?fin Rot?

[Austin_09]

I read a post earlier this morning saying that its bad to keep Cories with gravel. It said that it could cause the Cories to get Fin Rot.

I have been keeping 2 cories in my 20G. One of them has almost no fins.. I've been suspecting fin rot. Well guess what I have in my 20G.. Gravel! So.. I was wondering what I should do. Is there any way I can fix this? I have no money for sand.. and I have no tanks that have sand. So... What should I do?

 

[robyngunston]

I have gravel in my tank too and also have a Cory with battered up fins, I thought one of my other fish were attacking him when I was not around? His tail has holes in it and the main fin - dorsal fin I think it is called - seems to now have slits is yours like that to??

 

[flumpit2]

austin 09,have you got any childrens play sand lieing around or have your neighbours got any you can pinch abit from?apparently you can use this aswel as long as you wash it properly first.

cory cat,sorry,i cant help you but as a suggestion have you tried posting in the tropical fish emergencies section?you may get a quicker response there as if it is fin rot it could easily & quickly kill your cories.
x

 

[flumpit2]

just found this pic of fin rot even tho its not on a cory.might help give you an idea of what it can look like tho. x

 

[Inchworm]

Unless it's sharp or otherwise abrasive, gravel will not cause fin rot. The problem comes when the gravel is not vacuumed often or well enough to remove the dirt and uneaten food that tends to accumulate there. Corys like digging in the sand and if spending time cleaning gravel is a problem, you will find that sand is easier to keep clean since the dirt settles on top of it and can be very quickly vacuumed away.

If you like the idea of sand, play sand from Home Depot or other home improvement stores costs less than $3.00 for a 50 pound bag. You will only want to put in an inch or less of it in, so one bag will go a long way. Just spend the time needed to wash it thoroughly before adding it to your tank.

Finrot is a bacterial infection which comes from bacteria that are normally in everyone's tanks. It only becomes a problem when the fish's immune system has been lowered by some kind of stress. This can include dirty gravel, especially if uneaten food is present, high nitrates or nitrites, overcrowding or aggressive tankmates, temperature fluctuations especially sudden increases in temperature, infrequent or too small water changes, low oxygen content in the water or other factors.

When this happens it's necessary to treat the condition with medicine and remove the cause of the stress that brought on the problem.