Something Wrong With The Fins On My Fish....

[Gr44]

Hi,

I got 14 Glowlight Tetra's a week ago, they're all still alive and they seem to be more settled down. They're in a 54L tank (600mm x 300mm x 300mm) - pH is around 8 - very hard water. Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = ~40-60ppm

The 'tail' fin (dont know the name but the big one at the rear of the fish! ) on 2 of them has what looks like a bite out of the bottom of it, it's whiter around the 'wound' rather than transparent.

Also, I've noticed on a couple of fish the fin closest to the 'tail' on the underside of them has the same looking wound.

THere is nothing else in the tank, just the 14 glowlights. What could be causing this?

I have seen them chasing each other and swimming in to one another...

Please help, these are my first fish and I'm a complete newbie!

Thanks,

Sean

 

[KittyKat]

Fin rot. My personal favourite medicine for this is eSHa 2000.

This could possibly be the result of the hard water and high pH. I can't remember if you said you had any bogwood and plants in there, but this is really a good time to start adding some to lower the pH/harness. A costly solution would be to use part RO water.. a thought: maybe boiled and filtered water would be softer? Worth trying, but keep in mind that you should still use part tap water too.. And be careful about lowering the pH too fast if you're going to do it actively.

Also the tail fin is called the "caudal".

 

[Gr44]

I'll pick some up this afternoon.

I added some plants a couple of days ago (see post in Planted forum). I have some wood... I don't know if it's bogwood though!

Should I add more plants??

My tank is below;

The Twisted Vallis aren't looking as healthy now though... looking a bit more brown

When I get this medication, are there any precautions I need to take? Do I treat the hole tank??

Will their fins heal over time or is this permenent?

 

[KittyKat]

Take the carbon sponges out of the filter if you have any in there, then just follow the instructions. I would treat the whole tank because it is a general tonic as well as containing anti-bacterial properties etc. etc., so won't do them any harm.

The fins will grow back over time, but they might be slightly more transparent then before.

Twisted Vallis is not the easiest of Vallises to look after, and I have found that sometimes it might die back before it adjusts to a new tank. Just keep removing any bits which look dead so they don't have time to start rotting. You're probably fine on the plant front for the moment has your pH changed at all yet since you added them and the wood?

 

[Gr44]

Oh thats good, was worried it might be permenant damage!

I'm not really very 'green fingered' how do you tell when they're dead ?

I'll check pH when I get home and let you know what it is, not checked for a few days. It's normally 8-8.2 though.

Should I pick up some ferts for the plants?

 

[KittyKat]

When the leaves they go brown, start disintegrating and generally falling off the plant are the usual signs that you should take those leaves out.

What is your lighting like and how often do you do water changes of what amount?

 

[Gr44]

The fish went in last Wednesday afternoon. I did a ~15% change on Thursday as Nitrate was fairly high and since then I've done 1 x 15% change and another 30% change.

I'll do a 50% change this evening before I give them the meds.

The light is a 15w bulb... nothing special just what came with the tank so I suspect it's a cheapo thing - should I look at getting another?

 

[KittyKat]

Hmm, light a little bit low for twisted Vallis, although fine for Anubias. I would add a reflector if there isn't one already (I use kitchen foil, shinier side towards the light). My calculations say you have just over 1w/gal, "standard" lighting for normal planted tanks is usually 2w/gal.

Unless you plants get enough light to need more minerals etc which are supplied by the ferts, the ferts will only encourage algae. Also, CO[sub]2[/sub] may be the limiting factor for the plants.

That is quite a lot of water being changed, I suggest cutting it down a bit because the water changes will counteract any difference the plants make at those quantities. In fact, you are probably fine without a water change this evening if your nitrates are below 25ppm. When the course of medication is done, do one which is no more then 30%. I didn't realise you were changing that much water! It could be a contributing factor if it stresses your fish. In all honesty, even up to 50ppm is probably fine for the species you keep.

 

[Gr44]

The reason I'd been doing such large water changes is because the Nitrate was over 40ppm - hard to tell on those API testers exactly what it was though!

Just checked my readings when I got home and it was;

Ammonia = 0
NitrIte = 0
NitrAte = ~20-40ppm

Given that I didn't change any water.

On the way home I managed to buy that eSHa 2000 stuff... also ended up buying an air pump and such because I thought it might help the plants...? It looks nice if not!!

I've just put the air thingy in and I've dosed it with eSHa 2000 which hased turned the tank a nice tinge of green, which I find odd when the stuff came out red!

Oh, also, I bought a reflector for my tube light in the LFS too - that's attached and is brighter now

Will post some pictures in a minute when I find my camera!

Thanks,

Sean

 

[Gr44]

Picture of my tank attached... the plants don't really look that green!! thought I took the worst off of them!

Also, does anyone know what rock this is? bought is from LFS a long time ago but wondering if it's actually something more sinister... or atleast something could be increasing my already high pH and hard water... picture below!

Thanks

 

[Gr44]

Hi,

I dosed with the eSHa 2000 last night and I've just dosed it again tonight.

More fish seem to have this problem now, I've attached a few photos - is this fin rot and am I using the right stuff to cure it? How long will it take to heal up??

Please help!!

Thanks,

Sean

 

[Gr44]

Hi,

Just as an update nearly all the fish seem to have this now and on a couple of them the top fin is also going the same way... please confirm I'm treating this correctly and let me know if there is anything else I can do for them!

Thanks

 

[KittyKat]

Yes, that is fin-rot and you are treating correctly. It might help if you do a double dose next round of treatment (finish this round, 50% w/c - maybe filter the water through one of those kitchen filters to see if that helps soften it? then start the next round).

The rock is probably fine, but IMO better to leave it out for the moment. Do the "acid test" on it in the mean time: drop some vinegar on it and see if it starts fizzing/disintegrating.

 

[Gr44]

Thanks Kat.

I'll do another dose tonight then a 50% w/c tomorrow night. I have a Brita filter in my fridge I'll see if that helps at all then dose the tank up again.

Cheers

 

[KittyKat]

To find out if it helps at all, fill one glass with tap water and another with filtered water right now and let both stand until you are going to do the water change. Just before you change the water, test both glasses for pH and note if there is any difference.