Redness At Tips Of Fins

[Teelie]

I noticed my female bristlenose has a red inflammation at the end of one of her fins. I've seen fin rot before and I'm not sure this is that. Could it just be a scrape or burn from the heater? I'm just a bit paranoid about fin rot as I have unemerged fry in this aquarium as well and don't want to risk them getting it or being unnecessarily medicated if possible.

Does fin rot present itself on the front end of a fin where it's "fleshy"? It's not on the thinner part of the fin where I usually would see it. I'm at work right now so I can't take a picture but when I get home later today I will. Other than that and the usual rapid looking breathing plecs seem to have, there are no other problems with this or any other fish. Water was changed this past weekend, they were fed yesterday and there are no recently introduced fish. She is also about as active as plecs usually are which is to say, not much except short spurts of activity.

 

[Teelie]

Okay, back at home. Here's the best picture I've got.

 

[WILDER]

Septicemia hard to cure once it has progressed.
What are your water stats.
I would issolate the fish and get going on a very good bacterial med.

http/www.fishtanksandponds.info/care-mai...septicaemia.htm

 

[Teelie]

I completely blanked on Septicemia. It looks like it might be the early stages of that. I'll have to grab some Maracyn II and give the treatment a go. I also have some medicated food just incase of a problem though I'm not sure if the plec would eat that.

Ammona and nitrite are zero, nitrate I don't know, temperature is 77.7F I'll have to find my pH kit to get that and see if I can find the nitrate as well.

 

[WILDER]

Maracyn one and two.
If you can issolate him I would go with tetracycline.

 

[Teelie]

I can isolate her in a 10 gallon but I'm also concerned about the rest of the tank possibly needing to be treated.

 

[WILDER]

Fish with septicemia can enter the bacteria into the tank.
Maybe add some maracyn.
Good luck.

 

[Teelie]

Thanks. Just when I get them to start breeding too... I figure she must have been weakened from the LFS where the tank had been hit pretty hard with ich. They had to do a lot of dosing on the tank and after the treatment was over, I picked her up and she seemed to be fine and laid the eggs which have hatched. Now she's got septicemia and might die. At least I have two more females nearing maturity in the tank and this brood almost ready to come out.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry hope she makes it, septicemia can be cured if you catch it early and use a very good antibiotic.

 

[Teelie]

I'vw had success using Maracyn II in the past to treat other things and I'm going to dose with that and tetracycline if I can get ahold of it.

 

[WILDER]

Make sure it dosn't wipe your bacteria colony out in the filter.
I would get going with the maracyn if you have it in stock now.

 

[Teelie]

Maracyn should be safe for bacteria though I don't know if the tetracycline is. I'll be going out to get it as soon as I have a vehicle to go out with.

 

[WILDER]

Maracyn fine but I would go in with one and two.
Depends on the brand of tetracycline some members say it dosn't wipe the bacteria colony out in the filter, but some brands do.

 

[Teelie]

I got Maracyn 2 and Tetracycline (both Mardel which I trust) and that should be enough. Those two alone were almost as expensive as the fish itself and as much as I dislike it, the economics just don't justify spending more where I could buy another one. I'm using a back up filter from another aquarium that's rated for a 30g so it ought to do the job well and I'll be keeping an eye on the fish for signs of further illness or ammonia and nitrite poisoning.

Luckily, no other fish appear to have caught it which reinforces my opinion that this was due to her previous experience at the LFS. She was surprisingly easy to catch though I did manage to find her against the large wood so it limited her range. She did put up a fight when I started to lift her from the tank. A good sign I hope.

Thanks again for the help. I should've seen it myself but I've been so distracted lately I just lost it.

 

[WILDER]

Use the tetracycline on her then, and add the maracyn to the other tank.
Yes if she got some fight in her she stands a chance, dosn't look good when there easy to catch.
Good luck and fingers crossed.