Fin Rot - Sterbai Cory

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hello all - right so about a week ago I added another sterbai cory to my tank. When I got him home I noticed that it had some slight damage to its tail (I'll post pictures). Tonight I noticed that it had a thin white film covering much of the tail. After a little googling my best guess is finrot. The tail doesn't look any more damaged there's just the addition of the white film.

I had some melafix so I removed the carbon filter (been meaning to do it anyway!) and added 6ml to my 48L tank. I don't have a quarantine tank so this is the best I can do. I tried to get pictures of his tail tonight but I wasn't able to, he's still very active. I do have some pictures of the damaged tail from when I first got it though.

Right, so my question is, what next? Just follow the instructions on the bottle?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Nothing to add on this??

 

[Tizer]

This can happen to Sterbai corys, mine had a white film on its head like peeling skin, but it was fine a few weeks later, not entirely sure what it is, but there seems to be a bit of a history of this on the forum over the years. I wouldn't treat for anything other than nice fresh water changes as i cant see anything on the fish in your pics that shouldnt be there..

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Sorry Tizer, those pictures are probably (definetley!) confusing. They are from when I first got him a week ago and noticed the damage on his fin. I tried to get a picture of him last night but it just wasn't happening!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Right guys I'm now 100% confident I'm dealing with finrot here. Looks worse today because there is a chunk of the tail fin missing..only been dosing melafix for two days though. Am I OK to try and treat this with melafix? I'd welcome any advice!

Oh and lets say that one of the new rasboras brought in white spot....how would I treat both at the same time? (still praying that I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing)

#63### I swear if both of the new fish I got have brought in two separate diseases....BUT i'm not going to go there yet because paranoia could definitely have me seeing things lol

 

[FishBlast]

Right guys I'm not 100% confident I'm dealing with finrot here. Looks worse today because there is a chunk of the tail fin missing..only been dosing melafix for two days though. Am I OK to try and treat this with melafix? I'd welcome any advice!

Oh and lets say that one of the new rasboras brought in white spot....how would I treat both at the same time? (still praying that I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing)

#63### I swear if both of the new fish I got have brought in two separate diseases....BUT i'm not going to go there yet because paranoia could definitely have me seeing things lol

I hope you can save the little cory.
I wonder how come LFS over there sell fish that carry disease so often...
Here I haven't had any problem with store-bought or market-bought fish apart from two swordtails that didn't last long and just died over night, but that could have been easily toxins in my water then. I had no idea what dropsy, ich or finrot was or knew of their existence until I read about them on this forum.
However, I doubt stores in Romania are better as they have their fails just as those in the UK and more:
- they give bad or incomplete advice (although last time they gave me a bag with acclimatization details for the fish I bought)
- marketers and some shops keep bettas either together in a very small space or individually in extremely small plastic cups.
- marketers keep pretty much any fish / mix of fishes in a mere 1-2L of water. My fry cage is bigger than that.
- they don't tell you how big the fish get, that's how my dad got to buy hoplos several times from the market. Although they didn't seem too big to me once they grew to adulthood. 13-15cm isn't that big.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Fin rot is usually dominated either by fungal or bacteria problem most often. Occasionally it will be both. It can also vary in degree as well as how fast it gets worse. In mild cases water changes, a bit of salt for a short period or something very mild like melafix can work to cure it. Other times it is more evere and much harder to handle.

If what you are seeing looks more like a cconty substance perhaps with some 'tufting" it is likely fungal more than bacterial and I would treat with an approriate antifungal med. If the damage looks like a flatter whitening or graying then it is likely bacterial in nature and should be treated with an antibiotic stronger than melafix.

In the states, where I am, good meds are easy to procure. In the UK its more difficult. Here I would use either Mardel's Maroxy for fungal and either their maracyn which is basically erythromycin or their broad spectrum Maracyn Plus. I would have no qualms about combing them either. Somebody from the UK will have to chime in about what meds are available in the UK that would do a similar job.

My experience is few fish react badly to fungal meds so there is little danger treating a tank with them, Antibiotics one should be dose more carefully, especially if one combines meds. They can harm one's beneficial bacteria, so please monitor ammonia levels when dosing, increase aeration and remove carbon that isn't in use for some time as it will pull the meds out of the water if still active

 

[Tizer]

humm

just looked at the pics again and noticed the tail, i have seen this with mine also and again, i only ever did water changes to keep the water in good condition. I cant see any white fungus taking hold and "eating" the tail as such and mine was just like that.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Finally got some pictures, there *may* be some improvement today...

Just looking for confirmation that I'm doing the right thing really - thanks