Fin Rot ?

[bigblokey0]

what is fin rot and what does it look like and is it cureable the reason i ask is because i think some of my fish have got it only the one species though is that normal ?

heres some pics

and heres a pic of my tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm those pics aren't really clear enough to tell.

fin rot can be either red or white and will start off as a trim on the edge of the fins, then it sort of eats into them and they gradually deteriorate if untreated.

it's easily cured with either melafix or pimafix (can't remember which, go to an lfs and check the bottles if you don't have some in the house).

it's usually caused by deterioration of water quality, what's your tank size, stock list, water stats and maintenance routine?

 

[bigblokey0]

hmmm those pics aren't really clear enough to tell.

fin rot can be either red or white and will start off as a trim on the edge of the fins, then it sort of eats into them and they gradually deteriorate if untreated.

it's easily cured with either melafix or pimafix (can't remember which, go to an lfs and check the bottles if you don't have some in the house).

it's usually caused by deterioration of water quality, what's your tank size, stock list, water stats and maintenance routine?

well i cant see any coulour on there fins just bits off tail fin missing my water quality is spot on according to the local aqarium my tank is an aqua start 500 which i think is 65 litres i do regular water changes once a week 30-50% as for stock list im not sure what ive got i know i got neon tetras,ghost shrimp,guppies,glowlights?,cloud fish ? as for the ones that are dying i aint gotta clue on there name i just know i bought 12 and i got about 3 left

 

[Miss Wiggle]

how old is the tank? was it fully cycled before adding fish?

that's an 18g tank, you need to aim for maximum of 18" of fish in there. count up yours and see how much you have. If you have too many this could be the cause.

A chunk missing from the tail could also be that another fish has been nipping it, this could be because your fish are incompatible or because there's too many of them or because they are not happy due to being kept in inappropriate numbers, hard to say without a full stocking list, i.e. how many of each fish and proper names for all of them!

 

[bigblokey0]

how old is the tank? was it fully cycled before adding fish?

that's an 18g tank, you need to aim for maximum of 18" of fish in there. count up yours and see how much you have. If you have too many this could be the cause.

A chunk missing from the tail could also be that another fish has been nipping it, this could be because your fish are incompatible or because there's too many of them or because they are not happy due to being kept in inappropriate numbers, hard to say without a full stocking list, i.e. how many of each fish and proper names for all of them!

my tank is nearly 5 months old

what do you mean by fully cycled?

what do you mean by 18" of fish does that mean 18 fish at 1" lengh ?

i was told i was allowed somewhere in the reagion of 25 fish ive done some research on the web and have found my fish the list is as follows

3 guppys (1 male 2 female)
4 platys (1 male 3 female)
2 of the red tipped species which are male and 2 of the female dont have red tipped tail fins
5 glow light tetra
5 neon tetra
5 white cloud
6 ghost shrimp

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok so firstly you should read this about cycling you really need to know about it, it explains what your water parameters should be and how they get to that.

If you've been doing your maintenance correctly then the tank should be cycled after 5 months, however a number of things can cause it to cycle again, such as cleaning your filter under tap water.

when you say you do water changes, do you siphon the bottom of the tank too? how and when do you clean the filter and replace filter media?

the 18" can be made up pretty much however you like.... 18x1" fish, 9x2" fish, 6x3" fish, or any combination to add up to 18. this needs to be worked out on adult size.

to say you can have 25 fish is ridiculous as they're not all the same size, don't produce the same amount of waste or have the same requirements. Yes you could maybe have 25 v small fish at 1/2" each, but obviously not 25 fish getting to 4" each.

there are a lot of factors that affect stocking, however the basic guideline of 1" per us gallon of water works well as a basis to work around.

I think that's too many fish for the tank.

Read the topic I've linked to above, get your water tested and post back with the results we can see if there's any problems. Don't just say the water's fine, get actual numbers for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

 

[bigblokey0]

ok so firstly you should read this about cycling you really need to know about it, it explains what your water parameters should be and how they get to that.

If you've been doing your maintenance correctly then the tank should be cycled after 5 months, however a number of things can cause it to cycle again, such as cleaning your filter under tap water.

when you say you do water changes, do you siphon the bottom of the tank too? how and when do you clean the filter and replace filter media?

the 18" can be made up pretty much however you like.... 18x1" fish, 9x2" fish, 6x3" fish, or any combination to add up to 18. this needs to be worked out on adult size.

to say you can have 25 fish is ridiculous as they're not all the same size, don't produce the same amount of waste or have the same requirements. Yes you could maybe have 25 v small fish at 1/2" each, but obviously not 25 fish getting to 4" each.

there are a lot of factors that affect stocking, however the basic guideline of 1" per us gallon of water works well as a basis to work around.

