a small concern about my pirhanas

so just today i noticed that the edges of one of my pirhanas fins is starting to turn whiter....i've also noticed that his top fin does seem to be minorly ragged... this coudl be fin rot correct?

i added a bit of aquarium salt and did a 30% water change with a little extra water conditioner to hopefully resolve the situation.... what could have triggered something like this if that's what it is? and am i treating it the right way?

thnx

 

k so i was reading up on fin rot..

stresss!

major inducer.....

i checked all my water conditions... ammonia is zero nitrate is zero my pH is at 7.8-8.0 <=== is that oh k?
the only stress causers i can think of is my bigger pirhanas being mean to the smaller one...

goign to relocate the smaller guy to a different tank.

 

Recheck that nitrAte reading. You either got it confused with nitrIte or you didn't do the test correctly because it's almost impossible to have a nitrAte of 0.

Your pH is a little high, but not high enough that I would recommend trying to change it. My pH is 8 and I keep everything from african cichlids (love the high pH) to otos, cories, plecos, and an oscar (who's ideal pH is around 6 - 7). They're all doing fine.

Can you post pics of the fins?

If it helps any, here's a pic of a betta with fin rot:


-Chelle

 

whoops

well i rechecked my tank and still my ammonia is at zero.. my NITRITE! is at 0.1...... that's what i meant to say last time...

the main reason for my concern is that the smaller first had a little nip on the end of tail fin and now it is slowly starting to get worse it seems. also just in general his fins seem a bit more ragged.. i will try and get some more photos.. really hard with the reflection from the tank and they like to move a lot.

 

alright so i went to the pet store... and i bought some Maracyn (made by mardel) supposed to treat fin and tail rot, popeye, and "body fungus". they had like three options there and it was really hard to choose.. there was the maracyn which i bought... maracyn-two.... and tetracycline.. the impression i got was that the maracyn was for fungal infections and tetracycline was for bacterial infections... because all three packages had the words "fin rot" on it.

anyways.. took some pics for you tchelle:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/Nexus13/100_1116.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/Nexus13/100_1112.jpg

here was a good pic of my slightly bigger one.... the possible bully...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/Nexus13/100_1109.jpg

also a pic of my aquarium

i'm a bit of an xbox nut so i had this going for a while... but have since removed the big X due to the worry that the paint could come off and cause stress to my little babies.



EDIT: I changed your first few pics to links. They where so big, they where messing with the page margins and forcing everyone to scroll sideways to read posts.

 

sorry for the sizing...too lazy to fix

 

Looks like it could be fin rot, but still a little difficult to tell. Even if it's just nipped fins, the Maracyn will help prevent an infection.

And yes, Maracyn is the correct med for fin rot (love the meds, but hate their lists of what it treats on the box).

For future reffernce . . .
Maracyn - gram-positive/external bacterial infections such as fin rot, columnaris (body fuzz but not true fungus), infected wounds, etc
Maracyn two - gram-negative/internal bacterial infections such as septicemia and dropsy.
Maroxy - true fungal infections (cottony growth that most often appears on injured tissue - as opposed to columnaris which appears on otherwise healthy tissue)
Tetracycline - gram-negative bacterial infections. Use for the same stuf as Maracyn two. If I'm not mistaken, it's just a stronger antibiotic.
Maracide - ich, velvet, and other parasites.

Couple other notes:
All Mardel products can be used together w/o any drug interactions (part of the reason I like them so much).
When treating with an antibiotic, ALWAYS treat for the full length of time that the instructions indicate. Otherwise you could develope a resistant strain of bacteria.

-Chelle

 

wicked!

thnx tchelle.... you're the best =-) i'm going to buy you flowers er something..

k so i shoudlnt' have any problems using it with the other pirhana in the tank hey... like it wouldn't bother him...

oh and also... good idea to move into a smaller tank? for treatment (so as to use less medicine?)

thnx muchly,

Daniel



EDIT:

oh yah... meant to ask...
what exactly is it that changes the pH of the tank.. i think i have a pretty basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle.... is it because NH4 is basic? because i'm getting a ammonia reading of 0.... hummm

 

I have some beef with Mardel... I don't really like thier products... I used to work at a pet store and we used to use mardel... a lot of the fish turned, well to put it bluntly, retarded... didn't resume normal behavior, heavier breathing, stuff like that... next time you have fin rot or any bacterial disease use something natural like Melafix... much better for the fish and the same cost

 

You are the first person I've ever heard of that's had problems with Mardel products. With the exception of Melafix and salts, they are the only meds I use.

And a little note about Melafix. I absolutely love the stuff for helping wounds heal. However, it is not a true antibiotic and therefore, it likely will not cure a full blown infection by itself. It probably would help prevent an infection and does help wounds heal more quickly than if nothing was used. But if you're dealing with a big bacterial infection, you need a true antibiotic.

-Chelle

 

Well I've used a lot of meds in my 3 yrs at this pet store... and after about a year I stopped using Mardel and had much better success... Jungle products seem to work better... and Melafix have cured the worst of infections for our store... (including septicemia) we use prof. strength... I don't know if that makes any difference... and its a great alternative to antibiotics, which do a lot of harm to sensitive species of fish... and look on any saltwater forum and you will find that you NEVER want to mix meds... even if it says it is safe on the bottle.

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree because I've never had anything but bad experiences with Jungle products and refuse to use them now. And I've never had any problems mixing mardel meds.

-Chelle

 

well at any rate... use the melafix buddy

 

Hi Fishfirst, I'm like Chelle I'll just have to agree to disagree. When I first started with aquariums I used the Jungle products with limited success. I found that some of the meds were too strong while other meds weren't strong enough, leading to resistant strains in relapse cases. I switched to the Mardel products and have used them in pet shops and my home aquariums for over 30 years and have NEVER had a problem with the Mardel products when used as directed.

 

well I specifically don't like the freshwater/saltwater combos... and I've been using jungle products for several years and haven't had a fish die/behaviorally, change with them, unlike the mardel products