Please Help, My Guppies Tails Are Rotting

[dsage]

Hi Everyone

please could you advise me what to do. my guppies tails are rotting. So far i have read a book called freshwater aquarium for dummies and it said do water changes and treat with fungus treatment. so far i have been doing water changes of 20% everyday and then adding the treatment to the tank. i also took the carbon out of the filter. i treated the tank with antibiotics for 24hours and then did another water change and it seems like this isn't making any effect. please can you tell me what to do. the fungus treatment i have been using is Azoo fungus treatment. my tank is 140 liters.

thanks in advance.
any advise would be great.

 

[Twinklecaz]

I've never heard of that treatment. Try the Interpret one!

Finrot can usually be kept under control/prevented by water changes and a clean tank with good water quality. What's your usual weekly routine?

 

[dsage]

Hi,

my usual routine is, every Friday i use a gravel cleaner (Siphon) and make sure that the gravel doesnt have any dirt in it. i also do 30-40% water change on fridays. then i will add water conditioner (cycle, waste control and aqau plus made by nutrafin), also add aquarium salt and then every sunday i will test the tank for ph level, nitrite, nitrate, iron, ammonia, phosphate and the water hardness KH and GH. i also feed them everyday with nutrafin fakes and blood worms every other day. i also every day check the water temperature and remove any floating leafs and rotten plants if there are any.

thanks for the advise

 

[the_lock_man]

With the exception of the salt, it all sounds fine and dandy. Freshwater fish don't need salt.

I wonder if the tails are genuinely rotting (ie infected) or whether they are being bitten either by each other, or by another tank-mate?

 

[smokeyjo]

Yeah I agree with the lock man. It could be them getting eaten. I had this problem with my guppies turns out my red eyes had eaten them what tank mates have u got in with them?

 

[dsage]

hi everyone

thanks for the replies. in my tank i have mollies, platies, tetras and guppies. would the tank mates eat the tail completely off though because i found one of them dead yesterday and its tail had competely gone and when i am home i never seen them having a problem before.

thanks again

 

[This Old Spouse]

Once they die the other fish will happily snack on them. Sad, but true.

If you used a true antibiotic you will have ruined the bacteria cultivated in your filter media, so you've just started yourself in a fish-in cycle again, from the sounds of it. One huge water change immediately is called for ... about 90%, just leaving enough water for the fish to be able to swim upright. Then temperature-matched dechlorinated water using StressCoat+ or Seachem Prime. Then follow the instructions for fish-in cycling here.

And as Twinklecaz mentioned, you don't need salt.

 

[snazy]

How many guppies do you have in this 140 litre aquarium?
What is the water flow rate of the filter installed(how may gallons or litres an hour is it?)
How quick did the guppies develop the fin rot? Was it gradually or suddenly?
Is the damage extensive now?
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as suggested previously here.

I would do water changes every day if I were you as they need clean water to recovery no matter what you do.

Not sure if you can change the type of medication at this stage unless you use the carbon to remove it and I am not very accustomed with the antibiotic you used.
Maybe Melafix/pimafix combo is a good idea, but if the finrot is very extensive, you may need stronger meds. I'll leave this to someone else as I hate using meds.

I would keep putting salt in until they recover as this will help the fin growth.

 

[the_lock_man]

I would keep putting salt in until they recover as this will help the fin growth.

Disagree

 

[snazy]

Disagree

May I ask what is your reasoning for that.
Even increasing the salt amount temporary to an allowed amount based on the type of fish, especially when dealing with damaged fins, has a good effect. I have personally done that and if the tail is just a split tail it may recover in the space of 24-48 hours.

I agree though, that there is no need to put salt when everything is fine in the aquarium. I don't like salt dips as it stresses the fish if the salinity levels changes all of a sudden. Also, I normally gradually remove the salt if used for treatment, by doing water changes.

But I don't see a reason why can't you use salt for treating fin rot, damaged fins and similar?

 

[This Old Spouse]

If there's salt in there now, that's all that's needed, as with each dose of salt it tends to increase exponentially. No more salt. It can be damaging, and guppies are freshwater fish, not brackish anymore.

Large water changes often is the best medicine. Guppies have become intolerant of water conditions that are less than near perfect, I'm afraid. If the water is pristine the guppies will do well. I kept them for a good long time and that's what I found.

I also found that they tend to stay a lot healthier on a sand substrate, which is worlds easier to clean thoroughly than gravel, which traps waste and you just can't get it completely clean.

 

[the_lock_man]

Disagree

May I ask what is your reasoning for that.
Even increasing the salt amount temporary to an allowed amount based on the type of fish, especially when dealing with damaged fins, has a good effect. I have personally done that and if the tail is just a split tail it may recover in the space of 24-48 hours.

I agree though, that there is no need to put salt when everything is fine in the aquarium. I don't like salt dips as it stresses the fish if the salinity levels changes all of a sudden. Also, I normally gradually remove the salt if used for treatment, by doing water changes.

But I don't see a reason why can't you use salt for treating fin rot, damaged fins and similar?

IMHO, the best cure would be top quality water. Meaning daily water changes.