which I lost from first kit) and to use a couple of the test tubes. But i didn't use any of the solution.
> 
> Also though, I do plan to advertise as soon as I can figure out a fair price, to sell all stuff together. But i don't hold much hope on being able to do that, just want to let you know in case it does sell.


Thank you so much for letting me know. I greatly appreciate it. If/When I do get the test kit I would like to have everything that comes with it, instructions, etc, even the cards. I will email you when I have decided.


----------



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

I have the instructions in the new kit...it's just the first one I lost it from, but its the same thing, and I have both color cards from each kit.


----------



## Guest (Feb 28, 2012)

Starlight said:


> I have the instructions in the new kit...it's just the first one I lost it from, but its the same thing, and I have both color cards from each kit.


Ok, I will let you know if/when I have the money for it.


----------

