Fin problems w/the girls

[BettaMomma]

Well, I posted last week on the forum that I thought Millie had some issues because her fins were splitting and ripping. I chalked it up to tormenting from Cloey the hag, and left town for 3 days. I came back to find Millie with 50% of her fins - all of them - pretty much disintegrated. I pulled her out and separated her immediately. I assumed she had endured 3 days of hard harassment, felt bad and gave her her own place to rest until I can get some more plant cover in there for them. I then noticed that she's got pinholes all over her bottom fin. I started looking everyone else over, and they all have pinholes too. EXCEPT CLOEY... Nothing else looks physically wrong with any of them except the pinholes, and some of them have splits in their tails.

I don't have water readings - I'm at work right now, but in the past whenever any water readings have been off whack they lose color, lay around on the bottom and pant heavy. They're acting perfectly normal now. (I will test their water as soon as I get home today and do water change if necessary but I just want to know what it might be that is causing the pinholes.

Brief tank history: The tank has been setup for several months, cycled. Early last week I took about 6 cups of gravel out and set it aside - then did a 100% water change and scrubbed all the algae and junk off everything w/a toothbrush. Put everything, including the seeded gravel, back in - and used the same filter media so it should have been instantly cycled.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.mushi.petfish.net/finrot.html

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm not thinking it's finrot for some reason...
I can't explain it but I don't think it's finrot..

 

[WILDER]

Is there anything else to go on, is there alot of slime in there bowl or tank.

 

[BettaMomma]

Ya know - I suppose that based on all the changes that have gone on it *could* be finrot... but I just have a feeling it's not...

Funny you should ask about the slime.
I just evicted Gary the snail last week from the tank when I did the 100% w/c. He went from a nickel-sized cutie little snail to a huge bigger-than-a-golf-ball-sized slime making ogre in just a couple of months. I had to take him out because there was a HUGE coating of slime across the entire floor of the tank and he's a poo generating MACHINE.

Over the weekend, he escaped from his little holding tank inside the big tank and he got back into the big tank so he's loose in there now again. (I will forever be referring to him as Gary Houdini) I think that's irrelevant to the whole fin issues at this point, tho.

Do you think maybe these problems could be cropping up as a result of the slimey dirty water that they were in over a week ago and it's just catching up with them now?

 

[WILDER]

Over production in slime can be a parasite, and i'm dealing with gill flukes, not saying yours have it, but my tank was quite slimey, now they are healing the slime has gone, do they look abit glossy than normal the fish, look at the gills, as mine had glossy gills and red and inflamed, over production of slime can be a parasite.

 

[WILDER]

LIMY SKIN

Several things can cause excess slime coat (NO, bettas DO NOT shed...if there's "skin" hanging off of them, there's something wrong). Dirty tank, ammonia/nitrite, bacteria or parasite. The fish is trying to protect itself from something irritating it's skin. I would clean the tank every other day for about a week. If it's still producing excess slime, I'd suspect parasites next.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I've seen this before but I've never found anything written on it. It's almost as if the fins melt away over night and they continue to do so up to the body. I don't believe it to be bacterial, but rather parasitic. I've seen nothing on the external portions of the body to assume so much, so it must be internal and I place the blame mainly on live plants and unsterilized foods.
you probably have a copper based med lying aroud,BM. I would half dose them and watch for any improvement. If there is none you should full dose and add a splash of methylene blue.

 

[BettaMomma]

YES! It does look like her fins are melting!
She looks like one of those ratty souls that is stuck to the bottom of the sea floor on The Little Mermaid movie. She looks pretty bad. I'm going to take the work cam home tonight and post some pics.

I do have live plants in there - should I take them out? I was thinking of adding more of them to give them some more hiding spots, but the copper based meds I have is Coppersafe which kills plants. So duh, I just answered my own question. I should probly pick up some fakeys until this whole thing blows over.

As far as live foods go, I don't give them any - well, I do give them frozen blood worms. Might that be a problem? I feed those to everyone and nobody else seems to be having problems - could be the plants then, I guess.

I don't have any meth blue but I should get some, I've been meaning to.

Gary's butt is outta there for good the second I get home, too. That little punk.

 

[eudielynn]

BettaMomma, I have a little golden gourami that was torn up by three others several months ago. Even after I got rid of them his fins just seemed to be deteriorating. His ventral and pectorals especially, they were down to nothing!! I quarantined him and added maracide and salt to the water which finally stopped the rot or whatever it was. After about two weeks I put him back in the main tank and he has just now started to grow his fins back in where he can really swim again. Before it was just like he was treading water to stay alive. It was like nothing I've ever seen before, but apparently the maracide worked. I never thought he would live with so much of his fins missing, but he did!!

 

[OrkyBetta]

Thats too bad about your fish, bettamomma. I can't help but laugh at Gary though, what a character. Post pics and I will try to help you.