Fin rot or bite? New fish quarantine

June FOTM Photo Contest Starts Now!
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to enter! 🏆

Firestorm_1976

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2023
Messages
41
Reaction score
3
Location
Gilbert, AZ 85297
PLEASE ADVISE: New fish quarantine, the fish arrived via mail (2-day shipping) on 1/4/2024. Fin rot or bite?

Should I be starting KanaPlex (or perhaps, KanaPlex and MetroPlex together, since they are said to work well together synergistically, thus becoming a more broad spectrum antibiotic)? Or should I perhaps just start with increasing the salinity of the water and observe since there are four fish (that arrived together) in this 20 gallon quarantine tank, and only one shows symptoms at this time. Would be a bummer to use antibiotic on the three healthy fish, and further separation of the fish isn't possible (d/t space and unavailability of another cycled filter). Current salinity is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon (so 4 tablespoons--flat, not round--per this 20 gal tank). Or should I just try to nuke it with antibiotics before others get it too? From the get-go, the water in the quarantine tank has 1 tbsp (flat, not rounded) of aquarium salt per 5 gallon, with temperature in the tank has been 78.5-79.5 F.

Aquarium meds that I currently have on hand are: aquarium salt, potassium permanganate powder, Seachem KanaPlex, Seachem MetroPlex, Kordon Rid Ich Plus (which I understand can be effective in case of fungal fin rot), API General Cure, API Furan-2, Hikari PraziPro, Fritz Expel-P; also have "natural" Tropical Science Fishkeeper and KORDON Ich Attack.

I am not sure if the damage was present on arrival as the fish arrived in bags with methylene blue, so was hard to see, and once released in the quarantine tank, they have been very skittish and freaking out every time I'd approach the tank, so I was trying to be very discreet in order to allow them relax and rest.

Two videos of the suspected fin rot:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNN3MeP9afkE5rztv-fHYDQ5KqTZV8oN/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x0itLW8HkUJWukIHox-qNeW0Oip3yjd0/view?usp=sharing

On a separate note, what do you guys think about this female (DIFFERENT female from the other seller), being quarantined in a different (10 gal) tank with another female? I do see some white on her tail. Is it also fin rot setting in? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YwlOih3YSbXotHhch_HN3LdmohK66o4P/view?usp=sharing

Thank you so much in advance!
 
Last edited:
Those videos make it hard to tell. Can you get some pictures?
If it is finrot, all you need is a bactericide. There’s no need for an antibiotic overkill.
 
Ichthys, thank you! When you say bactericide, do you mean something like increasing the salinity of the water or doing potassium permanganate baths?
 
Yeah I guess. I’m in the UK so we have lots of lovely off-the-shelf medications to choose from. I’ve never used pot. permanganate.
Salt should do the trick.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top