Black Skirt Lost it's Tail!

[excuzzzeme]

People love to trumpet water quality as the root of all evil even if fish show no signs of it but gourami love to attack large or bright fins and can easily tear apart smaller fish.

Maintaining clean water does solve alot of ills and is often overlooked as a cause. Since there are no pictures from which to form a factual opinion, changing water is definitely a plus and should be done anytime you have a suspected ill fish. Clean water is a panacea for many things. Salt too can be of help in certain situations. The clean water aids in healing regardless of cause. This does not suggest that the water is "at fault", but is rather a quick and easy way to eliminate one possibility.

If the tail had been chewed off, I would think it to be reflected as a red, raw, jagged injury. Smooth and without redness would point another direction such as fin rot or caudal disease.

 

[Fishfriend1]

I will be able to get some pics (hopefully) after school today. So, between 2:30 and 4:30 I'll be at moms and with the fish.

And I will be doing a few WCs.

 

[Fishfriend1]

This is the poor little fella... he was dead, on the bottom of the tank. •sigh•



I also noticed that some of the Corys were showing signs of either injury or fin rot. Honestly, I no longer know which would be which... their scales and fins have whitish coverings over them in patches. Like thick slime, except the white is over the various fins/scales it covers. The white seems to be mainly on the fins, which do look like fin rot. I spent the last hour or so doing a 50% WC on the 10gal and 30gal tanks. The 10 because of the fin rot, the 30 because it just needed to be done.

So, it was almost definitely fin rot now, and the pic doesn't show the white that was on the tail yesterday, but it was the same white that is on the corys fins. Now, this medicine, what was it called again?

~Travis

 

[excuzzzeme]

With Cories you need to be careful on what you use. You could try Pimafix/Melifix as an organic treatment as I have seen it work surprisingly well for fin rot. I do think the best medicine for this is Maracyn I & II. They can be used together. Others might chime in with their preferences.

Fin rot is a bacterial infection possibly picked up from one of your residents. Many can carry it without showing signs of infection so treating the whole tank is the best method.

Fin rot is a symptom of disease or the actual disease in fish. This is a disease which is most often observed in aquaria and aquaculture, but can also occur in natural populations.[1]
Fin rot can be the result of a bacterial infection (Pseudomonas fluorescens, which causes a ragged rotting of the fin), or as a fungal infection (which rots the fin more evenly and is more likely to produce a white 'edge'). Sometimes, both types of infection are seen together. Infection is commonly brought on by bad water conditions, injury, poor diet, or as a secondary infection in a fish which is already stressed by other disease.
Fin rot starts at the edge of the fins, and destroys more and more tissue until it reaches the fin base. If it does reach the fin base, the fish will never be able to regenerate the lost tissue. At this point, the disease may attack the fish's body directly.
Very Common In:

• fish; due to poor water conditions in pet stores.

Symptoms:

• Fin edges turn black / brown
• Fins fray
• Base of fins inflamed
• Entire fin may rot away or fall off in large chunks

Ways to treat:

• Change the water
• Treat with antibiotics like Melafix
• Use aquarium salt to keep water healthy
• Find out the ph and correct it
• Use Stress Coat

Use medication specifically for fin rot:

• Maracyn TC (for positive bacterial infections)
• Maracyn 2 (for negative bacterial infections)
• Melafix (as a preventative)

Prevention:

• Make sure the water is good quality
• Feed fresh food in small portions
• Maintain constant water temperature

From Wikipedia of all places!

 

[tolawdjk]

I used maracyn i and II with success on cories, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. If possible, put all fish showing signs in the QT. maracyn is dosed by tank volume, so the smaller tank will require smaller ammounts of meds. I believe with a 10 gallon, you should be able to buy the "smaller" box of meds (like 8 envelopes worth, with each envelope treating 10 gals).

You will be treating for 5 days, min. Do a 50% WC, drop in a package. Next night another 50% WC and another envelope. Don't worry about "loosing" meds with the WC, they don't build up over time and the WC does more good to improve the health than the loss of meds concentration does ill. Keep your temps normal for the tank. Don't raise them as fin rot is 95% of the time bacterial and the increased temp speed up bacteria growth.

Treat religiously for 5 days and if you still see signs of rot, treat until its gone. Keep them in the QT for a few days after that just to be on the safe side while still maintaining WCs. Maracyn I and II are pretty much silver bullets for those exterior diseases that can be treated.

 

[redbullbill]

I agree with the rest Marcyn worked for me.Twice actually!!!Once a year or so ago and once a few monthes ago when i brought a fish home and didn'tqt it first.Learned a valuable lesson!!!!!

 

[TheFishBoss97]

^maracyn I and II

 

[Fishfriend1]

Okay, maracyn I and II it is! When I get that $20 for mowing the lawn I'll head over to the store and pick some up.

 

[Fishfriend1]

Okay, so I did a 50% WC two days ago. Yesterday, the fish looked to be completely fine, no more fin rot. IDK how they look today (haven't been to the house yet), but I'm confused as to whether or not i need to medicate now. Is it normal for fish to make a full recovery overnight from Fin-Rot simply due to a WC? Did I just leave the WC for too long (about a week)? Or is it something else entirely?

 

[Fishfriend1]

Anyone?