# Fin Rot Raucous



## Fish (Jan 22, 2005)

Hi everyone. I was just wondering if any of you knew a good way to get rid of fin rot. Usually when i get new fish(guppies,tetras,swordtails), they usually get fin rot. Recently i had a guppy fry in a breeder net and when i put it in the normal tank it almost instantly started losing it back fin. Ive used the saltremedy treatment thing a while ago and it didnt work that good. Is there any other stuff i could do to get rid of it? Also i have basically a 10G setup to work with. Thanks for any info you have.


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## buffy24 (Jan 18, 2005)

Hiya Fish!

I am sorry to hear about your problem. I encountered a fin rot problem with one of my fantail fish and like you, the back fin started to rot away. I managed to solve it by using the King British Fin Rot and Fungus Control fish treatment. I don't know what country that you are in so you may not be able to get this product, but I am sure that if you go into a proper pet shop that they will store this type of medicine. I used it each day for about a week and then Tommy's back fin started to grow back and he is fine now (assuming that Tommy is a 'he'!) I am just a beginner so I am sure that there may be other types of treatment that you can use that I am unaware of. 

I hope this helps :?: 

Buffy24


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Meds are not necessary when dealing with finrot. Clean water is the key. Adding melafix tends to help sooth the wound and can speed up the healing.


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## PhaidOut (Jan 22, 2005)

I guess my question is what kind of "fin rot" do you have? There are several different causes for fins to disintegrate off a fish - mostly bacteria. When the fins are rotting away what do they look like? Sulfa based medications or antibiotics like Neomycin & Tetracycline might work. 

I am not saying you have the version I am about to describe, but it is the only one I have personally seen in a long time. Maybe others can provide some insight into it as well. I have seen it in the last year but never seen before. No nipping nothing - fins just disintegrate looks like typical fin rot but none of the traditional remedies for your typical fin rot work though. All my local contacts have mentioned it and it appears to be something they are not familiar with but not terribly common - most have heard about the same tanks as I have or another one here and there. NOTHING stops it though. Fish were okay - except their fins disappeared. I personally have seen it wipe out a 150g of African Cichlids (came in with a new fish from an LSF) and a commercial display tank full of fish at an LSF (not same one as African came from). Not sure if it is a virus, fungus or a bacteria. It could be just a treatment resistant strain brought on from the soup they grow fish in overseas - don't know. One of them tried leaving the tank empty of a couple weeks and reintroducing a couple feeder gold fish - still got the rot. It is like you seem to describe - it is rapid when it infects the fish takes maybe a day to 2 tops depending on size of the fish to eat the fins. Effects look like your typical try "fin rot". Doesn't necessarily strike a fish immediately but even a fish by itself will eventually get it. Eventually all the fish in both tanks I seen did die. My friend with the 150, literally tried everything. He had some pretty exotic Africans. Cost him some serious cash losing them all. Both people eventually used different methods of wiping it out - but they kill EVERYTHING in your tank. But on the bright side - they have not seen a reoccurrence. One used a couple gallons of bleach (150g) and let it circulate for a couple days. The other used 2 cups of formaldehyde leaving it to circulate for 3 days. Then clean the filters, replace most of the water and cycle the tank.... 

Side note since I do not know where you are getting your fish. Don't get your fish at a department store or one of the big chain pet stores. The ones I know around here all use the same distributor. Atrocious fish. I know some people working at them as well - how I got to know who their distributors were. Same amount of fish or less in the tanks and they clean out more dead fish daily then the locally owned LSFs I know do in a month. Personally, I won't buy from anyone with a central filtration system either. Regardless of what they say you do get cross contamination. Actually I am trying to only buy from other hobbists - what I can find anyhow.

Good Luck


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