danajs

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Does anyone know what this red patch on my Tiger Barb’s belly could be? (He/she isn’t usually quite this pale - I couldn’t get a photo last night, so this was taken the moment I turned the light on this morning).

I first noticed this last night, after not seeing this Barb for a day or so, but couldn’t net him or anything. I don’t have a quarantine tank, but have now managed to create some form of set up within the tank using a jug.

I can also see it looks like there has been some fin nipping going on!

Tank is 120l, with 8 Tiger Barbs, 8 Rummynose Tetras and 6 Peppered Corydoras (and the nerite snail 🐌). Heated to 24°C, pH 6.5, Ammonia 0.00 and Nitrite 0.00.

No aggression between the fish, other than some bickering between the Barbs.

Other fish are active, feeding well and are showing no signs of any redness or anything.
 

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It's either a bacterial infection or a wound. There is damage to the anal (bottom) fin with blood there too and that would suggest a wound. If it was just on the belly then I would say bacterial.

You can try salt or a broad spectrum medication, or clean the tank each day for a week and see if it helps. If it doesn't improve after a couple of water changes then look at medication or salt.

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What to do now
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

If there's no improvement after a couple of big water changes and cleaning the filter, or it gets worse, then add some salt and monitor for a day or two. If it gets worse with salt then look at a broad spectrum medication.

Post more pictures in a few days if it's not better.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for 1 to 2 weeks.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water (2 litres or 1/2 gallon) and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
It's either a bacterial infection or a wound. There is damage to the anal (bottom) fin with blood there too and that would suggest a wound. If it was just on the belly then I would say bacterial.

You can try salt or a broad spectrum medication, or clean the tank each day for a week and see if it helps. If it doesn't improve after a couple of water changes then look at medication or salt.

---------------------

What to do now
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

If there's no improvement after a couple of big water changes and cleaning the filter, or it gets worse, then add some salt and monitor for a day or two. If it gets worse with salt then look at a broad spectrum medication.

Post more pictures in a few days if it's not better.

---------------------

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for 1 to 2 weeks.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water (2 litres or 1/2 gallon) and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
Thank you 😊

I have Myxazin in the cupboard, would this be appropriate? Or is there something else you’d recommend?

I’ve seen posts online about septicaemia in fish, would you say it’s unlikely on this occasion? Given the nipped/damaged fins?

Pesky Barbs 🙄
 
Waterlife Myxazin is fine and should do the job. You can use salt and Myxazin at the same time if it's not responding to just one treatment.

I doubt it's septicemia. If your concerned, do a big clean (glass, filter, gravel, big water change) then add some of the Myxazin.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the top right side of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using medications or salt because they reduce the oxygen level in the water.
 

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