question about fin rot

[77710]

I have a three spotted gourami that is about 1.5 yrs old and all of a sudden he started acting strange after I added a few fish to my tank. he stopped eating and started shimmying forward and back. so I put him into a quarantine tank with less circulation and now he just sits in one spot not moving much. that's when I noticed this (see picture) which looks like fin rot to me. is it possible that one of the incoming fish brought it on them? BTW most the new fish are now in the big tank in the sky if it is fin rot how would you suggest treating it?
thanks in advance for the help.
any other information I need to post?


http://www.patrickcobb.com/bigfinrot.jpg

 

[jm1212]

fin rot is cause by bad water conditons. when was the last time you tested your water?

 

[liv2padl]

if those spots on the caudal fin are not part of the fishs' normal coloration, i'm thinking your fish has a case of Ich, not fin rot. "rot" is a general term for necrotic loss of fin tissue, resulting in split or ragged fins. It is usually the edge of the fin that is attacked, although occasionally a hole may appear in the middle of the fin. The appearance of fin rot can vary between a distinct, semi-circular "bite" shape and a "shredded" effect. The edge of the lesion is usually opaque or whitish. In advanced cases there may be some reddening or inflammation. The main threat from this fish disease if left untreated is a slow degradation of the entire fin along with the fin rays followed by subsequent invasion of the fish’s body, leading to peduncle disease if the caudal (tail) fin is involved, or saddleback ulcer if the dorsal (top) fin is affected. Secondary fungal infections are not uncommon.

There are a number of bacteria that can cause fin rot, the most common being Cytophaga. the disease involves opportunistic bacteria such as Aeromonas, Pseudomonas or Flexibacter that abound in all aquatic environments. This disease factor has been called many names, Chorndococcus, Cytophage, Flexibacter, Myxobacterium, once even known as Flavobacterium. The most common species is columnaris.

treatment recommended is Chlortetracycline at 20 mg/liter as a continuous bath for 5 days. a 50 percent water change followed by a second dose of chlortetracycline.

describe your tank in terms of number of fish, tank size and water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). Ich or fin rot is related to unnaceptable water quality.

 

[fish_freak]

Well liv2padl covered most of it but I have to add that another excellent treatment for finrot is Melafix. I also am curious as to your tank maintence schedule stocking levels, and water parameters.

 

[77710]

well I have been changing about 30-50% of my water every 5-6 days because of this. the nitrate is usually around 20-40 and the other two are 0
as for other fish its a very lightly stocked tank, its a 37 gal with 4 tetras and a guppy all under an inch in length. the only slightly abnormal thing about the tank is the PH because of where I live now my PH is very high is over 9, I need to get some actual PH test strips from my dads work to test it because its off the scale in the high range test I have. plus its very hard (Beaumont water sux). but I don't think this has anything to do with it because the gourami has been in these water conditions for over a year.
I did notice that the fish had a light red spot on his side too.

 

[CaitxSith]

if those spots on the caudal fin are not part of the fishs' normal coloration, i'm thinking your fish has a case of Ich, not fin rot. "rot" is a general term for necrotic loss of fin tissue, resulting in split or ragged fins. It is usually the edge of the fin that is attacked, although occasionally a hole may appear in the middle of the fin. The appearance of fin rot can vary between a distinct, semi-circular "bite" shape and a "shredded" effect. The edge of the lesion is usually opaque or whitish. In advanced cases there may be some reddening or inflammation. The main threat from this fish disease if left untreated is a slow degradation of the entire fin along with the fin rays followed by subsequent invasion of the fish’s body, leading to peduncle disease if the caudal (tail) fin is involved, or saddleback ulcer if the dorsal (top) fin is affected. Secondary fungal infections are not uncommon.

There are a number of bacteria that can cause fin rot, the most common being Cytophaga. the disease involves opportunistic bacteria such as Aeromonas, Pseudomonas or Flexibacter that abound in all aquatic environments. This disease factor has been called many names, Chorndococcus, Cytophage, Flexibacter, Myxobacterium, once even known as Flavobacterium. The most common species is columnaris.

treatment recommended is Chlortetracycline at 20 mg/liter as a continuous bath for 5 days. a 50 percent water change followed by a second dose of chlortetracycline.

describe your tank in terms of number of fish, tank size and water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). Ich or fin rot is related to unnaceptable water quality.

great and one of my black neon has an empty spot on his fin. like fin, no fin, then fin.