Guppies And Fin Rot...

[nosoup4you]

Well, I purchased a couple of new Guppies less than a week ago and when I got them I noticed that the male's caudal fin looked slightly tattered but since he was in a small tank with a million other fish and the fins didn't really look thickened or discolored I assumed it to be due to fin nipping. I went ahead and treated with Maracyn (1 and 2) just to be safe and after just one dose it has become painfully obvious that it is fin rot. His tail looks markedly worse than before I introduced the med. If anything, I would have expected the fin to show some improvement but this is not the case. Is this normal? Will it get worse before it gets better?

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

You can bet when a guppy has finrot something else is going on, finrot can be a secondary infection.
Does he look thin or bloated.
Any marks on his body, any red streaking in his fins, any excess mucas on his body or gills.
What does his gills look like.
Check his anus to see if its enlarged or red and inflamed.
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet.

 

[nosoup4you]

They (both new Guppies) are in a 10 gallon QT.

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10
pH 7.8

I can't see any other symptoms. Not too fat, not too thin. Gills look fine. Anus looks fine. No red streaking to his fins...his fins aren't splitting. He's eating and evacuating normally. No white or stringy poos. To be honest, even when I began treatment, I didn't really think that he had fin rot. His caudal fin just looked a little tattered on the end so I figured that I would treat to be sure. I've spoken to CFC and he says that what I am seeing on the fish after the initial treatment is just dead tissue and that it will eventually slough off and begin to re-grow. He actually looks a lot better than when I posted this morning. Thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Good luck.

 

[nosoup4you]

Well , his fins look a lot better...actually starting to see some new growth, but I noticed this morning that he has two tiny red spots at the end of his tail . They look like tiny drops of blood. Is this normal? Should I be concerned? The Maracyn I and II both state to treat for 5 days and that you can re-treat if necessary. I had enough to treat for 7 days so I figured that I would go ahead and use up what I have (this is day 6).

 

[WILDER]

Red dots can be septicemia.
I would do another five days then if I was you.
Anything sharp in the tank that he could of stab himself on.

Red spots on skin can be caused by:
Regarding the small red dot, small pinprick like haemorrhages (called petechiae) can be due to a local lesion, a generalised septicaemia or toxaemia caused by acute viral and bacterial infections.

 

[nosoup4you]

They are not on the body, they are at the very tip of his tail fin. Incidentally, his tail is red...these are just a much brighter red and appear to be tiny red balls hanging from the fin tip. Do you still think septicemia?

 

[WILDER]

Not sure never heard of red balls before.
If fins have a cluster of berries on them or look like a cauliflower it can be viral lymthocystis.
Try a search on the description and see what if fetches up.

Is it possible to load a pic up of the fish to see.

 

[nosoup4you]

I tried to get a pic but I just can't seem to get a clear pic of these "balls". There are only two of them and they're just too tiny. They are attached to the very end of the rays in the tail. I did google fin rot and red balls and came across several other people experiencing this symptom with fin rot. I guess I will just continue to treat for 10 days and see if there is any improvement. Thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.
Off to bed now.