Cardinal Tetras Have Finrot

[ATK!!!]

just a few days after introduction to my tank two of my six cardinal tetras have lost the top half/ quarter of their fins and the others look like they may have it too. I am almost completely sure this has something to do with the fact that i bought some plants from a dodgy fish shop which had dozens of species of snail eggs and hydras on them
My water parameters are great and i do water changes every 2 weeks. My tank is a 35l biube which houses 2 platy, 6 cardinal tetras and a number of cherry shrimp. the tank has been running since november last year and the cardinals were added last weekend (29th or 28th of feb).

I was just wondering how serious this is and whether i should buy medication, if so what do you reccommend?

Any comments appreciated!

 

[KittyKat]

What are your ammonia, nitrite and pH readings? Exact numbers please.

Do you actually have hydra now?

I prefer to use eSHa 2000 to treat fin rot. Worth doing it, in my opinion.

Also, just so you know.. a 35 litre Biube is too small for cardinals: they should have at least a 2 ft wide tank. Neons (which can be fragile), ember tetras or espei rasboras (not harlequins) would have been a better choice.

 

[ATK!!!]

I see what you mean about the tetras but i will not be getting any more fish for the tank so hopefully that should be ok. I dont have the hydra anymore as i removed the plant with all the hydra as soon as i realised, although the snails are still hanging around. pH is about 7.4/6 whilst ammonia is 0pmm and so are the nitrItes. I heard you talking about eSHa 2000 in another post, i just hope they stock it at my lfs.

 

[mattlee]

plenty of fresh water will also help with finrot. i would change 25% every couple of days until its gone. if it doesnt go then use a med

 

[KittyKat]

Double check glass and substrate for hydras, they can spread in a matter of hours and it only takes one to infest the tank. I used to have them at one point and got rid of them by pouring boiling salted water over them (you can use a pipette in a smaller tank).

The pH is on the higher side for them, the fin rot could have been triggered by the being moved from soft LFS water to hard water, for example..

 

[ATK!!!]

Ok thanks for the advice, i am going out later this afternoon to my biggest local lfs to see what they've got, if i cant find eSHa 2000 i'll have to go for something else (any other reccomendations). I'll keep up with some regualar water changes before adding medicine and will just have to hope that those hydras really are gone.

Oh i forgot to ask, is eSHa 2000 ok for invertibrates like my shrimpies and my assasin snail

 

[KittyKat]

I have never had problems using it with snails (can't remember if I ever used it with shrimp), but do read the instructions.

 

[ATK!!!]

K thanks once again, i do hope they stock it, is it a very common brand because ive never seen it before?

 

[KittyKat]

All my LFS stock it, so I would say yes, but it looks so old school that I don't expect that many "we have only cool things" places would stock it.

 

[loraxchick]

Id try waterchanges before you go spend money on meds. 90% of the time clean water and good food sorts out any and all fin issues. Keep watch for signs fo bullying too.
all the best
cheers

 

[Embrace]

Id try waterchanges before you go spend money on meds. 90% of the time clean water and good food sorts out any and all fin issues. Keep watch for signs fo bullying too.
all the best
cheers

Totally agree. My neon tetras had finrot when they were in my quarantine tank, and I rushed to buy meds straight away. After 4 days there was no change so I did 10% a day and within 3-4 days their tails grew back.
Good luck!!

 

[ian]

+3 for the water changes. I have a large school of Cardinals that i got over a space of time. Quite a lot of Cardinals sold are wild caught, the wild caught ones i have have always had ripped/torn tails. It has never developed into fin rot with water changes every other day.

 

[ATK!!!]

Ok then, i've started doing a 10% water change but sadly i can't find eSHa 2000 at any of my shops. If things do get worse i'll probably have to buy something else. The tetras don't look any worse than they were but havent made any progess either. I think what started it was the way the guy got them out with the net, he pushed them agaisnt the bottom of the tank then scraped the net upwards

Should i be feeding them less than normal or feeding them anything in paticular? Whatever i can do to help them get better i will do, also is there anything to prevent my fish from getting this in the future?

 

[mattlee]

do larger water changes at about 25-30% every couple of days or every day even. it wont jusy go over night so be patient.

like most diseases fin rot is caused by either poor water quality or stress so if they are new fish then i would say stress. remember they have been kept in far from ideal conditions at the shop then netted very badly from your explanation, stuffed in a bag transported to you house then introduced into a new tank that probably has different water parameters to the shops even if very slightly.....

its a very stressfull time for a fish. also before this they have been shipped over to the UK in poor conditions and total darkness without water changes etc to arrive at the shop.

keep up the water changes and im sure it will go in time. whenever i have had a case of this it has always been with new fish and they heal up in no time and make a full recovery

 

[ATK!!!]

Thanks for all the support, if it does continue to worsen i will increase the frequency and size of the water changes. Fingers crossed!