Hi, I have 9 young long-fin rosy barbs that I bought 5 days ago, who are currently in a qt tank. 3 or 4 of the barbs have a few ragged spots on their tail fins. One of them I believe must have been injured, either already when I purchased it or perhaps when the employee netted it for me, because its tail fin was split almost up to the root. Thankfully this has been healing nicely on its own--at least half of the tear has grown back together. The other fishes with ragged tails look pretty ok, with just one or two small tears per tail fin. I am debating with myself--is this fin rot? Or are long-fin varieties simply prone to looking torn? They don't look that bad, no fungus or open sores, but their tails just don't look as "perfect" as some of the others. Would anyone recommend treating with an antibiotic or antifungal med while the fish are still in qt? Thanks!
Fin rot or just ragged?
- Thread starter LeahK
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Lupin
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- Sep 21, 2006
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Do they nip each other? Fins will be diagnosed with finrot if the edges are rather whitish. Do you have pics of their fins?
Fin rot can eat away the entire fin, boney spines and all.
Depending on the color of the fish in question, I've had a hard time determining if they had fin rot or just injuries when looking at the edges. I've noticed "splits" heal very quickly in clean water and appropriate conditions when they're from injuries.... within a day or two. If the splits don't heal quickly, I'd assume there's something bacterial going on, either the primary cause of the tear, or a secondary bacterial infection setting in at the site of the injury.
I'd watch them and see if they are nipping eachother. If the fins don't heal up in a few days, you may want to do a treatment. It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and add a little salt, as it helps injuries heal faster as well as slows the progression of fin rot.
Depending on the color of the fish in question, I've had a hard time determining if they had fin rot or just injuries when looking at the edges. I've noticed "splits" heal very quickly in clean water and appropriate conditions when they're from injuries.... within a day or two. If the splits don't heal quickly, I'd assume there's something bacterial going on, either the primary cause of the tear, or a secondary bacterial infection setting in at the site of the injury.
I'd watch them and see if they are nipping eachother. If the fins don't heal up in a few days, you may want to do a treatment. It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and add a little salt, as it helps injuries heal faster as well as slows the progression of fin rot.
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I jost got a pair of Bolivian Rams and one of them has a pretty good split in one of his pectoral fins. Somehow he got injured on the trip home. Will rams tolerate a little bit of salt? Melafix?
Now the $100 question - I've seen quite a few sites that say corys will tolerate absolutely no salt. I've seen others that say a theraputic dose of maybe 1-2tsp/5 gal can be tolerated. Thoughts?
Now the $100 question - I've seen quite a few sites that say corys will tolerate absolutely no salt. I've seen others that say a theraputic dose of maybe 1-2tsp/5 gal can be tolerated. Thoughts?
you should not have to use anything for split fins..just keep the water clean with water changes..
generally I would stay away from salt with corydoras
generally I would stay away from salt with corydoras