Fin Rot

[Essjay]

According to my bottle of myxazin, you dose every day for 5 days. If you see ammonia and/or nitrite, do a water change then add the dose. In severe cases, one course of 5 days may not be enough. In this case, I'd do a water change on day 6 then start another 5 day course.

Warning - it'll turn the water blue! Don't spill any on your clothes.

 

[lisa2701]

Brilliant, thank you for all your advice. The bottle says its five day treatment for 40gallon tank so I've got plenty to repeat the treatment.

I will keep a close eye on the water quality. Glad you told me it turns the water blue before I done it and panicked. LOL.

 

[lisa2701]

Okay dokey, 100% water change done and medication added. I have also added in some mature filter media, of both sponges, is this ok? I replaced what I took from my filter with new sponge, and infact I added an extra bit of sponge into the filter in the main tank so that it's their if I need it in future. Is this ok to do that? It won't harm my cycle will it?

In future does the dose just get added straight to the tank or dissolved in a cup of water first?

 

[Essjay]

Unlike some medication, myxazin doesn't mention mixing in a cup of water first. I add it straight to the tank. I add it slowly into the flow of water coming out of the filter so rather than just hang in the water and mix slowly it gets whisked away and mixed pretty much instantly.

What you've done with the filters is good. It is possible you may see a bit of ammonia and/or nitrite for a day or so with it being a newly cycled filter but if you do see any it won't take the filter long to make up the amount of bacteria you've moved. Just do water changes as necessary to keep them below 0.25 till the bacteria catch up.

Whenever you do anything like this to the filter or when you add new fish it is good practice to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for a few days till you know they are going to stay at zero.

 

[lisa2701]

Unlike some medication, myxazin doesn't mention mixing in a cup of water first. I add it straight to the tank. I add it slowly into the flow of water coming out of the filter so rather than just hang in the water and mix slowly it gets whisked away and mixed pretty much instantly.

What you've done with the filters is good. It is possible you may see a bit of ammonia and/or nitrite for a day or so with it being a newly cycled filter but if you do see any it won't take the filter long to make up the amount of bacteria you've moved. Just do water changes as necessary to keep them below 0.25 till the bacteria catch up.

Whenever you do anything like this to the filter or when you add new fish it is good practice to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for a few days till you know they are going to stay at zero.

Thanks. I will add the medication like you suggest.

I was only able to put in the white finer sponge as extra, the course sponge was far too big to be able to add a second, but figure its better than nothing. I replaced what I took of the black one obviously.

I will keep a close eye on the water over the next few days. To be honest I've been keeping a close eye on it anyways, but probably have dropped it down to every second day so will start testing daily again. I have been doing 25% water changes daily for the last few days in the main tank to help reduce the salt content for the fish in there as I don't think they tolerated it very well so I will just keep this up until I am 100% sure the cycle hasn't been effected.

Thanks again

Here's an update in pictures:

 

[lisa2701]

I thought I had lost him this morning when I got up and couldn't find him. Eventually found him tucked up beside the filter just floating at the surface (not on his side, right way up). He was barely moving and I seriously thought he was a goner! Anyways, After seeing him move slightly I added his medication into the water and almost immediately he swam over and into the blue cloud that was dispersing through the tank. Since then he's hunted around the bottom on his tank looking for food, and had a good wee swim before resting again. He's lost what he had left of his tail and is really having to use all other fins to help him swim now, ironically his others fins look perfectly healthy.

The thought that euthanizing him would be kinder has come to mind a couple of times, but even if i was 100% sure, I don't think I could bring myself to do it. i hope he starts showing signs of improvement soon.

The fish in my main tank are still itching despite several water changes diluting the salt, but there isn't any signs of white spots either so I am at a loss with them. They keep flicking themselves off the sand, not all the time but every so often one will do it. The water parameters are all fine so I am not sure what to do?

 

[Essjay]

Keep an eye on the main tank just in case spots do appear. Flashing can also be water parameters so keep an eye on those too.

The fish being treated - all you can do now is wait and hopefully the med will start to have an effect soon. The main thing is to stop the finrot, but it'll take a little while for his tail to regrow. It may never grow back quite they way it used to be but he should still be able to use it.

 

[lisa2701]

HAve done a full run down of water parameters.

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:20ppm

The hospital tank:

Ammonia: 0 - 0.25 (in between)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

As you said I'll keep a close eye on the fish and take it from there.

 

[lisa2701]

0% of tail left but still fighting his little heart out. He seems to have perked up again. Its a rollercoaster ride for him. Hoping the medication is helping, he's the first thing I check in the morning. Praying he survives, goodness knows he deserves to.

 

[lisa2701]

TIme for an update, the little guy is still with us, the rotting of his tail has stopped/slowed (although he literally has no tail left) but unfortunately one of his Pectoral fins has gone white and started rotting. . I am shocked at this happening given I am now on the fourth day of five in treatment. I thought i'd have to do a longer treatment than normal for him but I didn't expect a new fin to start rotting. Is this little guy doomed no matter what I do for him do you think? He's spent the last couple of days hugging the filter in take as well, don't know if thats if significance?

 

[Essjay]

I'm sorry to hear the little chap isn't doing well. Sometimes a fish just can't recover. It is possible he's hugging the filter as the tank water is being sucked into the filter and he's just drifting with the water rather than waste energy trying to swim.

Keep an eye on the other fins just in case he shows signs of recovery, but if the rotting moves to his body I would end it for him. Do you know about using clove oil to euthanase fish?

 

[lisa2701]

No having owned fish for less than two weeks euthanasia is not something I'd even thought about. Jeeze, I really am gutted if it comes to that. He does still come down into the tank and have a swim, get something to eat etc but I think ur right about just not wanting to swim against the flow.

 

[Essjay]

Putting a fish down is something no-one wants to do, but sometimes it is necessary to stop a fish suffering when there is no hope of recovery. So long as the rot is only in his fins, there is hope. If it eventually starts to rot his body, it is kinder to end the suffering.
If it does get this far, just ask about how to do it. Those of us who have had fish for years (I started in 1996) have had to do it at some time.

 

[lisa2701]

Will body rot be obvious? What are the signs?

 

[Nightstar99]

Based on research I've done on the net, bacterial fin rot apparently starts in the fish's intestines and then leaks out into the blood stream. This causes blood vessels to rupture, this is most noticeable in the tail as the tissue dies off as the blood flow stops, but it is also going on inside the fish and can kill them faster than the external symptoms.

Unfortunately when the tail has completely gone it may well be too late as the infection will be too far spread.

As he hasnt responded to the Myaxazin you could try and treat for fungal fin rot instead. I'm afraid I dont know if you can use these too meds at once.

I hope he pulls through but in your case I am afraid that I would be hunting down some clove oil rather than let him suffer for much longer.

Edit: Additionally fish dont really catch finrot, they succumb to it when their immune systems are weakened through stress or other illness. It may not be the main cause of his problem.