FIN ROT???? First time with a sick fish.

[jayson6464]

I made the mistake of doing too much to my tank at one time and threw it out of whack. And now my 1 Pseudotropheus Saulosi the biggest and oldest fish has, what I believe to be Fin Rot from the research I have done. What do you guys think?

She has stopped eating and swimming and hiding in her cave. Now she just float near the top of the tank and way in the jet stream.




Yesterday this was my main problem before i notice the missing fin:

CLOUDY WATER

My water is cloudy in my tank after changing the gravel and changing out most of the water. I did leave the filter intact and did not do anything to clean or change that. This was two days ago. I also added multiple rocks that I cleaned and soaked for 24 hours prior to putting them in the tank. I have also done a 25% water change, added water conditioner as well as water clarification.

This was not a new tank

Today the water tested: Ammonia .05 - Nitrite 0 - Nitrate 10 - pH 7.8 - Alkalinity 200 - Hardness 10-25 - Chlorine & Chloramine 0

In my tank i have: 3 Jewel Cichlids, 1 Aulonocara German Red, 1 Yellow Fin Borleyi Cichlid, 1 Pseudotropheus Saulosi, and 1 Plecostomus.

 

[Jannika]

Hi Jayson
Yes, it's definitely finrot, a bacterial infection. The bloody streaks are especially clear in the last picture.

Getting that ammonia down to 0 with more water changes, and perhaps use of Prime or similar detox product will help. With a pH of 7.8 even a small amount of ammonia can be toxic. Normally I'd suggest using salt @ 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons to aid in healing - but since you have a pleco, and the fish not eating is worrisome, the next option is to transfer him to a separate hospital tank and use an anti-bacterial medication such as Kanamycin, Maracyn II, or Maracyn Plus in the water. Some medication such as tetracycline won't work in water with a higher pH, so just make sure isn't one of those. Good luck and keep us posted.