I think that's too many fish for the tank.

Read the topic I've linked to above, get your water tested and post back with the results we can see if there's any problems. Don't just say the water's fine, get actual numbers for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

when i do a water change i use a gravel vac as for the filter it didnt have one i discussed this with the shop but they had not got one either they only had square ones i need a circle one as for the water i get it tested regular at the shop and they says its great nothing else, from the sounds of things i think im overstocked but there still looks like theres loads of room in the tank how long does it take fish to grow to there full lengh roughly

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you don't have a filter ??


OK in a tank stocked as heavily as yours with no filtration you need to do water changes every single day.


You need to get a filter.

This shop your visiting sounds really dodgy tbh, I wouldn't trust them. And I can assure you with no filtration and overstocked tank and water changes only weekly your water quality is not fine!!

By your own test kit and find out the results.

Depends completely on the fish how quickly it grows and how long it lives. some live 40 years and never stop growing, some only live a year..... you can only say for the species

 

[bigblokey0]

you don't have a filter ??


OK in a tank stocked as heavily as yours with no filtration you need to do water changes every single day.


You need to get a filter.

This shop your visiting sounds really dodgy tbh, I wouldn't trust them. And I can assure you with no filtration and overstocked tank and water changes only weekly your water quality is not fine!!

By your own test kit and find out the results.

Depends completely on the fish how quickly it grows and how long it lives. some live 40 years and never stop growing, some only live a year..... you can only say for the species

how do i know what filter i need ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

pretty much any filter is better than nothing.

if you look online or go to an lfs filters will be listed as capable of filtering tanks up to x gallons.

look for something that does up to 20g minimum, more if you can afford it.

when you put it on the tank will start to cycle, so have a look through the link i posted earlier which should tell you what to do when it starts cycling.

 

[bigblokey0]

sorry my mistake i have a filter i thought you where refering to the filter media ie.sponge but i dont need one as its an under gravel filter i spoke to my local fish shop and they say its a compatibility problem with the fish i got and it seems im not overstocked apparently you cant go by the size of the fish you go by measuring the nitrate level and the water qulity, if the filter cant cope with the waste then theres to many fish however if the tank is clean every week then you can add more fish does this sound right?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh right, undergravel filters are well on they're way to being completely outmoded, they're really not much cop and definately not as good as an internal or cannister filter. with an UG you need to stock even less to take into account that the filter's capacity is not the same as the tanks.

there is a number of ways to work out stocking, testing your nitrate levels is one of them, to my mind i don't use it because it doesn't take into account the swimming room needed, working on that method if you have a tiny tank but put a massive filter on then you can have it rammed full which I don't like.

i think the method to work it out based on nitrates is you test the level of nitrate in your tap water, then test the nitrate in the tank water 1 week after water changes, if it has risen by under 40ppm your fine, if it's risen by more than that you've too many fish. although i don't use this myself so may be wrong!

in all honesty you'll find loads of different opinions and methods of working out stocking, it's down to you to decide what you feel is the best method, you'll probably find it's a combination of a lot of different methods that gives you your final answer.

 

[bigblokey0]

oh right, undergravel filters are well on they're way to being completely outmoded, they're really not much cop and definately not as good as an internal or cannister filter. with an UG you need to stock even less to take into account that the filter's capacity is not the same as the tanks.

there is a number of ways to work out stocking, testing your nitrate levels is one of them, to my mind i don't use it because it doesn't take into account the swimming room needed, working on that method if you have a tiny tank but put a massive filter on then you can have it rammed full which I don't like.

i think the method to work it out based on nitrates is you test the level of nitrate in your tap water, then test the nitrate in the tank water 1 week after water changes, if it has risen by under 40ppm your fine, if it's risen by more than that you've too many fish. although i don't use this myself so may be wrong!

in all honesty you'll find loads of different opinions and methods of working out stocking, it's down to you to decide what you feel is the best method, you'll probably find it's a combination of a lot of different methods that gives you your final answer.

i now no that undergravel filters are not as good as the other ones but at the time i wasnt told but being a complete beginner im not going to upgrade now as ive not got a huge tank anyway i understand what your saying about swimming room needed for the fish and i can understand the nitrate level testing theres pros and cons either way it seems its going to be a learning curve and personal preference thanks for the replies

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i now no that undergravel filters are not as good as the other ones but at the time i wasnt told but being a complete beginner im not going to upgrade now as ive not got a huge tank anyway i understand what your saying about swimming room needed for the fish and i can understand the nitrate level testing theres pros and cons either way it seems its going to be a learning curve and personal preference thanks for the replies

yeah your pretty much spot on there!

good luck with your descisions