Fin Rot?

[Leetch]

Just yesterday I noticed one of my firefish in a location they don't normally go to. Upon inspecting it, it seemed "out of sorts". It's dorsal was a bit droopy and it was a tad lethargic, then I noticed it's tail looked like it had been chewed on by other fish. Fortunately it's still eating.

This is a bit alarming to me as I had a chromie drop dead a few weeks back with the same symptoms but it was done for in about 2 days and recently I had a tailspot blennie just disappear overnight (I think he got sick and croaked in one of his caves).

Does this sound like fin rot to you? Nitrates sit between 8-9, no nitrite or ammonia to speak of, Ph around 8.4 - 8.5. They all have been holding steady at those numbers for weeks now. I've been doing regular water changes using distilled water so I'm not concerned with any contaminents from the water unless it's the salt. I use the Marineland Salt which I was told is one of the better salts so I'm assuming it's not that.

All my other fish seem to be fine, the other firetail and the 2 clowns. Any thoughts or suggestions?

P.S. ( I do have some melafix to use if I need to but before dosing, I need to ID what it is)

[Parrothead]

can you post some pics so we can all be on the same page

[Leetch]

can you post some pics so we can all be on the same page

I'll try to get some today when I run home for lunch. I did notice a white spot on his side (pretty sizeable) so I'm assuming (which I shouldn't do) it's some sort of skin ulcer. It's definately not ick as there is only one spot and it's much larger than the ick spots I've seen before and my other fish are all healthy.

[Parrothead]

what you need to do, even before we figure out what you are dealing with here, is get a hospital/qt tank set up, all you really need is a 20 gal. with a sponge filter and an air pump to hook up to the sponge filter, this way you can get the infected fish out of population and treat the fish, versus treating the tank which can have some nasty leftover results

[Leetch]

Yeah - he's in a QT now - didn't have a chance to take any pics. All fins have some sort of deterioration on them and the big white spot on his left side. Things seem to be stable for now, he's still eating and doesn't seem as lethargic right now.

[leebca]

Fin rot is most a bacteria infection that the fish couldn't fend off. If a fish is fed properly (proper nutrition); fed enough; in high quality water; and in a good environment, they don't get this condition. So even though you might cure the fish, if you don't alter these conditions, it won't go away.

In the quarantine tank use a double, hard hitting antibiotic. I suggest using Nifurpirinol [a.k.a. Furanace] and a medication that contains Neomycin. It may be too late for treatment, however, by your description.

If there is another problem, I can't tell until I see the fish. Still waiting to see a photo, if you can get us one.

[Leetch]

Fin rot is most a bacteria infection that the fish couldn't fend off. If a fish is fed properly (proper nutrition); fed enough; in high quality water; and in a good environment, they don't get this condition. So even though you might cure the fish, if you don't alter these conditions, it won't go away.

In the quarantine tank use a double, hard hitting antibiotic. I suggest using Nifurpirinol [a.k.a. Furanace] and a medication that contains Neomycin. It may be too late for treatment, however, by your description.

If there is another problem, I can't tell until I see the fish. Still waiting to see a photo, if you can get us one.

Thanks Lee - yeah I read up on fin rot just in case it is. The reason I suspected that is because I had a flow problem and the water was a bit milky leading me to believe there was some overfeeding and with lack of flow in the area this fish hangs out mostly, it could have created a bacterial infection. I qt'd the fish hoping to ID the issue and think I'll drag him down to my LFS to help get an identity then treat aggressively.

I do need to i.d .it quick as if it is infecting my display, I need to figure out how to treat it as well. I've been aggressively changing the water over the past week hoping to clear up any issues if it's been an infection and I've I've been using distilled water so as to avoid any contaminents from the tap.

I'm encouraged as the fish has been acting in good spirits but very cautious as I've lost two fish in the past month leading me to believe there is something in my tank. (One had fin rot symptons but it basically died overnight and the other just disappeared and I'm hoping my crabs were able to get to it so it doesn't give me more problems in the tank)