Fin rot

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Jan 1, 2006
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So 2 out of my 3 Clown Loaches have fin rot, and one of my Angels does too, but not that bad. In the past I've done 1/2 doses(b/c of the loaches) of Maracyn 2 and it cleared up for a little and now it's back(yes I did finish all the meds and didn't stop after it cleared). I hear that Maracyn(regular) is better for fin rot from another post so I got that last night and I'm trying that now in 1/2 doses too, 1st dose last night. Is this correct or should I switch it up??

BTW.. ph 7.2
ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20
I do 25 % water changes ever 5 days, so I'm kinda bummed that I even have fin rot, what am I doing wrong?? I have a 80g on lay-a-way that I will be picking up next week to move the Angels and loaches to when I get it all set up, so please don't hit me up with "clown loaches in a 20g wtf...". I know and I'm taking care of that ASAP before they get too big (Thanks Roan!!)
 
I've found Maracyn works really well but I haven't tried Maracyn 2, so I can't say. I would, however, put the infected fish in a QT tank so the others don't catch the fin rot. Also, I like to add a drop of tea tree oil per 2 gallons of water to help the fish heal (if you already have Melafix, you can use it, but it's just watered down tea tree oil anyway. And you can get tea tree oil from a drug store, just make sure it's pure. It only cost about $10 CAD and it would last forever, practically.) However, if the fin rot disappeared and came back I would look into whether somebody in the tank might be picking on someone else or it might be the tank size. However, since you're already ordered a larger tank, as long as you can get this infection under control, when they move to the new tank, it might never happen again.

Anyway, best of luck!

Jade
 
Also, I like to add a drop of tea tree oil per 2 gallons of water to help the fish heal (if you already have Melafix, you can use it, but it's just watered down tea tree oil anyway.
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My wife is all about that!! We also made some Melafix using tea tree oil too. It wasn't really helping cure the fin rot, so we had to use meds. Last time when I used the Maracyn 2 the clowns got really sluggish even with the 1/2 dose, that's why I hate to use meds and i'm hoping that the regular Maracyn works better. Do you think that I should use straight tea tree oil as wells as the Maracyn???

As far as a QTing the fish I think that the fin rot is in the whole tank, so I want to treat everyone. I think ( alomost 100%) that the fin rot got in the tank when I added Java moss. I bought a large clump to put on my driftwood and it came from a tank that has a whole bunch of Angel fish with pretty bad fin rot. I didn't know that until I went back to the store and saw the tank that had the Java moss in it. When I bought it I just went to the counter and asked if he had it. I actually had a hard time tracking it down.
Thanks for your help!!!
 
Just something that comes to mind - i dont read much about it here but on a german aquaria related forum i am member of it gets brought up often and gets explained well.

Besides your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels you have bacteria and virii living in your tank. Depending on stocking levels (not giving you the "clown loaches in a 20g wtf"), tank parameters and cleanliness they might multiply much faster than 25% waterchange can take them out and to levels that might overwhelm your fishs immune system.

I know people like to use nitrate to determine if things look good in their tank but i guess it just doesnt always work. There are pathogens in the tank we cant test for and that could very well be the reason for your finrot.
Besides your tank is planted - which is good - but the plants only remove nitrate not the mentioned pathogens.

Someone on here said "Give fish clean water and they take care of themself" (or something to that nature).
I'd do some large volume water changes and they might just get better without lots of medicine.
Just an idea of course - maybe someone else can comment on this.
 
Do you think that I should up to 50% water changes every 5 days????

It's been really hard to get my wife to go along with the no salt, no copper safe (she REALLY wants to make sure our loaches don't get ich!!) prevention with the water changes. She WAS adding salt and low, very low doses of copper safe with every water change until I found this site. Now ( I took over) I'm only adding Prime and doing water changes every 5 days and now we get fin rot, so she's not really trusting me on this stuff right now and I'm not looking to good.
BUT I fully believe that this is the way to go, the less I add the better, except fresh water!! What are other people's thoughts on uping the water changes to 50%. I would love to get rid of the fin rot with only water changes and some tea tree oil and NO meds!!
Thanks!!!! :)
 
I didn't find the tea tree oil actually helped to cure the fin rot, but it has helped my fish heal from fin rot. I would just add pure tea tree oil at the ratio of 1 drop per 2 gallons of water. Maracyn worked pretty well, I found. Mostly it just kills off the bacteria that cause the fin rot but it doesn't help the fin grow back. The tea tree oil helps that happen. Just make sure you don't over dose, but I don't know about the loaches.

I've never had loaches before so I don't know how sensitive they are. If they aren't infected maybe they could be moved? I'm not sure about them. Sorry, but maracyn works pretty well and the tea tree oil will help the fins grow back where they've been eaten by the bacteria.

Best of luck!

Jade
 
Please remember that Maraycn is the antibitioc erythromycin. This may/probably will affect your biofilter. Your best bet is to use the melafix and start doing big water chages, of 50-75%. You cannot change too much water!

Abd please let your wife know, loaches cannot "catch" ICH. The ich parasite has to be brought into your tank. It doesn't live in the water.
 
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