whats causing this fin rot on these pics?

[lux_06]

hello,

im still yet to beat whatever is affecting my fish, 2 and a half weeks of copper thinking i had ich or velvet was inaffective (had to stop early cos puffer didnt look good), my koran had stopped eating so i freshwater dipped him only for 30secs as i though he was gone but came back and is better now, his rapid breathing stopped after the dip is this an indication as to what methods i should use to combat this? his breathing is now rapid again and his fin rot is a big concern.... hes struggling to swim, also much more agggressive after 4 weeks in a 40g qt. everyone is still eating also but breathing heavily, any idea from these shots what is in my tank and do you think hypo is the best option as the dip seemed to work somewhat? any help would be great.

thanks

you can see his tail is disintergrating here

have a look at how short and brown his pectoral is....

again this shot shows just how much fin he is missing

 

[Rondelet]

What are your water parameters? Have you ruled out possible ammonia burn?

 

[lux_06]

well ive got 5 fish in a qt tank theve have been in for 4 weeks now, this tank is running off a eheim canister filter that origianlly cycled my 100g so im pretty trusting in the filter. the fact that 1 fish is only showing this decay and that it has been present in 2 tanks makes me think its parastie or fungus related.

params are just as they should be and this condition was with him in the display and is now more obvious in qt, i occasionally notice he has white square or trianlge spots on his fins but shows no small whitespots to convince me its ich.

all other fish have healthy fins with no decay at all but all of the fish are breathing heavily. from doing some reading overnight im gonna treat with some maracyn 2, and i may go back to copper again if his fins clear up as im convinved ive got some parasite of some form in there.

 

[ufchristyb]

How long has the problem been going on with the fins?

How long has the rapid breathing been present?

What is your ammonia level? Please check it if you haven't yet. My QT had a "cycled" biowheel and small protein skimmer, and still had ammonia issues.

--Christy

 

[lux_06]

um the fins have been in a decayed state for 2 weeks maybe? from what i can see the whole area around the fin skin included is lookin funny...

fish breathing heavily has been going on for a month or more, copper did not stop it but a freshwater dip did. (zero nitrite too tested by the lfs) other tank mates show no fin decay at all, all eating fine

am level - 0ppm just done the test then, going to lfs now to get a double check tho.

thanks

adam

 

[lux_06]

ok amonia test came back at zero so i hope i can rule that out.

gonna go for a formaldehye dip next, anyone think this is a bad idea?

 

[ufchristyb]

Formalin is quite harsh, and can actually cause tissue death. I wouldn't recommend that for fin breakdown unless you really know there is a parasitic element that requires formalin.

When you did the freshwater dip, did you see any black spots in the bottom of the water? Could possibly be black ick, which would be extremely difficult to see on that fish. Good thing is that freshwater dips work like a charm.

As for the fin problem, you may just want to try a broad spectrum antibiotic like Furan2 or the like.

Also, how is the nutrition and the living quarters - is there anything that would be causing the fish undue stress or nipping at him?

--Christy

 

[lux_06]

ive had someone look at the fish thinking it may actually have brooklynella, the formaldehyde dip in saltwater has not been a success yet, i dipped at half dose and it bothered him way too much, as soon as he was back in the qt tank he went scratchign like crazy, did a 25% water change in the tank overnight to make sure the water is as good as possible and am running carbon in there to remove any residues in the tank.

im going back to freshwater dips now as they seem to be the only thing working.

nutrition is pretty good, fish get 1 black mussel a day plus a cube of mysis, half in the morning half at night.

only other tankmate id think would nip would be my small blue spot puffer but i have spent so much time watching this tank and have seen nothig to suggest this, the koran has become the boss of this small qt tank for sure, wont be bossed around at all. he wasnt agrresive at all in the display but in a smaller tank hes behaviour is much more full on.

i will try and get a good photo of the area im worried about behind his pectoral fin so ill be back later with an update.

thanks

adam

 

[ufchristyb]

Yes, a better pic would be good. Only thing about Brooklynella is that generally it starts with gasping, rapid breathing, and by the time it progresses to where its visible on the body of the fish, the fish is generally a goner unless you aggressively treat. I don't think your fish would still be around after 4 wks of gasping and 2 wks of skin problems if it was untreated brook. But, if it is brook, you are on the right track with the formalin. Make sure when you do the dips to super-aerate the water to make it easier on the fish. Definitely post a pic though if you can get a better one.
--Christy