Advice Please

[Gilli]

My male guppy seems to be getting fin rot. His tail is looking a bit ragged with white edges. I cant put him in a hospital tank as I have my 3 amanno shrimp in there at the moment.

My question is rather than dose the whole tank can I take him out and put him in a bucket of meds for a short period of time to treat him then put him back?

I know my water quality is good as my tank is mature and stats are

PH 7.6

Ammonia 0

Nitrites 0

Nirtates 20

 

[Colin_T]

Ragged fins with a white edge is usually excess mucous caused by stress and are often water quality related. Your basic water quality looks fine but a chemical will also cause stress. If you use aquarium plant fertilisers then check you haven't been overdosing. Maybe do a partial 30-50% water change and gravel clean each day for a week and see how the fish looks after that.
Make sure any new water going into the tank is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature & PH to the tank
Make sure you use a clean bucket that hasn't been used for anything besides the fish.

If you want to treat the fish in a bucket then you can but the fish should remain in the bucket of medication for the duration of the treatment. Moving the fish in and out of the bucket will stress it and probably won’t bring about a cure.

 

[Gilli]

Thank you for the advice Colin. I have had the guppy for 9 months and would be really upset if I lost him as he is a real character.

I dont use plant fertilizers and always do a good gravel vac and 30% water change once a week. My buckets were bought new and have only ever been used for my water changes and I always use a water dechlorinator and make sure the water that is used is not cold. I will do as you suggest and do a gravel vac and water change every day for a week and hope that does the trick as I dont have a spare filter or heater to be able to keep him in a bucket for any length of time - I only have a spare air pump

 

[MHunt]

If it's an isolated wound, i have done topical treatment, ie treating the affected area. I've done this with an injured cory, and a dwarf gourami with what turned out to be a terminal ulcer. take the fish out and put in a cloth or paper towel soaked in tank water. Then using a cotton bud or similar, treat the affected area with your medication, myxazyn etc.
But as colin t has mentioned, make sure the water is top notch for the fish as this can cure many ailments or injuries on it's own.

 

[Gilli]

If it's an isolated wound, i have done topical treatment, ie treating the affected area. I've done this with an injured cory, and a dwarf gourami with what turned out to be a terminal ulcer. take the fish out and put in a cloth or paper towel soaked in tank water. Then using a cotton bud or similar, treat the affected area with your medication, myxazyn etc.
But as colin t has mentioned, make sure the water is top notch for the fish as this can cure many ailments or injuries on it's own.

Thanks for the reply - Im assuming you still dilute the same ratio as if you were putting the meds in the tank?

 

[MHunt]

I'll be honest i just do it neat from the bottle, it's only a localised treatment and the excess will be washed off when you put the fish back in the tank anyway.

 

[Colin_T]

there might be a fish in the tank that is nipping at the tail and causing the damage. What else do you have in the tank?

If the fish doesn't get better over the next few days you could treat it in the bucket. Fill the bucket up with tank water and add the fish. Put an airstone in the bucket and have it bubbling away gently. Treat the fish with a 1/2 to 3/4 dose of medication and see how it goes. Don't feed the fish while it is being treated and tip the water out each day and replace it with some clean tank water and re-treat it.